Dynamo Industries

$1111$ Packerland Drive

Madison, WI $53714$

Staffing Consultants of Oshkosh

P$.$O$.$ Box $9999$

Algoma Boulevard

Oshkosh, WI $54901$

DEAR PROJECT COORDINATOR:

Thank you for helping us with a review of our selection process. Dynamo Industries is a

medium$-$sized manufacturer of small electrical motors headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin.

Our firm employs $9,800$ people. Dynamo Industries has plants throughout the U$.$S$.,$ all of which

are unionized. The power of the unions varies greatly from plant to plant.

Recently the company has been trying to hire a new plant manager $($see job description in Exhibit

$1)$ for the Pittsburgh plant $($plant managers report directly to the vice president of production$).$

Although Dynamo Industries has experienced slightly above average growth and profit

compared to its competitors, the Pittsburgh plant has been a trouble spot. Over the past three

years, production costs there have been extremely high and labor$-$management relations have

been strained $($e$.$g$.,$ numerous work slow$-$downs, an excessive number of grievances filed$).$ The

most recent Pittsburgh plant manager was terminated although by mutual agreement the

company stated he left for a better job with another company. Because of the importance of the

plant manager position, Dynamo Industries has used several expensive selection devices that are

described below. After a thorough recruitment effort $($both within and outside the company$)$ and

some initial screening, the list of job candidates has been reduced to five names. Exhibits $2-6$

contain extensive information on each of the five candidates and Table $1$ summarizes the data.

Dynamo Industries does not have an established philosophy for filling job openings. In the past,

it has favored promotion from within the company. However, the vice president of production

was hired externally. Dynamo has no policy on lateral transfers and in the recent pastsuch

transfers have been rare. The key issue seems to be whether the company benefits from the

transfer.

Looking at the data we have collected on these candidates, the selection committee cannot reach

an agreement as to who to hire, and there are significant differences in our opinions. This is not

the first time this has happened at Dynamo, and because the process seems to be becoming more

disruptive, we collectively decided it would be a good idea to bring in an external consultant to

help evaluate our procedures and provide suggestions. We would like you to do the following:

$1.$ Determining Criteria for Selection: Examine the job description provided in Exhibit $1.$ Based

on this information and what you know about the plant conditions described in the background,

make a list of the knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics $($KSAO$$s$)$ that you

consider $$must haves$$ for this position $($in other words, those KSAO$$s that the candidate

absolutely must have in order to qualify for this position$)$ and then make a second list of those

KSAO$$s that you would like the candidate to possess $($but are not absolutely necessary for

hiring$).$ Provide a brief written rationale for your lists.

$2.$ Critique Our Selection Tools: Examine the information provided in Exhibit $2-6.$ Create a

table that lists each of the tests we use, whether you would use it or not, and a brief written

rationale describing why you believe the information is either usable or not usable in making

the selection decision. Then provide us with some recommendations for how the process

should be changed when hiring plant managers in the future $($e$.$g$.,$ what additional selection

devices should be used, additional information gathered, sources to drop or change, people

involved in the selection decision making process$)?$ Also, we know our interview process is

problematic. Please provide us with some recommendations to improve the process.

$3.$ Make a Selection Decision: Make a recommendation as to which candidate we should hire

using one of the methods discussed in class $($e$.$g$.,$ multiple hurdles, compensatory approach,

or one of the other approaches discussed.$)$ Provide an in$-$depth discussion of the process used

to make this decision, how it was applied, and why you used this process. Be sure to explain

any assumptions such as what weights were applied to the various criteria, etc.

Please submit a report containing all of the above information to me by the due date. Please try

to keep it under $8$ pages including tables and references. Also, remember to properly cite any

outside sources you use in writing your report and include a list of references so my HR staff can

use them in their own research.

Sincerely,

Susan M$.$ Jones, Vice$-$President

Human Resources Management

Enc.

P$.$ S$.$ All references and citations should be in APA style. You do not have to cite your textbook.

EXHIBIT $1$

PLANT MANAGER JOB DESCRIPTION

The plant manager $($PM$)$ is ultimately responsible for the operating efficiency of the entire

plant. In fulfilling his$/$her r