Pca - Structural

PCA - Structural Frame Worksheet -
Fashion on First
Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the structural frame
2. Apply the structural frame to your personal case situation
Complete the following making sure to support your ideas and cite from the textbook and other
course materials per APA guidelines. After the peer review, you have a chance to update this and
format for your Electronic Portfolio due in Module 6.
1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.
The situation I chose to analyze is my experience starting a student organization here at

Arizona State University on the downtown campus. My second major is Fashion and our
program moved downtown a couple years ago. This transition has caused some feelings
of isolation and a lack of community. A fellow student, Shelby, and I decided to start a
general fashion club to create a space where fashion students can come together, gain
new experiences, make professional connections, and learn more about the industry. I
have an internal role in the organization as I am one of the co-founders and officers for
the club. However, my situations were prior to the club being approved so I’m not
exactly sure how my role would specify there. I was part of a very small group of
individuals that worked to start a fashion club here at ASU. I am an officer, and co-
founder for the club and worked closely with our other officer and advisors.
2) Describe how the structure of the organization influenced the situation.
Much of our situation and struggles stemmed from the structure or lack thereof. We had
never started a student organization and neither had our advisor. Early on, we realized
this would be quite the learning experience for all of us. Shelby and I did all our
communication directly with our advisor and co-advisor, whether it be through email,
zoom, or in person. We didn’t have a structure where we were creating a product or
having to deal with a middleman. However, we didn’t have a well-defined structure
either. It sort of came about organically and just existed. There were no discussions about
communication expectations or limitations, and we just reached out whenever. In theory
this seems great, having the freedom to converse with ‘higher ups’ (advisors), but in
reality, it was much more difficult.
While this was a student organization, much of the development and approval process
required help from advisors and their cooperation. We found it quite difficult to keep in
1
close contact and get timely responses, thus resulting in the entire approval process taking
way longer. To start a club at ASU you must submit a constitution, complete a training,
and get everything approved. The problem we faced was the lack of timely
communication and lack of support. The initial example I shared was about a meeting.
We had a meeting in person to discuss our vision once again, but this time our meeting
had been double booked with another meeting our advisor was having. We gathered in
the conference room, and she attempted to hold the meetings simultaneously, although
they were very different topics of discussion; one meeting was with other staff members
and then there was Shelby and I at the other end of the table. We felt nervous and unsure
about how to proceed. This was a challenging position to be put in, as we didn’t feel
valued and didn’t make any breakthroughs that we were hoping for. Since we didn’t have
a clear structure in place, we felt like we had to rely on our advisors to make any choices,
yet they weren’t there for us. I think since we were younger and just students we reverted
into a natural pattern of hierarchy. We viewed our advisors as superiors when it is more
of an equal divide.
3) Recommend how you would use structure for an alternative course of action
regarding your case.
Like I mentioned in the last sentence above, I would like to implement a more equal
structure moving forward. This isn’t a typical PM/ leadership experience since it is for a
student organization not a company so the structure type might vary. However, initially I
think we viewed ourselves as less then, but it’s a student organization. We should have as
much say and freedom as the advisors in my opinion. The advisor’s job is to guide and
support but we were treating them as the leaders and decision makers.
For this specific organization and situation, I would implement a flatarchy. The flatarchy
is a hybrid of hierarchy and flat. A combination of leadership but also equality. Instead of
one person being in charge or being the superior, one person would be our compass and
the rest would still hold power and influence. According to Forbes, “Organizations with
this type of structure are very dynamic in nature and can be thought of a bit more like an
amoeba without a constant structure. The most common type of example with this
structure is a company with an internal incubator or innovation program. In this type of
an environment the company operates within an existing structure but usually allows
employees to suggest and then run with new ideas.” (Morgan, 2015). Creating a stronger
dynamic amongst our team when meeting and planning would allow for more ideas and
natural progression. I also think that allowing everyone to make suggestions and share
ideas would be great. Since it’s a unique situation that doesn’t have a clear guide I think a
combination approach would be best. Shelby and I might feel more seen and heard, and
we would all share a more equal level of responsibility.
2
4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about this frame.
Overall, I feel our lack of communication and difficulty maintaining communication resulted in
no real structure. Since it was all new to us no one person is completely to blame and now we all
know that we need to discuss expectations and create an organization structure that we are all
comfortable with. I personally would try harder to hold myself accountable and understand that
our advisors weren’t mind readers and we had no clear expectations established making it very
difficult to be on the same page. I would also make sure there was a solid foundation before
selecting an advisor and I would make sure to select one that has the availability to support us
and our organization.
As the new semester gets going, we will try and learn from our previous mistakes to create a
smoother operation going forward. At the end of the day, we did get our organization up and
running after many months and we are very proud of that. I now look forward to managing it on
an everyday operational level and achieving our goals.
3
Reference or References
Morgan, J. (2021, December 10). The 5 types of organizational structures: Part 4, Flatarchies.
Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2015/07/15/the-5-types-of-
organizational-structures-part-4-flatarchies/?sh=641bd706707c

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PCA - Structural Frame Worksheet -

1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

The situation I chose to analyze is my experience starting a student organization here at

2) Describe how the structure of the organization influenced the situation.

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