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Case Study on Biblical Integration
Tony O. Davila
School of Business, Liberty University
Case Study on Biblical Integration
John 7:24 instructs individuals to judge not based on appearances but on facts and
wisdom. This case study examines Ellen’s decision to dismiss Ralph following multiple corrective
actions aligned with the Boston Bank’s human resources regulations. The study explores the
roles and responsibilities of the employee, management, and organization in a service-oriented
workplace. Ralph, a Boston Bank employee, transferred from a small bank branch to a larger
one after six years of satisfactory performance. Four years later, he applied for an Assistant
Branch Manager position. The Branch Manager, Ellen, initially indicated he wasn't ready but
later promoted him due to a lack of other candidates. She outlined expectations such as
diligence, employee development, and fair treatment. Despite receiving guidance, Ralph's
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performance and leadership declined post-promotion. Following informal and formal warnings,
his continued lack of improvement resulted in termination.
As you consider this case from the perspective of God’s character, was this situation handled
properly?
Cornell (2024) suggests that in Hebrew scripture, God's character acts on desires and
insecurities, creating humans in His image with knowledge of good and evil. This led to God
expelling humans from the garden to become mortals with a lifespan of 120 years. Ralph may
have faced similar insecurities at Ellen’s branch, where he was eager to follow his desires to get
promoted. He knew that he lacked education and experience to properly lead the employees to
perform at their potential, and this may have resulted in insecurities that contributed to the
decline in his job performance and poor leadership for his people. Puskulluoglu et al. (2019)
noted that for decades, the Turkish education system selected educational supervisors based on
basic educational levels and political affiliations, leading to unqualified appointments. Recent
changes now require selection based on education level, work experience in education, and
supervisory experience. In the study case, Boston Bank’s requirements for Assistant Branch
Manager qualifications are unclear, but Ellen promotes under-qualified Ralph to Assistant
Branch Manager position after they ran out of qualified applicants on the candidates list.
However, the company did not follow up with Ralph to make sure he was trained. The
organizational responsibility is to ensure employees are fully qualified to support the
organization's mission.
Was this situation handled correctly without considering God’s character?
In this case study, the issues raised by Ralph, Ellen and Boston Bank represent a situation
that is common to contemporary human resources management, recruiting, training,
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mentoring, and retention. For example, Boston Bank recruited a quality worker who has served
his branch well as a worker. Ralph’s career goals for promotion to Assistant Branch Manager
after ten years of service did not prepare him well enough as Ellen had stated, but he was
promoted due to lack of other qualified candidates. The bank’s management should have
followed up with training courses and mentoring to help Ralph develop the skills and leadership
needed to perform his new duties successfully. According to Anugrah et al. (2024), the
fundamental practice in human resources is to recruit competent workers who meet the
company's desired qualifications. However, it is also acknowledged that success in human
resource management hinges on the career development of employees within the company.
Additionally, Yusriani (2024) highlights that globalization, digitalization, and technological
advancements significantly impact Human Resource Management (HRM) by contributing to
employee skill development and performance enhancement. This is particularly relevant to
service-oriented work sectors, where employee engagement and psychological empowerment
are crucial for training and retaining top talent.
Is there anything you would have done differently as Ralph’s supervisor?
In reviewing Ralph’s situation as a supervisor, everyone would have benefitted from him
by asking Ralph to take training courses appropriate for the new branch manager and
mentoring him as a new supervisor. I would have tasked him to review and learn about the
company’s mission, goals, and relevant policies, including any management and supervisory
responsibilities regarding HRM policies to make sure he had a full opportunity to renew his
knowledge of the company and the branch for his new position. In support of his leadership
development, I would have him shadow another leader at a similar level of responsibility to
better prepare for his new role. Incidentally, Dey et al. (2021) states that leaders in the modern
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workplace need to be empathetic to the employees’ needs to foster value and growth. Clear
top-down communication about policies and strategies is essential for organizational efficiency.
Putri & Soelistya (2024) state that work stress can cause physical and psychological imbalances
and impacts, triggered by factors such as heavy workloads, lack of management attention,
unclear responsibilities, interpersonal problems, career stagnation, and organizational structure
dynamics. I would also welcome his own thoughts during verbal counseling, because it is
important to ask Ralph if there were any underlying facts he would like to share with me so I
can gain his perspective on all issues to help develop recovery plan that will benefit everyone
and organization.
Where is the evidence, both from the Bible and contemporary literature, for your responses?
I conclude that Ralph’s situation was managed as well as it could based on each
circumstance. The evidence for each question is supported with research findings from various
HRM and associated supervisory development topics along with both biblical and contemporary
examples and findings. Overall, the circumstances with Ralph and Boston Bank were inevitable
due to the failing employee’s behavior and performance.
References
Anugrah, C. M. R., Suciati, F., Ruswandi, W., & Patandung, H. (2024). Human Resource
Management in the Digital Era: Case Study of Recruitment and Career Development in
the Indonesian Banking Sector. Dinasti International Journal of Education Management
& Social Science, 5(6), 1950–1955. https://doi.org/10.38035/dijemss.v5i6.2994
Cornell, C. (2024), Divine Haecceity: Reclaiming the Literary Character of God in Hebrew
Scripture with Rosenzweig and Miskotte. The Expository Times, 135(8).
https://doi.org/10.1177/00145246241244652
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Dey, R., Dixit, S., Mandumpala, R. D., & Chaudhary, S. X. (2021). The Impact of Leadership Values
on the Resilience of Employees in the New Normal. Turkish Online Journal of
Qualitative Inquiry, 12(7), 8716–8725.
King James Bible (2017). King James Bible Online. https://kingjamesbibleonline.org/
(Original work published 1769)
Puskulluoglu, E. I., Anasiz, B. T., & Saglam, A. C. (2019). C. Educational Process:
International Journal, 8(1), 44–58.
Putri, I. R., & Soelistya, D. (2024). Identification of Work Stress, and Training in Influencing
Employee Performance at PT Semen Indonesia Based on Descriptive Statistical
Review. Dinasti International Journal of Education Management & Social Science, 5(6),
2243–2254. https://doi.org/10.38035/dijemss.v5i6.2997
Yusriani, S., Rekarti, E., Patiro, S. P. S., & Aftabi, D. (2024). Human Resource
Management and Skill Development in the Service Sector within the Framework of the
SDGs: A Study on Distribution Companies in Denmark and Germany. Dinasti
International Journal of Digital Business Management (DIJDBM), 5(6), 1224–1232.
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https://doi.org/10.38035/dijdbm.v5i6.3544
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Case Study on Biblical Integration: Annotated Bibliography
Anugrah, C. M. R., Suciati, F., Ruswandi, W., & Patandung, H. (2024). Human Resource
Management in the Digital Era: Case Study of Recruitment and Career Development in
the Indonesian Banking Sector. Dinasti International Journal of Education Management
& Social Science, 5(6), 1950–1955. https://doi.org/10.38035/dijemss.v5i6.2994 In this
digital era, companies must be able to adapt and have a strategy so as not to be
disturbed by current developments, one of which is managing and paying attention to
the quality of human resources. It all starts with quality recruitment patterns and
appropriate career development, including in the banking sector. The aim of this
research is to find out how human resources are managed, especially patterns of worker
recruitment and career development conducted by the banking sector in Indonesia. The
research results show that there are similarities in the recruitment and career
development pattern, namely the use of digital technology in recruitment and career
development, digital skills possessed by workers, and competency-based career
development. There are also several differences, including the recruitment methods
used and career development programs, which are influenced by the company's
strategic focus. The findings were good to support the importance of human resources
management from recruiting to development and retention. The authors presented
unique banking companies use of digital technology to aid in recruitment, career
development and retention based on individual companies’ strategic goals. The article
provides strategy, methodology and execution of a purposebuilt human resource
management that spans from recruitment search, hiring, development, and retention as
Boston Bank has attempted but failed. This article was found using Education Resource
Ultimate database.
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Cornell, C. (2024), Divine Haecceity: Reclaiming the Literary Character of God in Hebrew
Scripture with Rosenzweig and Miskotte. The Expository Times, 135(8).
https://doi.org/10.1177/00145246241244652
This article begins by summarizing the findings of literary scholarship on the character of
God in Hebrew Scripture. Scholars such as Jack Miles, W. Lee Humphreys, and Avivah
Zornberg identify a 'round character' in biblical texts—a divine persona driven by specific
desires, wants, and insecurities. The second section outlines several reasons why
constructive Christian theology often regards this literary portrayal of God as impractical.
The third section presents an argument for the applicability of the God-character in
Christian theology. The concept of haecceity—Latin for this-ness—serves as a central
theme, drawing upon the work of twentieth-century thinkers Franz Rosenzweig and K.
H. Miskotte. The quality of this publication for biblical implication to human resource
management study case is adequate. The author presents a unique insight to biblical
explanation of God and his creation, human. God then reacts to his insecurities by
changing his mind on immortality by limiting human lifespan and then expels human
from the garden for his own self-preservation. The article leverages the likeness of
human its creator, God, then shows human like behavior from God to reduce the human
lifespan and protects his image to overcome his insecurities and anxiety just as Ralph did
in the case study. This article was found using the Atla Religion Database with AtlaSerials
PLUS.
Dey, R., Dixit, S., Mandumpala, R. D., & Chaudhary, S. X. (2021). The Impact of Leadership Values
on the Resilience of Employees in the New Normal. Turkish Online Journal of Qualitative Inquiry,
12(7), 8716–8725.
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This study aims to understand the impact of leadership on the resilience of the
employees working in organizations. It further tries to understand the difference in the
coping resilience within genders and dissimilar roles in the organization. Since an early
age, Indian society pushes men to shoulder responsibility, and they are expected to be
strong during adverse situations. Executives displayed a lower resilience as compared to
the managerial and senior management roles. Thus, leaders should possess the ability to
be empathetic, should be able to communicate effectively to the employees and display
behavior to stabilize the organization during tough times to build a resilient organization.
The quality of this publication to learn about leadership and employee resilience with
culture, gender and age was adequate. The author presents findings in workforce
resilience based on organizational hierarchy with a focus on communications and
empathy as the foundation for a stable and effective organization. The article provided
insight to workplace leadership traits and its impacts to developing a resilient workforce
which is key to HRM. These developmental concepts support how Ralph’s supervisory
development should have been supported by Ellen and Boston Bank’s HRM team. This
article was found using an Education Research Complete database.
King James Bible (2017). King James Bible Online. https://kingjamesbibleonline.org/
(Original work published 1769)
The King James Bible online version provides a digitized, searchable format of the text. It
includes both Old and New Testaments, along with verse-by-verse breakdowns. This
source is useful for biblical studies, theological research, and literary analysis. The
website allows users to compare verses, explore concordances, and access historical
context. However, since it is an online platform, credibility depends on its adherence to
the original 1611 and 1769 versions. This source will be valuable for learning biblical
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leadership references in historical literature. The passage in King James Version (KJV) of
the Bible presents a lesson for human resource management and organization
leadership that is valuable to this study case. The passage from John 7:24 instructs
individuals to judge not based on appearances but on facts and wisdom. In reference to
the case study, it implies that people should not make quick judgement or decision
based only on what you may have heard or seen, but look for the facts and truth or
reasoning behind the word or act and apply your own wisdom to make the judgement
or decision. It speaks to how Ellen has taken her time to escalate the corrective actions
that eventually lead to dismissal for Ralph. It is also applicable to Ralph in his deliberate
improvements over short periods of time before his performance and leadership begin
to slip. This article was found using google search.
Puskulluoglu, E. I., Anasiz, B. T., & Saglam, A. C. (2019). C. Educational Process:
International Journal, 8(1), 44–58.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the processes of supervisor selection, training
and assignment in the Turkish education system. The root of educational supervision
stretches back to the pre-Republic period of Turkey when the candidates must have
experience in teaching as the first condition. Today, both the structure of supervision
and the processes of supervisor selection, training and assignment were exposed to a
considerable level of change through the introduction of different practices. Changes
were introduced in the structure of supervision, processes of supervisor selection,
training and assignment regulated by law, governmental decrees and bylaws.
Supervisors first need to meet certain application conditions, according to the
announced criteria, and then they could apply for vice-supervisor positions. After three
years of training, they could take the proficiency exams held by the Ministry of National
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Education and, if successful, earn the right to become a supervisor. The quality of this
publication was adequate to learn about Turkish education department’s supervisor
selection processes from its inception before 1950. The authors present a unique insight
to historical appointment system that was like the way God has appointed his leaders in
the bible. The article draws lessons on lack of standards and increased potential for
cronyism where important supervisory position is often filled with unqualified
candidates without any follow-on training and mentoring to ensure success for
organization and candidate. This article was found using the Education Resources
Information Center database.
Putri, I. R., & Soelistya, D. (2024). Identification of Work Stress, and Training in Influencing
Employee Performance at PT Semen Indonesia Based on Descriptive Statistical
Review. Dinasti International Journal of Education Management & Social Science, 5(6),
2243–2254. https://doi.org/10.38035/dijemss.v5i6.2997
This study aims to identify work stress, training, and employee performance using a
questionnaire filled out by employees. The questionnaire measured employees'
perceptions of work stress and the training they received, as well as an evaluation of
their performance. The results showed that the level of employee work stress was in the
"Moderately" category, while the level of training was in the "agree" category. The
employee performance is in the "agree" category. Analysis shows that the lowest
indicator of work stress is work targets that are considered to exceed employee abilities,
while the highest indicator of training is training material delivered in an interesting way.
Results concluded that if there is a significant level of job stress, the training can improve
employee performance. The quality of this publication to learn about employee
performance related to work stress and training is good. The authors presented a
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research study case that compared the relationships between work stress and training
to overall performance of the employees. The article explains the relationship between
workplace stress and training conducted by the organization to overall employee
performance. This relationship study is directly applicable to how Ralph’s workplace
stress and lack of training impacted his employee management and work performance.
This article was found using Education Source Ultimate database.
Yusriani, S., Rekarti, E., Patiro, S. P. S., & Aftabi, D. (2024). Human Resource
Management and Skill Development in the Service Sector within the Framework of the
SDGs: A Study on Distribution Companies in Denmark and Germany. Dinasti
International Journal of Digital Business Management (DIJDBM), 5(6), 1224–1232.
https://doi.org/10.38035/dijdbm.v5i6.3544
This study analyzes the influence of human resource management on the development
of work competencies among administrative staff in distribution companies in Denmark
and Germany. The research focuses on how effective talent management contributes to
the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 8, which promotes decent work and
economic growth. A quantitative research method was applied, using a non-
experimental, cross-sectional design. The results showed a significant impact of human
resource management on the improvement of work competencies, as indicated by the
statistical model. The study concludes that proper human resource management can
enhance employee skills and performance, contributing to organizational growth and
sustainability. The quality of this publication to learn about talent management and
work competencies based on human resources management was good. The authors
provided an insight based on two multinational companies’ talent management and
retention program. The article showed a significant impact of well operating human
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resource management on the improvement of workplace competencies. The lessons on
the relationship between enhanced employee skills and performance development to
organizational growth and sustainability is directly relevant to the case study. This
article was found using Business
Source Ultimate database.
