Bolmananddeal

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Analysis and Challenges Facing Lakeland High School Using Bolman and Deals FourFrame Model Accompanied By an Action
Christopher M. Carlson
Oakland University
______________________________________________________________________________
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MEMORANDUM
To: Paul Gmelin, Principal (Lakeland High School)
From: Christopher M. Carlson, Teacher (Lakeland High School)
Subject: Reframing Organizations (Structural Frame)
Date: 12/8/2015
Purpose:
The purpose of this memo is to submit my recommendation for a change in
the structural frame at Lakeland High School.
Discussion:
Currently, teachers are in charge of the department and are given a position
of department head. This lateral integration seems to be ineffective and does
not cause real change in classroom instruction.
Recommendation:
Assistant principals should be assigned as the department head for three to
four subject areas. These administrators should lead these departments in
department meetings, professional learning days and any other type of
department time. If this is put in place, classroom instruction will improve
and test scores will improve.
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Abstract
In Bolman and Deals Reframing Organizations, four frames are examined to
show how organizations operate and function in four different methods and
how each can be thought of as its own distinct area. These four frames can
also overlap and can influence and affect the other frame in some instances.
In the following paper, I will discuss how these four frames are being used in
my school and my district, Lakeland High School and Huron Valley School
District. I will also make recommendations to my school and district as to
how they can change in one of these four areas and how they could improve
to become a more effective and efficient organization.
Demographic Information
School: Lakeland High School
Address: 1630 Bogie Lake Rd. White Lake, MI 48483
Type: Regular (Public)
District: Huron Valley Schools
Status: Operational
Grade: 9-12
Students: 1,728
Teachers: 85
Ratio: 20.43
White: 94%
Native American: 2%
Hispanic: 2%
Black: 1%
Asian: 1%
School Features: Title I School, Bilingual Education, Site Based
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In Bolman and Deals Reframing Organizations, four frames are

examined and closely examined to show how organizations function and run
efficiently. These four frames are the structural, human resource, political
and symbolic frame. The first frame will look at how organizations are
structured and how job duties and responsibilities are handed down from the
top to the bottom. The second frame, human resources, will look at how the
organization treats employees and if they value them as an asset. The third
frame, political, will look at the politics of an organization and how it is
mandatory to have politics in an organization. The fourth frame, symbolic,
will look at how the symbols in an organization can affect the culture and
beliefs of an organization. Finally, recommendations will be made to Lakeland
High School and Huron Valley School District on how they can change one
approach that is prevalent in the structural frame.
STRUCTURAL FRAME
In a balanced organization, working towards a common objective, there

is success (Helps, 2015).
In Bolman and Deal the first frame that is examined is the idea of an
organization through the lens of structure. This frame or lens must be used in
order to better understand an organization to see what is happening from
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the top to bottom. It is also essential to look at an organization with this

framework so that you are able to better understand how the organization
works and what its main purpose is to achieve success and sustainability.
When examining Lakeland High School and Huron Valley School District
and how it is structured there are a few things that are assumed and that
make the structure work and make it effective. The first is that the
organization is made to try to achieve goals and objectives and that these
goals must be met by the organization in order for it to function properly. I
understand that Lakeland High School has many goals and objectives that
they must meet each year and that these goals are handed down from the
administration in Huron Valley School district. These goals are then passed
down from the administrators of Lakeland High School to the department
heads of each school and then to the teachers. It is important to understand
that, myself as a teacher, I have many goals that need to be met and that I
am working at finishing these and getting these accomplished during the
year. But I must also remember that these goals and objectives come from
the administration and from central office and that many of the goals that
the district has will never involve or concern me. I also must realize that the
structure of Huron Valley School district and Lakeland High School are very
differentiated and that the positions that are created and used are meant to
serve a purpose to get different objectives accomplished. Also, through this
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differentiation there is also the integration of these goals and objectives and
this can be very hard and difficult to maneuver and to successfully
accomplish. There is a lot of tension between the differentiation and
integration of the policies that a district tries to mandate and set forth.
Because of this tension there can be a great amount of conflict that can arise
and many positions in the organization can become disinterested or angry
with other positions in the district.
In addition to this, the vertical and lateral integration of the specific

tasks that a district must put forth can also become very complicated and
this can be very hard to coordinate. In Bolman and Deal, they point out that
performance becomes enhanced through appropriate division of labor (2008,
p.47). Because of this the division of labor must be utilized in a way so that
the work is done efficiently and competently. To do this well, the work must
be integrated in a vertical and lateral fashion so that the performance is
enhanced and it is done in a timely manner. This has been true in Huron
Valley School District and Lakeland High School as this happened this
summer with the restructuring of the district with the K-12 curriculum
director positions. The district created two new curriculum positions that
were to be in charge of realigning the new curriculum that was put in place
by the state of Michigan. The first curriculum director was in charge of
elementary instruction and the second director was in charge of secondary
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instruction. In addition to this, the two directors created five new content
leader positions that were to be in charge of implementing the new
curriculum into the schools and making sure that these standards were being
used in the classroom throughout the district. These five positions were filled
with current teachers who were already employed with the district and had
many years teaching in the classroom and success with students and the
subject that they taught. This type of restructuring was controversial at first
and something new that administrators and teachers had not experienced in
years past. It was met with opposition and with pessimism. Many
administrators had to hire new teachers to take the place of the content
leaders and other teachers did not understand the role of the content leader
and how they would be integrated and differentiated into the districts
structure and framework. As the
year has progressed, teachers have become more familiar and have a better
understanding of what the content leaders are trying to accomplish. In
Bolman and Deal, this idea is expressed when they say that rationality must
prevail over personal agendas and other pressures (2008, p.41). I believe
that this has happened and that a rational thought process has been made
known to the organization and that the staff in this organization better
understand what is happening in the district.
HUMAN RESOURCES FRAME
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Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in
your life(Confucius, 2015).
In the second part of Bolman and Deal, the organization is examined

using the frame of human resources. This can be very different from looking
at it through the structure frame because this focus takes on more of a
personal approach where the structural frame is more informal and does not
affect individuals as personally as at the human resource level. In the
following reflection, I will look at how organizations treat their employees
from a human resources level and how Lakeland High School treats their
employees at this same level.
The first thing we must look at when viewing an organization from the
human resource lens is to examine if the organization sees its people as it
most important asset. If this is true then this organization is a healthy one
that values what its people or workers do. The organization makes sure to
invest in these people and to make it easier for these people to
work and get their jobs done. The alternative approach to this type of
thought is for an organization to think of its people as a usable resource.
Another way to say this is that the organization exploits it people and uses
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them just so that it can get as much as it can from its employees. In
Lakeland High School and at the Huron Valley School district I believe that
this organization is more towards the philosophy of treating people as an
asset. If this were a scale with 0 being the thought of exploiting people and a
10 of using people as an asset, I would place this organization at a 7. I do
believe that this organization does a great job of utilizing and encouraging
the workers that help run this district. I believe that they look at the people
as an investment and they value these people as much as possible because
they are the founding force and substance of the organization. The reason I
did not place the organization at a 10 however, is because I do believe that
there is an underlying thought in the district that teachers are replaceable
and that other teachers can come in and do an adequate job. I also believe
that this is the thought at Lakeland High School and that many
administrators believe that the people are not a total asset but are purely
there to be used in a way to make the organization run. This is contrary to
the views held at Nucor, where the employees there saw their job as more
than just work. To the employees at Nucor they had a sense of pride when it
came to their daily duties (Bolman & Deal, 2008, p.120). The reason that
they thought this was because the employees were encouraged and
informed on how to make creative and intelligent decisions when it came to
making the workplace better. Because of this, the employees saw many of
their thoughts and ideas get used by the company to help the company
become better, and in the end, make more money.
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Another idea when looking at the human resources frame is that there
are two different ways that organizations treat their employees and view
them. The two theories are Theory X and Theory Y (Bolman & Deal, 2008,
p.125). Theory X looks at employees as lazy and passive and unable to do
their work without some type of extrinsic motivation. Managers do not have
a high opinion of their employees in Theory X and they try to maintain
control by threatening their employees or handing out punishment. This type
of theory does not lead to high productivity and in the end causes the
employees to be very dissatisfied with their jobs. The other type of theory,
Theory Y, is the refreshing alternative that looks at employees in a positive
light. The managers in this theory look at their employees as competent,
creative and imaginative. They also try to manage so that individuals can
achieve their own goals and are motivated by intrinsic rewards. One of these
intrinsic rewards is seeing the organization flourish and achieving more
success in the long run. This type of philosophy is also pointed out in the
book Drive. In this book, the author points out that there are three things
that really motivate an employee to do better. These three things are
autonomy, mastery and sense of purpose (Pink, 2011). Theory Y supports
this thought and all three of these aspects are met when Theory Y is put into
place. First, organizations let the employee work on their own and do what
they need to do. This is autonomous work that is productive. The second is
that employees can always try to master their profession and they can
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always work at getting better. This is seen in the mastery portion and it can
also be seen as improving every day in your work. The last aspect is a sense
of purpose. If the employee believes in what the organization is doing and
that it is serving a purpose to society, then the employees will be motivated
to see the organization
improve and to keep its effectiveness in the community. This is the sense of
purpose that is stated in the book Drive, and it is the reason that people do
what they do and why they do it. I believe that at Lakeland High School there
are some people who believe that the organization is run according to Theory
X and then there are some who believe that it is run according to Theory Y.
Because of this I would have to place my organization in the category of
Theory X. Since some people believe that the organization is run with a tight
control and that there is constant supervision, these beliefs must be coming
from somewhere, and it must be from administration. I also believe that
administration lets some employees perform to the philosophical ideas of
Theory Y and gives them the freedom to do this in a way that promotes
success and ingenuity to that individual. I think that these employees are
granted this theory because they have proven that they can be trusted and
have shown to have a strong work ethic where they place the organization
first. However, if the human resources office changed their hiring practices
and brought in employees who they believed already had a strong work
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ethic, then maybe the entire school could be thought of as Theory Y

employees by administration.
I am fascinated by the idea of motivation and why employees do what
they do. I believe that it does boil down to the three ideas mentioned above.
Myself, personally I love teaching in my school and district because I have
such autonomy to make my classroom and my instruction the way that I
want to and I can customize it to my own philosophy and ideals as an
educator. I also realize that if a student does not learn then it is me, who is
ultimately responsible, for trying to get that student to do better and to
become motivated. The second part is also very
true for myself and I believe is the true essence as to why I love what I do.
This part is the idea of mastery and becoming better every day. For the past
three years I have noticed that I have had more drive and motivation and the
reason for this is that I am constantly trying to become better every day and
I want to improve my pedagogical techniques. I notice that the more work I
put into my profession and the more I strive for greater attention to detail,
the better I become. It really inspires me to get up every day and go to work
so that I can become even more efficient than the day before. Lastly, a sense
of purpose is the final idea that drives a person and I believe that this affects
me as well. I know that by being a teacher I am doing something for the
greater good of society and that I am helping young adults become effective
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citizens who will be productive and live happy lives when they become
adults. I know that I am doing something good and pure and that it is a noble
profession that only has positive outcomes and effects. I also find it
fascinating that I am also driven in my golf game as well, because of these
three aspects. I see that the reason is because golf is autonomous, you can
always get better, and it gives you a somewhat sense of purpose as an
athlete. But in the area of sense of purpose, that is where golf is lacking and
where my profession has a superior edge. It is the reason I believe as to why
I would not be able to golf all day long because I would lose my sense of
purpose as helping out the community and helping out my fellow man or
woman. I also think it is the reason as to why when many men and women
retire to golf all day long, they lose their sense of purpose and they become
very bored and disenchanted.
The frame of human resources was looked at according to Bolman and

Deal and this was a different look at organizations than that of structure.
First, an organization looks at its employees as either assets or exploits.
Secondly, an organization uses either Theory X or Theory Y to manage its
employees. Finally, we looked at how Lakeland High School and Huron Valley
School District treats its employees and views them at the human resource
level.
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POLITICAL FRAME
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that
you end up being governed by your inferiors (Plato,2015).
The political frame of a school and district can be very messy and can
cause employees and community members to shy away from being involved
or to think of the process as evil. The truth is, however, that the political
frame of any organization is a necessary one and is the lay of the land and
a very common practice. Politics is essential for getting things done and to
make the organization more effective. There is always going to be politics in
any organization and everyone must accept this and understand that it is
human nature and it is how people interact and get their agenda pushed and
accepted by the masses. Usually the people who are against politics in an
organization are the ones who find that their thoughts and ideals are not
being used or accepted in the organization. So, in turn, they resort to bad
mouthing the politics process in the organization and look at it as a black eye
or a sore spot. Either that or many people who dont want to put the work
and effort in to try to push their plan or program will
account for its failure of implementation to the fact that politics was
involved. While this is true, the individual should have realized that politics
will always be in place for getting a program to be accepted and it will
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always be at the forefront for any program or plan that needs to be adopted
or accepted. To say that one will merely give up and not try because of
politics is essentially saying one is giving up because they do not want to try.
Politics is and will always be a part of every organization until the end of
time. Politics is in schools, churches, businesses and even family structures.
In order to be successful as a politician in any organization you must
know how to navigate the terrain and go in the right direction so that you
can make the strides you are looking for. A few things that you must do are
to set goals, map the terrain, network, build teams and negotiate. This is
essential to be successful in getting ahead and ensuring that many of your
plans will get accepted and that you will make strides in your career or
agenda. You must understand that doing this is not a seedy type of practice
but is instead a way of life. Some other assumptions that must be made in
the political frame are that every person you come into contact with will
have different goals and ideas. You must understand that they are working
for a different purpose and are under a different set of beliefs than you are.
You must navigate through this carefully and seek first to understand them
before you can begin to ask them to help you with your plan of action. You
must also realize that you will have to help these members out by giving and
taking and by helping them get their goals as well. Another assumption in
the political frame is that politics is all about who gets what. Resources are
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scarce and the organization must determine who is going to get which
portion or percentage of these said resources (Bolman & Deal, 2008, p.195).
This can cause conflict and it can cause individuals and groups to get angry
and to hold grudges. At the end of the day you must realize that this is what
each group is striving for and it is what politics is all about. The resources
must be given out and it must be determined by the organization as to who
will get them.
Coalitions are a part of politics and it is important to understand these
groups. A coalition is a club that you are trying to get into and you are
looking for acceptance. When you are accepted into this club you are then
give power to make things happen. The reason you have power is because
you are given power by others in the coalition and you are then able to make
decisions and you are able to get things done. A coalition can be messy,
calculated, fluid, and ever changing. In a coalition there are sources of power
that can take over this group and can have social control. Some types are
authority, personal power, reputation and symbols that have meaning
(Bolman & Deal, 2008, p.204). The distribution of power is one that can be
over-bounded or under-bounded and it can define an organization as to how
they run the organization and to how things get done (Bolman & Deal, 2008,
p.205). Coalitions are instrumental in the politics of the organization and
define the underlying feeling of the organization and how it operates in
regards to decisions being made. In an over-bounded distribution of power,
the power is distributed from top to bottom. The most powerful people in the
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organization distribute the power this way and make decisions as to who will
get the power. In an under-bounded system the power has loose control and
it diffuses throughout the whole organization so that certain individuals or
groups can have this level of power and operate efficiently.
At Lakeland High School and Huron Valley, the power is definitely an
over-bounded system where power is at the top and it is distributed to the
bottom. There are many groups at Lakeland High School that are scavenging
for resources and our trying to get their political agenda taken care of and
passed. Politics is happening everywhere at the district level and where this
is evident is in the shake-up of the positions at central office this year. Two
new positions were created and formed within the curriculum department.
The assistant superintendent, it is believed, was forced to resign and new
positions were created. Once these new positions were formed these two
new curriculum directors then created five new positions for teacher leaders.
Their positions were created to be content leaders for the district and they
were given half days to teach in the classroom and the other half was
designed for them to assist teachers in implementing the new state
curriculum. In addition to this, the athletic department was also realigned
this year with a district athletic director position being created that had
never existed before. These new positions caught many people off guard and
it was a sure sign of the politics that were taking place in the district and the
different groups that were vying for the resources that were scarce. The
curriculum department and the athletic departments showed that they have
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a large political impact on the district and the school and that they have
formed strong coalitions with many of the other groups in power. This power
is being allocated tothem and they are using this power to get many things
accomplished and to make differences in the district and at Lakeland High
School.
SYMBOLIC FRAME
Mickey Mouse is, to me, a symbol of independence. He was a means to an
end (Walt Disney,2015).
The symbolic frame is one that deals with the organizations culture and
the symbols that the organization uses. The culture of an organization is not
something that you turn on and off but instead it can change because of
many different things. It could change because of a switch in leadership,
layoffs or even catastrophic events such as Hurricane Katrina or the
bombings in Paris. The culture however is a set of beliefs and values that
have developed over time and are instrumental in how an organization does
things (Bolman & Deal, 2008, p.255). Because of this culture many symbols
are made to represent the culture and can be instrumental in conveying the
message of what the organization believes in and how it believes business
should be conducted. Just look at a few symbols in the business world to see
what some organizations feel passionately about when it comes to the
nature of their business. The Nike Swoosh indicates that you should Just Do
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It and get things done in a timely manner. The Merrill Lynch Bull represents
the idea that there is a positive trend in the stock market. The Apple Icon,
which has a bite taken out of it, represents that human thought and activity
is being taken in a new path and points towards the future. In all of these
symbols, the culture of the organization is being translated and a message is
being conveyed to the people who work in the organization as well as to the
consumers of the products from these organizations.
The culture of an organization can be very important but there are

many things that go into this culture that influence it. Some of these factors
are specific examples, special language and stories that shape a groups
purpose and identity (Bolman & Deal, 2008, p.259). Some stories can exist in
an organization for many years even after the people who went through the
actual scenario are gone. But their story can play an important part in
determining and setting the culture of the organization. At Lakeland High
School, this is the case with many stories that are still conveyed in the
science department. There are stories about past science teachers and how
they conducted their business in the classroom and in union meetings. It is
believed that these teachers were very strong union representatives and that
as teachers we should strive to be as strong as they were when negotiating
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our contracts. These teachers have long been gone but their stories serve a
purpose and define a culture in the building.
The organization can also be thought of as having drama when it
comes to culture and symbols. A way to avoid this drama as an organization
is to do many different activities that will build the organization up and
create a sense of unity and cohesion in the building. Some functions that
serve a larger purpose into creating this cohesion are giving space so people
can do their jobs, expressing concerns, giving rules and cues for proper
behavior and helping employees when they are confused (Bolman & Deal,
2008, p.284). When this is done, drama that can exist at an organizational
level can be lessened and the theatrical parts of the system can be
minimized in a way that employees can become more effective.
At Lakeland High School and Huron Valley, our culture is one that
values education but also wants to save money and wants to have excess
funds saved in cases of a rainy day. Athletics are also important in our
district but staying fiscally responsible is the key principle that is the
backbone to all of our decisions. Our central value is always to do more with
less, and this goes for the employees as well as the community. Our district
believes that we can save money while at the same time we can provide a
quality education to everyone. The reason that this is prevalent is because
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our district spends more time focusing on the budget rather than good
instructional practices and when they do promote strong practices they
always look for cost-cutting measures that will make the program feasible. I
believe that our district needs to focus more on strong instructional
practices and then worry about the cost after they have determined which
pedagogical practices will be the most effective. If our district puts this
practice first, then they will see a growth and improvement in overall test
scores, and in turn more money will flow in because of the reputation and
respect that the district will receive.
PLAN OF ACTION
The recommendation that I have for Lakeland High School and for
Huron Valley School District takes place in the structural frame. I will give a
recommendation and a plan of action for this frame and I will explain how I
think this will benefit the organization. First, the structural frame I believe
needs to be changed in how job duties are delegated and used at Lakeland
High School. My recommendation is that the vertical and lateral integration
in Lakeland High School
needs to be changed when it comes to the different departments in the high

school and the different subject areas. My recommendation is that instead of
having department heads in charge of each subject area I believe that we
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should have assistant principals in charge of 3 to 4 subject areas each and

that they should deal with teachers and their best practices in ways that they
think will work best. I think that these assistant principals should be
administrators who were excellent in the classroom and that they should
show teachers in the different departments the best way to run their
classroom and the best teaching practices that should be used in each
department. I believe that if an administrator is heading these meetings with
the department then more open communication would take place between
teachers and administrators and that it would become more transparent as
to what administration was looking for. I also believe that teachers would be
held more accountable for what they were doing in the classroom and that
they would improve instruction at a greater rate and they would also see
improvements in test scores and classroom efficiency. Changing this
structure would be a simple change but I know that it would still come with
some problems and dilemmas. First, these assistant principals would have to
deal with discipline issues less so that they could run department meetings
and so that they could work with individual teachers in their classroom.
Because of this issue, I believe that the dean of students would be in charge
of all discipline issues and would report directly to the principal on these
matters. Of course the dean would not be able to take care of all discipline
issues but this would definitely clear up some time for the assistant
principals to put their time towards helping improve instruction.
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In conclusion, I recommend that Lakeland High School should look at

the structural frame in order to improve some pedagogical practices in the
school and in the individual classrooms. This can be done by moving the
assistant principals to the department chairs of multiple subject areas and
letting them dictate what type of changes and regulations they would like to
see. All four frames are evident in Lakeland High School and Huron Valley
School District and each one has been examined as to how it is used and
implemented in this organization. If these four frames are examined and are
improved in this district then I believe that Lakeland High School and Huron
Valley School District would undergo extreme growth.
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References
Arthur Helps. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved November 10, 2015, from

BrainyQuote.com
Web site:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/arthurhelp120585.htm
Bolman, L.G & Deal, T.E. (2008). Reframing Organizations. San Francisco,
CA: Jossey-Bass
Confucius. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved November 10, 2015, from

BrainyQuote.com
Web site:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/c/confucius134717.html
Pink, D.H. (2011). Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. New
York, NY:
Riverhead Books
Plato. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved November 20, 2015, from
BrainyQuote.com Web site:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/p/plato101112.html
Walt Disney. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved November 20, 2015, from
BrainyQuote.com
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Web site:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/waltdisney131656.html

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From: Christopher M. Carlson, Teacher (Lakeland High School)

Subject: Reframing Organizations (Structural Frame)

In Bolman and Deals Reframing Organizations, four frames are

In a balanced organization, working towards a common objective, there

the top to bottom. It is also essential to look at an organization with this

In addition to this, the vertical and lateral integration of the specific

In the second part of Bolman and Deal, the organization is examined

ethic, then maybe the entire school could be thought of as Theory Y

The frame of human resources was looked at according to Bolman and

The culture of an organization can be very important but there are

needs to be changed when it comes to the different departments in the high

should have assistant principals in charge of 3 to 4 subject areas each and

In conclusion, I recommend that Lakeland High School should look at

Arthur Helps. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved November 10, 2015, from

Confucius. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved November 10, 2015, from

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