Phoenix Sister Cities’ Business Relations Committee From a Multi-Frame Perspective

This thesis project employs a four-frame evaluation from Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal’s book Reframing Organizations to ultimately suggest potential solutions and recommendations for how Phoenix Sister Cities and its Business Relations Committee can strengthen member engagement, increase the committee’s influence in the community, reinvigorate a greater sense of purpose in being a part of the committee. The paper begins with a description of the nonprofit organization Phoenix Sister Cities and its wide range of functions, in addition to its position within the larger Sister Cities community. Following this overview, an introduction and description of the Business Relations Committee is necessary to provide context for the multi-frame analysis. This description will include the structure of the committee as well as the current and past projects that the committee plays or has played a crucial role in. Next, using external research as well as personal testimony, I will discuss the main obstacle that the Business Relations Committee currently faces, which is cultivating engagement among all the members of the committee. After explaining Bolman and Deal’s four frames, I will use these frames to analyze the engagement of the Business Relations Committee members by looking at the challenge from a wide variety of perspectives. My recommendations that stem from the frame analysis include using stories and personal testimony to share the values of the committee with the community and to motivate fellow members to be more involved in the current committee projects. I also advise that committee leaders restructure the unit based on feedback from a distributed survey in order to identify members that can be given designated tasks moving forward. Lastly, I provide new project ideas for members to focus on in an effort to increase their belief in and devotion to the committee.