I.

FACTS OF THE CASE

 Lawrence, 42 years old, works in Innovatio, Incorporation for 15 years.
 The name of his boss/marketing director is Kim Young Chung.
 Kim had been Lawrence’s boss for only six months.
 The president of the said company was the brother-in-law of Kim Young Chung.
 Lawrence was independent in his actions. He would go ahead to do what he thought is
good for the company.
 The MP3 players which are currently in demand was once a recommendation of
Lawrence to the company five years ago but was ignored.
 Lawrence felt he wanted change.
 Lawrence emailed his application to the mysterious address provided applying for sales
position, not knowing that the said recruitment is from their own company only.
 One week later, Kim summoned Lawrence to his room and unintentionally knew that
Lawrence longed to apply for another position.
 Kim emphasized how Lawrence was engaged in "hakusang", and how he violates the
Korean social system which permits no personal independence or individual actions,
concluding Lawrence disloyalty.
 Kim, with the agreement of the human resources director at headquarters, asked
Lawrence to resign with full compensation according to the law or else they'll terminate
his service.
 At noon, he tendered his resignation.
 At 5 pm, he took one last look at the fantastic view of the blue sea yonder and left the
office for the last time
 The local employees of Innovatio shed a silent tear for their Senior Manager whom they
respected and loved.
 Lawrence felt betrayed by the company and its top officers.
II. POINT OF VIEW
"It's here you resign or we terminate your service. The choice is yours."-Kim Young
Chung/Marketing Director
III. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The behavior of Lawrence towards his boss is inappropriate: taking decisions by himself
and applying for another job without his boss knowing is considered over-empowerment. Is
firing him, which was a decision initiated by Kim, a fair and right decision to make for the
company?

IV. OBJECTIVES
 To prove that the decision initiated by Kim as the marketing director is right and fairly
made.
 To know who is to be blamed for causing this conflict.
V. AREAS OF CONSIDERATION
STRENGTH/S
 Has a clear evidence that Lawrence is
engaged in hakusang and is violating
the Korean social system by being so
independent in his actions and would
go ahead to do what he thought is good
for the company.
 He longed changes and applied for a
sales position as another job, without
considering that he is still an employee
of a certain company, the Innovatio.
OPPORTUNITY/IES
 The company follows the Korean
culture which emphasizes that loyalty
of every employee to his company is a
must. The company has an opportunity
to have a loyal employee.
 The Korean social system is evident for
not permitting personal independence
or individual action. The company has
an opportunity to have a well-
associated employee, someone who
shares vision with other employees and
top officers.
VI. ALTERNATIVE COURSES OF ACTION
1. Just let Lawrence resign and leave the company.
Pros: There will be no threat in the company. There will be a harmonious environment.
The boss will be at peace.
Cons: No one can replace the capabilities and abilities of Lawrence. Loss of customers is
a possibility.
WEAKNESS/ES
 Kim Young Chung became a
Marketing Director for only six
months, making him less experienced
than Lawrence.
 Kim Young Chung has this feeling of
envy towards Lawrence’s remuneration,
a potential sign of bias.
 The relationship between Lawrence and
his boss is not good, a possible sign of
Lawrence’s longing to changes and
inappropriate behavior.
 The President is the brother-in-law of
Kim Young Chung, making Kim so
confident and less concerned in making
hasty decisions.
 Kim Young Chung didn't gave
Lawrence an enough chance to defend
his part.
THREAT/S
 Lawrence absence means a slowly but
continuously dropped of loyal and
potential customers statistics.
 Without Lawrence’s expertise, building
strong relationship with the customers
might become difficult, resulting to low
sales.
 There will be no other manager that can
replace the capabilities and abilities of
Lawrence.
 Lawrence being reconsidered in the
company, still being a Senior Manager
might also lead to more dissatisfaction
and low quality outputs.
2. The company must implement a teambuilding training for all the employees within the
workplace once every two months.
Pros: All employees will create a strong bond and learn to build trust with each other.
Cons: Need big amount of budget and time-consuming.
3. The company must conduct an annual orientation about the rules and policies to be followed
with old and new employees.
Pros: Each employee will have a clear grasp about the said rules and learn to value and
remember it unconsciously if repeatedly reminded.
Cons: Time-consuming
4. Listen to the reasons of Lawrence first why he's acting and doing such inappropriate behavior
Pros: The problem may be fixed through the talking and listening process. The
relationship between Lawrence and his boss might turned out to be a better one.
Cons: Lawrence might think that the company really needs him, that’s why they are
doing everything to understand him and let him defend his part. If this happens, Lawrence might
continue his inappropriate behavior in the workplace which is closing business deals without the
idea of his boss.
5. Put Lawrence to the position he recently applied for.
Pros: Lawrence might be an effective sales person and increase the company’s stocks
and sales further.
Cons: Lawrence might continue his attitude which is making decisions without
consulting his boss and other staff.

VII. RECOMMENDATION
The company must implement a teambuilding training for all the employees within the
workplace once every two months. This is the best solution when both of the parties has its own
lacking. Lawrence inappropriate behavior is really evident but that only resulted because of what
the company did five years ago, as his recommendation was ignored. There is no open
relationship and strong bond between the employees and higher ups. The company really need to
enhance and trained them to have teamwork. What they need is trust for the success of their
company. In teambuilding, employees can get to know what kind of person or worker their
colleagues are. That’s the arena where they can do adjustments to suit each other. They can build
trust in that way and Korean social system will be followed.
VIII. CONCLUSION
Making Lawrence resigned is a right, fair and just decision for the company in that time
since Lawrence violations outweigh the factors that will reconsider him. Engaging in hakusang is
a major point that degrades him. He must know his limits since in an organization, hierarchy
must be observed. Though he is more experienced and is a senior, he must not do what he think
is good for the company himself. An organization has a common goal and one person cannot do
it all alone. The presence of Korean social system also provides a proof that Lawrence really is
not tolerable for his behavior such as doing things on his own. Though the president is the
brother-in-law of Kim, he did not use their personal connections just to agree with Lawrence
resignation. The president and the human resource director gives importance to the rules they
abide and when to recognize their limits.