XAT 2012 — Decision Making Question 20
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.
Who among the following five candidates is most likely to be rejected by the GM (HR)?
Answer & solution
- A
Chethan
- B
Chintan
Bal Singh
- D
Mani
- E
Sunder
The biggest criterion for the GM HR is that the selection of a new driver should not lead to discontent among the senior employees of the firm. The earlier driver, Ram Singh was forced to quit because the earlier employees did not like the influence of Ram on Dev Anand. This was because of his contacts, information gathering skills and proximity to Dev Anand.
Among the profile of the candidates, only that of Bal Singh is similar. It is given that his knowledge and contacts in the firm are as good as Ram Singh. It is also given that used to substitute for Ram Singh and so already has some proximity to Dev Anand. As such, he is the only candidate who would definitely create discontent among the senior employees. The other candidates may or may not do so.
So, Bal Singh is the most likely to get rejected.
Hence, option (c).