Two sample exam questions HRM/OB

1. Two sample exam questions HRM/OB Joan Harvey George Erdos

2. We include two examples of longer questions. In these, we have highlighted in bold the salient words. • There follows two examples of shorter questions.

3. First example longer question You work for a multi-national book publisher ABC, publishing mainly childrens' books. You are currently based in its office in Prague and are in charge of a team of 5 people whose task is to find good new authors for ABC's increasing list. Your team has to find novel ways of locating potential authors, assess their capabilities and establish their development needs once they are contracted to ABC. You have been told that if your team is successful, there will be promotion for you as well as for team members, but if the team is unsuccessful, then you will be redeployed elsewhere at ABC in a junior position. What are the challenges in this for you as a manager? How will you motivate your team to develop innovative ways of bringing in new authors? How will you maintain control of the work situation when your team members are not usually all together in the office? Use the theories of motivation, leadership, teamworking, communications and any others you deem appropriate to answer these questions.

4. Second example longer question You work for a large oil company and have recently been asked to oversee a recruitment and selection activity for up to 20 graduate trainee managers. The company is looking primarily for graduates in the science and engineering subjects but wishes to particularly recruit those with management potential or existing skills. The 'package' on offer is a good one, paying well in comparison to other companies; the training period will last between 6 to 9 months and will involve training and a wide variety of hands-on experience in Europe and South America. It is important that those whom you select would not be likely to leave once the company has made this investment in their future. There will be a lot of applicants, so the selection ratio is high. Outline what you would consider to be the criteria for inclusion into the main selection process and describe how you would set out such a process for this, including how you would ensure your methods are valid and appropriate.

5. 3rd and 4th examples: shorter questions 3 As a younger graduate manager, employed to manage a team of 30 experienced workers older than yourself, what are the main motivation issues that you expect to face, and how might you resolve them? 4 What are the main issues to be faced when planning and implementing a change programme, such as one where an old production method is to be closed down and replaced by a new method?