BIBLICAL INTEGRATION EXERCISE CASE STUDY
Ralph Emerson was an employee of Boston
BIBLICAL INTEGRATION EXERCISE CASE STUDY
Ralph Emerson was an employee of Boston Bank. He started as a teller in the Roxbury Branch,
and was quickly promoted to the Customer Service Team Leader position due to his care and
concern for bank customers. At about the six year mark of employment, he transferred to a
second, larger location in Concord, in the same position.
Four years after the transfer, the Assistant Branch Manager position at the Concord Branch came
open. Ralph expressed interest in the position to the Branch Manager, Ellen. The manager
shared her concerns that Ralph was not fully ready for this new role, but promised to keep Ralph
in mind. A search to fill the position did not turn up any candidates more qualified than Ralph,
so he was selected for the position.
During the conversation about the promotion to Assistant Branch Manager, his supervisor
relayed clear expectations about areas where Ralph needed to raise his level of effort and results
to be successful in the new role. These included attention to detail, coaching and mentoring
employees under his leadership, and treating employees as favorably as he treated customers.
Ralph progressed well for a while. About six months after his promotion, Ellen began to hear
complaints from Ralph’s team. The issues were minor at first – a missed deadline or two,
transposed numbers on a report – but not long after came concerns from employees about
Ralph’s treatment of them. One example noted Ralph speaking harshly to an employee in front
of a bank customer.
Ellen discussed these concerns with Ralph. He denied some of the complaints. Others he
accepted as having happened but downplayed their significance. His supervisor insisted that
Ralph focus effort on overcoming the implied weaknesses and work to restore trust with his
subordinates.
Having taken his supervisor’s admonition seriously, Ralph’s attitude and actions improved over
the next half-year. However, complaints along the lines of the previous concerns resurfaced and
Ellen was forced to discuss these issues with Ralph. This conversation included a verbal
warning, the first step in the formal disciplinary process.
As it had in the previous year, the cycle of improvement and decline happened again over the
next year. Ellen told Ralph during their next conversation this was formal notice of a written
warning in compliance with the bank’s human resource policy manual and that improvements
must occur or termination may result. After approximately one more year, Ralph was terminated
due to recurring issues with his behavior and performance.
As you consider this case from the perspective of God’s character, was this situation handled
properly? Was this situation handled correctly without considering God’s character? Is there
anything you would have done differently as Ralph’s supervisor? Where is the evidence, both
from the Bible and contemporary literature, for your responses?