Lauren's wardrobe.(Instructor's Note)

CASE DESCRIPTION The case highlights the many human resources issues that challenge small business owners, including the sensitivity of conducting business in a predominantly ethnic community. Among the issues raised are job abandonment, willful misconduct, employee theft, hostile work environment, hiring practices, termination practices, progressive discipline, the importance of clearly promulgated employee policies, and constructive discharge. The case is appropriate for use primarily with undergraduate and graduate courses studying Human Resources Management in a small family owned business. CASE SYNOPSIS Lauren's Wardrobe is one of two stores owned and managed by Kelly Brown. The stores are located in a heavily Hispanic border community in Texas. Kelly employs eight to twelve employees depending on seasonal demand. One afternoon, three of the four employees in both stores walk off the job, leaving one store abandoned, and the other covered by only one employee. The precipitating event seems to be prejudicial comments made by Kelly's mother (not officially an employee) regarding the Hispanic employees, and her conduct toward them. After addressing the immediate issues of covering the stores until closing, Kelly talks with her one remaining employee, Rosie, who gives Kelly insight into the conditions faced by her employees. Now, Kelly must decide what actions to take before the stores reopen the next day. INSTRUCTORS' NOTES Case Objectives and Use The case highlights the many human resources issues that challenge small business owners, including the sensitivity of conducting business in a predominantly ethnic community. Among the issues raised are job abandonment, willful misconduct, employee theft, hostile work environment, hiring practices, termination practices, progressive discipline, the importance of clearly promulgated employee policies, and constructive discharge. The case is appropriate for use primarily with undergraduate and graduate courses studying Human Resources Management in a small family owned business. Through the case, students can meet the following learning objectives. * Identify the essential human resources considerations one encounters in small business management. * Identify the appropriate steps that should be taken in the recruitment and employment of personnel. * Determine constructive human resources actions that must be taken to keep the business operational. * Detail the steps to be included in a discipline system appropriate for a small business. * Gain insights into the unique human resources challenges facing family-owned and operated businesses. * Understand and appreciate the importance of racial/cultural/ethnic sensitivity in relations with employees. TEACHING PLAN The case has been taught in a graduate human resources seminar. The approach utilized was to assign the case and questions to teams to review the case and prepare written analyses of the case. The teams were assigned the case at the end of class and presented their analyses the following week. The team presentations were limited to ten minutes; each team was assigned one of the first six questions to present. Following team presentations the entire class was permitted to offer additional comment on questions they did not present, and to jointly answer question seven regarding what else Kelly might have done to better manage the human resources issues in her business. In this way the discussion can be handled in a seventy-five minute class session. Students were quite able to identify the major human resources issues in the case and were quick to grasp the broader considerations of diversity embedded in the case. For graduate classes where not as much direction may be needed, question 6 might be dropped and incorporated into a more general question 7. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 1. …