2. As the CEO of a high tech company, 49er Advanced Systems, Inc, you are interv

Question

2. As the CEO of a high tech company, 49er Advanced Systems, Inc, you are interviewing candidates to fill the VP of product and process operations in your company. In one interview, you asked the candidate about how to integrate the future logistics/support/service operations into product/process development processes. The candidate talked about how she'll begin the design and evaluation of the logistics/suppot/service system when the prototype is available and how to establish a systém for integrating the suppliers' and the customers' supply chain operations when the logistics/support/service systerm design is completed. What is your evaluation of this candidate's approach in installing an integrated logistics/support/service system at 49er Advanced Systems, Inc.? Why? (15 points)

Explanation / Answer

I will give you my thoughts on this interview - please feel free to add your own thoughts and mould this answer by building on the answer below.

For a middle management position, this approach suggested by the candidate might have been termed satisfactory. However, for a VP position, I wouldn't be entirely happy with this approach and I would rate it below par. Let me explain why.

As an interviewer, I was interested in understanding the candidates thought process, and ability to question and understand the current processes in place in a short span of time and then build on on the answer. Instead, the candidate has given a cliched answer around analzying the existing product/process development processes and then suggesting an integration method once the analysis is complete. I would have been happier if the candidate had asked me some questions (right question) to understand some key points arond what we do currently, and then base his/her answer around the information drawn.

Secondly, the candidate seems to suggest a need based solution - the integration would be done after each prototype is ready. This is not an agile methodology and would result in slow integrations if we kept waiting for the prototype to be ready every time, instead of developing a standard integration methodology which would work for most of the cases - that would be much faster.

Lastly, while the question was specific, it would have been a nice to have if the candidate, considering the application was for a senior position, had given suggestions on the future of integration and the vision he/she holds for this function 10 years down the line.

Due to these reasons, I would rate the applicant for this position as average.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse 2
• Subjects

---

---

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.