Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan

Cagayan de Oro City

CASE STUDY NUMBER 2:

THE CREDIT
CARD

Anna Azriffah Janary S. Guiling

Jimbo Fuentes, CPA, PhD

BA 23

June 27, 2019

1.
Question 1:
1. Was Elsie the innocent party or did she ask Robert to steal her card so that
she could get Pin Kiong in trouble?
In this case, it was neither directly stated nor does it mention that Elsie
had asked Robert to steal the card. In order to assess this question and prove
that although Elsie’s behavior towards Pin Kiong was undesirable, it is still not
right to accuse her of doing it on purpose. For this matter, I have two proofs.
Firstly, in whatever case, the basic foundation for investigations is “innocent
until proven guilty”. This concept doesn’t just apply to suspects but to victims
as well who are accused of doing the the misbehavior themselves. Although
Robert is Elsie’s direct subordinate and her close friend, there was no clear
and solid evidence mentioned in the case that can lead the situation as a
planned theft against Pin Kiong. Secondly, if Elsie and Robert really planned
all that happened, then there would be no real and believable reason as to
why Robert had to necessarily sneak in the office and steal the card. If
assuming that this theft was a mutual agreement between Elsie and Robert,
then the former could just easily pretend that her card is missing without
having the need to make Robert literally steal the card. Overall, although I
concede to the fact that Elsie’s behavior towards ex-convicts, particularly to
Pin Kiong, was horrible, there was also no denying that she was a victim of an
actual theft. A reasoning against my stance could also include: “Robert
couldn’t possibly know the passcode for Elsie’s ATM card which means that
she has given it to him to make transactions”. My answer to that is quite
simple. It is already established that Elsie and Robert are close friends.
Meaning, over the time that they have known each other, Robert slowly but
surely configured her password. Everything could just have been
circumstantial.

2. What action should the company take against Robert? Should it be a police
case?
The main and default response of a company towards a misdemeanor like
theft inside the organization is to put the suspect under their own disciplinary
action program, to pay the victim of how much was stolen away from her, and
basing on the extent of the misdemeanor, dismiss the employee who is
proven to be guilty. In this case, it is the company’s responsibility to
compensate Elsie because the theft happened under their supervision, being
an inside misbehavior. Recognizing that the suspect was the sales manager
of the company, it would be an absolutely poor decision to let him work
knowing that sales are very crucial and the company cannot take risk by
letting a man who was red-handedly caught as a thief handle the department.
This means that he either be moved to another lower position that doesn’t
necessarily require financial accountability and responsibility, or the company
should just fire him. Another choice also exists for Elsie. If she would like to
file a formal complaint against her co-worker, then she can. The law allows
her to do so. The reason for this is that a victim of whatever crime, petty or
not, has the right to sue that person who did the crime to them. This is a
general fact. The company has no power nor right to stop Elsie from suing
Robert in the legal court. So if she wants to involve the Police force, then she
most likely can.

3. What reward does Pin Kiong deserve and should Elsie at least apologize to
him?
From what happened, I firmly believe that Pin Kiong deserves a mandatory
reward from the company. This is because he was the one who had brought
justice upon the situation. It was obviously the company’s job and
responsibility to monitor situations and investigate demeanor that are
happening within the boundaries of their workplace. Since the company was
unable to fulfill this responsibility but shouldered by someone from the
employees, then I believe Pin Kiong should be given a reward which is not
necessarily cash but could also be recognition and appreciation from the
company. Pin Kiong, who was consecutively asked about the whereabouts of
Elsie’s stolen card and who was a constant subject to direct accusations
deserves to be given an apology. Elsie was completely bigoted against ex-
convicts. Throughout the case, it was obvious that she wasn’t really
comfortable working together with Pin Kiong and was in constant
apprehension towards him. She needs to apologize to him for her bigotry but
mostly on accusing him of stealing her ATM card with no solid basis other
than Kiong’s background of being a convict.
Question 2:
Solve this case problem using the eight (8) steps format.
1. Facts of the Case
 Jack Boswell is the head of Boswell Telecom Equipment.
 He hired an ex-convict, Pin Kiong, 39 years old.
 Gladys who is 37 years old is the human resource manager of the
company.
 Pin Kiong was given the job position for senior purchasing manager.
 Pin Kiong shared a room with the company’s marketing manager, Elsie,
who is 36 years old.
 Elsie is Powell’s sister-in-law.
2. Point of View
This case can assume different important perspectives of the people
involved in the problem. These perspectives include:
- Jack Powell, the head of the company.
- Pin Kiong, an ex-convict who is also the senior purchasing manager
of the company.
- Elsie, the marketing manager who has a clear dislike towards
ex-convicts.
- Robert, the actual thief and also the sales manager of the company.
- Gladys, the human resource manager.
3. Statement of the Problem
Major Problems
- Elsie had lost her POSBank ATM Card.
- Pin Kiong was consecutively accused of stealing the card through
being asked by their co-worker Gladys.
Minor Problems
- Elsie was very impatient when dealing with other members of the
staff.
- Elsie didn’t like having to share a room with an ex-convict which
happens to be Pin Kiong.
4. Objectives
 The main objective of this case is to reach a proper decision on how to
simultaneously discipline Robert, compensate Elsie, and acknowledge Pin
Kiong in the theft that happened within the company. More specifically, this
case study aims to achieve the following:
- To educate Elsie about the reality of ex-convicts to make her lose her bigotry
against Pin Kiong.
- To create a justifiable and equal legal actions against Robert for his theft.
- To investigate the situation properly and discuss ways of recognition for Pin
Kiong for his actions.
- To create a system of fairly compensation for Elsie for the damages and loss
that were done to her.

5. Areas of Consideration
The main and best decision that Powell could do given the context of the
situation is to make Robert accountable with his actions through terminating
him of his job in order to ensure that situations like this could not happen
again in the company given that his job was also very crucial in the company,
but secondly, to recognize Pin Kiong for his contribution to solve the case and
compensate Elsie for her losses.. Below is an analysis of the effects of this
decision if Powell will fire Robert and award Pin Kiong.

SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS
- shows strict regard for company
ethics.
- Eliminating the risks of more theft
that could also have done by Robert.
- Positive accountability image to the
company.
- to show value for Pin Kiong’s
esteemed hard work and contribution.
- shows a good system of valuing
employees.
WEAKNESSES
- no proper investigation took place
- arguably unfair
- shows weak organization of power
and control within the company
- a manifestation of a feeble decision
based on a single evidence.
 OPPORTUNITIES
- the company is able to expound and
improve its personnel value and
ethics through hiring a more honest
and deserving person.
- creates a healthy environment in the
workplace by avoiding awkward
interactions through directly making
opportunities for the employees to
bond.
THREATS
- Robert, because weakly proven
guilty might sue the company for
terminating him.
- Through doing this, the company
could get targeted for frame-ups
because it shows feeble decision-
making.
- Powell might be exercising an unfair
and biased mindset.

6. Alternative Courses of Action

Through assessing and evaluating the nature and conflicts of this case, three
possible alternative courses of action arise:
1. Put Robert under the company’s disciplinary action program without
terminating him of his position.
Under this, whether Robert was guilty or not, the perspective of Powell is
to give him a second chance hoping that through undergoing some necessary
and disciplinary measures, he will never never repeat this kind of
misdemeanor ever again. Although this could be a good idea if strictly
followed, this also means risking the company’s sales (given that Robert is the
sales manager) and creating an awkward atmosphere between Robert and
Elsie.
2. Encourage Elsie to involve the police force to fully make Robert
accountable.
Under this, the company could pursue and encourage Elsie to sue Robert
in a legal basis in order to let him get a taste of the full force of the law.
Through this, the company is setting an example for the future and current
employees having the same planned misbehavior as Robert by showing them
that stealing can land you a cell in jail. By doing this, the company is
highlighting the importance of a disciplined and honest workplace with trusted
workforce.
3. Do not do anything but launch a full-case investigation of what happened to
get a real picture of the truth
By terminating or letting Robert undergo some disciplinary measures, the
company proves to itself its feeble attempt to justify and lead a case against
an accused person basing only on a single video. The most justified
alternative action which is the fairest to Robert is this. Under this, we can only
punish him if he is proven guilty of the theft, otherwise, he can keep his job.
But by doing this, we lengthen the possibility of him getting away from the
consequences of his actions, and we deny the urgency of the situation which
is significant to both Elsie, the victim, and Pin Kiong, the accused.
7. Recommendation
Acknowledging the context and nature of this case, I recommend the
following:
1. For Jack Powell, I recommend that although there is a pressure on him
to make a quick decision regarding the matter, he should make sure that the
basis for that decision is fair and justified which reflects the proper choice
given the same circumstance. As the head of the company, he should make
sure that aside from protecting the interests of the involved stakeholders, he
also serve justice right.
2. For Pin Kiong, I recommend that he doesn’t stop what he’s doing when
it comes to working hard, significantly contributing to the company and make
sure that he never believes in what other people have to see in him just
because he is an ex-convict. He needs to continue seeking for self-
improvement and development that can help him continue his passion in his
job.
3. For Elsie, I recommend that firstly, she gives more precautionary
attention to making sure that Robert gets fully accountable for his actions, but
secondly, to stop stereotyping people and judging them based on their past.
She needs to properly recognize what Pin Kiong did to solve the case
regardless of how much impatient she is. She needs to start understanding to
give credit where it is due and to stop her personal bigotry.
4. For Robert, if he is not guilty, I recommend that he continues to fight for
a legal and fair battle through constantly requesting for a full-investigation of
the case and to make sure that he highlights to sue the company for
terminating him, If guilty, I recommend that he should just take responsibility
and accountability for his actions and directly face the consequences to avoid
wasting more energy, efforts, and resources of the people involved.

8. Conclusion

Stereotypes and bigotry toward certain and notable group for being
infamous and badly known in the society is just normally tolerated in the
society. This happens even if we already know that individuals are not the
same and should never be labeled as a single set of same people because it
is beyond harmful than it normally seems. People from all over the world have
been putting up against normalizing stereotypes simply because it is wrong,
unacceptable and leads to more negative repercussions.
In this case, it was already a conflict that Elsie didn’t want to work with Pin
just because he was an ex-convict. This ignorance led to co-exist with the fact
that there was already a thief within the company hiding behind his good
name. It all became chaos when people started assuming and accusing Pin
just because of his background. Eventually, it was proven through a video that
Pin was innocent. This case was solved through terminating Robert, the thief,
from his job, recognizing Pin’s contributions, and compensating Elsie for her
loss. This was the best decision in existence because not only it protects the
majority of the stakeholders, but it also acknowledges the urgency of the
situation. Therefore, in order to avoid unwarranted and baseless accusations,
people must never base on another person’s past to judge him nor should
they label him using stereotypes of what he used to be. Case closed.