XAT 2012 — Decision Making Question 18
Answer the following question based on the information given below.
Dev Anand, CEO of a construction company, recently escaped a potentially fatal accident. Dev had failed to notice a red light while driving his car and attending to his phone calls. His well-wishers advised him to get a suitable replacement for the previous driver Ram Singh, who had resigned three months back.
Ram Singh was not just a driver, but also a trusted lieutenant for Dev Anand for the last five years. Ram used to interact with other drivers and gathered critical information that helped Dev in successfully bidding for different contracts. His inputs also helped Dev to identify some dishonest employees, and to retain crucial employees who were considering attractive offers from his competitors. Some of the senior employees did not like the informal influence of Ram and made it difficult for him to continue in the firm. Dev provided him an alternative job with one of his relatives.
During the last three months Dev has considered different candidates for the post. The backgrounds of the candidates are given in the table below.
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Dev is primarily looking for a stable and trustworthy driver, who can be a suitable replacement for Ram. His family members do not want Dev to appoint a young driver, as most of them are inexperienced. Dev’s driver is an employee of the firm and hence the appointment has to be routed through the HR manager of the firm. The HR manager prefers to maintain parity among all employees of the firm. He also needs to ensure that the selection of a new driver does not lead to discontent among the senior employees of the firm.
From his perspective, and taking into account the family’s concerns, Mr. Dev would like to have
Answer & solution
- A
Chethan
- B
Chintan
Bal Singh
- D
Mani
- E
Sunder
Mr. Dev wants a stable and trustworthy driver while his family wants a driver who is not young. The perspective of the HR manager is not to be considered at all.
As per Mr. Dev’s criteria, Sunder and Chintan cannot be considered because they are not stable – Sundar because he keeps on changing jobs frequently and Chintan because he has become a driver only because he is out of a job.
Also, Chethan may not be suitable because his services have been offered on a temporary basis. Again, this creates an issue of stability.
From the family’s point of view, Mani is not suitable as he is the youngest (23 years old).
Bal Singh is the most suitable in terms of age (40 years), experience (20 years), stability and trustworthiness (Ram Singh’s cousin and has already worked for Dev Anand earlier).
Therefore, Dev Anand would like to have Bal Singh as his driver.
Hence, option (c).