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The Dynamic Group: Selecting a right candidate
The Dynamic Group is a progressive and aggressive company. Revenues have been
increasing every year since it was founded fifteen years ago. Its headquarter is
in Hong Kong, and it has major manufacturing facilities in Shenzhen and in Sri
Lanka. It has been expanding rapidly abroad as well, in developing countries and
in the European countries.
The company's chief executive, Mr. Alex Wong, is one of the Hong Kong's most
outstanding managers and has contributed greatly to the growth of the company.
His chief assistant, Mr. Oscar Tse who has the title of vice-president, had many
years experience in operations research at a well known organization. In his
present post, he serves as a kind of chief of staff, supervising operations
research studies, mergers and acquisitions, and long-range planning.
Because of the increasing activities, co-ordination is becoming significant.
Many younger recruits are joining the organization; operations are becoming more
scattered geographically; and the work is becoming more diverse.
Mr. Alex Wong needs to reduce his burden of co-ordination, and he wants to be
sure that further growth occurs smoothly. Hence he directs his assistant, Mr.
Oscar Tse, to hire a specialist in organization planning. Oscar performed the
job analysis on the newly created post and generated two statements - a job
description as summarized in Exhibit 1 and a job specification as summarized in
Exhibit 2. Eventually, he placed an advertisement on the South China Morning
Post as shown in Exhibit 3.
Exhibit 1 - A job description
Job Title: Assistant to Chief Executive Officer
Report to: Chief Executive Officer.
Duties and Responsibilities:
- Co-ordinating the group's administrative matters
- Following-up on orders and production schedules
- Handling independent project assignments
- Preparing minutes of meetings
- Reviewing financial accounts
- Monitoring the progress of training programme
- Occasional business trips to the PRC required
Exhibit 2 - A job specification
| Age: |
28+
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| Education: |
University graduate in Management |
| Experience: |
5 years in similar capacity |
| Knowledge: |
PRC market |
| Personal characteristic: |
Independent, self-motivated and initiative |
Exhibit 3 - The Advertisement
The Dynamic Group is a major player in the manufacture
and distribution of a diversified range of electronic products. The
group has an established presence locally and overseas with sizable
business operations in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Sri Lanka. To cope with
the group=s expanding business activities, a capable executive is
urgently required to assist the Chief Executive Officer.
Assistant to Chief Executive Officer
This newly created position will assume a role with a wide scope of
duties such as co-ordinating the group's administrative matters,
following-up on orders and production schedules, independently handling
project assignments and preparing minutes of meetings. The appointee
will also be involved in reviewing financial accounts and monitoring the
progress of training programmes. Occasional business trips to the PRC
will be required.
Applicant should be over 28 years of age possessing a degree in
management. A minimum of 5 years experience in a similar role is
essential. Exposure gained in a manufacturing operation and knowledge of
PRC business issues are highly desirable. Attributes sought include the
ability to perform independently, a high degree of self-motivation and
initiative together with a business oriented attitude.
An attractive salary and benefit package commensurate with the
candidate's qualifications and experience, will be offered to ambitious
executives wishing to gain valuable exposure in a challenging and
progressive business environment.
Please apply in confidence with comprehensive details of work
history, salary expectation and contact number to:
Executive Recruitment Division,
The Dynamic Group,
P.O.Box 3838
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The response was very good. A selection panel has formed and started
interviewing candidates. Eventually, the choice is narrowed down to three
candidates:
- Candidate A has had many years experience in operations research and
organization planning in IBM. During the last few years he has been in
charge of the successful re-organization of a large corporation. More
recently he has been working on product development. He is a good man,
although not as articulate as his prospective employers.
- Candidate B spent several years with the MOTT and thereafter worked on the
re-organizations of two major corporations, making good contributions under
difficult circumstances. During the last two years he has been working as a
consultant but is not happy with the variety of assignments and the heavy
traveling involved. He is, therefore, looking for a new career opportunity.
- Candidate C has been with GAMMON whose products are somewhat similar to
those of the Dynamic Group. At first he worked in the employee relations
department, then in training activities, and later on mergers. He set up the
organization of the international division in PRC. Now he is looking for
promotion and wider opportunity.
In making the choice, the Dynamic Group must consider that the new man is to
work for no more than two years on the new organization structure and the
preparation of the manual. Thereafter he is to succeed the president's chief
assistant, who is to go to more important responsibilities.
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Questions for consideration:
Oscar has performed an job analysis in this case. What are the objectives of
conducting job analysis in an organization? How are job description, job
specification and job evaluation related to job analysis with regard to the
procedure and the use made of each?
If you were one of the members selection panel, which of these men would you
want to hire?
Mergers are trends in today's corporate environment. What are mergers?
Discuss the objectives behind mergers and explain how those objectives might be
accomplished.
Introducing OSL