Creative Problem Solving & Decision Making / Strategic and Operational Planning

You are the manager of a newspaper column in a leading newspaper. The company is a multinational and does business in 18 countries. While your headquarters are currently in Germany, your offices are spread out evenly from America to Europe. You have been called into the office to discuss your end of the year hiring needs. Your boss tells you that you have four candidates that need to be evaluated. You can only hire one of the four people. Resumes are on their way but all you have now is a memo from your boss. The person selected for the position will have 13 people under them with various publishing, newswire, internet news and media, and column responsibility.

Here are the four candidates:

              Candidate A, Age 32

              A has worked for fifteen years as an anchor at a medium sized publishing company. Currently a senior vice president in charge of 30 middle level executives, originally from California is now located on an assignment in London for two years. A has a degree in journalism from The University of Wisconsin and an MBA from Harvard University.

              Candidate B, Age 43

              B is an anchor of one of the largest cable news shows in America. Publishing four books on various historical topics and often on the best seller list on Amazon.com. B has a Ph.D. in Psychology and a MS degree in leadership. Undergraduate studies were in pre-law. B is entertaining another possible placement with a competitor.

              Candidate C., Age 53

              C is a department manager at Yale University School of Journalism. Holds a Yale law degree and an undergraduate in history. Currently managers 18 faculty members and has been awarded a noble laureate and creator of the Yale Journalism Institute for anchors and columnists.

              Candidate D, Age 58

              D has a degree from Oxford University in journalism and a MBA in finance. Running one of the largest broadcast companies in New Mexico, has 38 people that report to D and has been entertaining a CEO position at their current company.

Questions:

1. How would evaluate the strength of each candidate based upon the information in the memo?


2. Which candidate would you select for an interview? Why?


3. How do gender and ethnicity play a role in hiring decisions. It might not impact YOUR choice, but what are some ways it CAN in other situations/other hiring managers??

Make sure you discuss this topic with others – reply to at least 3 other students for full credit!

**Remember, you are all adults, so please be respectful of others.