You work for the HR department of a manufacturing firm. The company has 500 employees, a significant portion of whom have long tenure in the company.
Eric Jenkins, a department manager who was hired 2 years ago, contacted you, saying that he is interested in dismissing Laura Harrison. Laura has been with the company for the past 25 years. He is concerned that Laura is not adapting well to the new technological changes over the past year. Plus, she is always debating every point with Eric, trying to argue “this is not how we do things around here.” Eric feels that Laura’s knowledge of the business is stale, and she is displaying strong resistance to change and innovation. He also feels that she is not respecting him because she is much older than he is. They have had performance conversations in the past, but Laura does not seem interested in improving. Eric gave Laura a 3 out of 5 (meets expectations) in her last performance review, which was about a year ago.
Your company is not unionized and does not have a formal discipline procedure.
Questions 

1. What would you advise Eric to do? Should Eric dismiss Laura?
Explain your rationale. What would be the consequences of dismissing and not dismissing Laura?
2. What additional information would be helpful to you in making your recommendation about this case?
3. Let’s say you decided not to dismiss Laura in the short run. What would be your recommended action plan to solve this problem?
4. What type of procedures would be helpful to have in this company?
Provide your recommendations for structural changes so that cases such as these are more easily resolved.