Bit Stream Case
When recruiting employees there are two main alternative recruitment sources: internal vs.
external labor markets. Each of the sources has its own advantages and disadvantages comparing to the other. The main advantages of hiring from an internal source are: The candidate has probably a good understanding of the company, its structure, its products, its strategy, its processes Etc. That means that the candidate will be much quicker to integrate into the company and start giving real value. * Send the right signal inside the company about opportunities to get ahead and the company’s values.
* The chances of making serious mistakes in promoting internal employees are much lower as their capabilities (both positive and negative) are usually well known to the promoter and he can take them into consideration.On the other hand, there are many benefits in hiring from the external labor market: * Widening the net of your search also to external candidates will most probably mean that you have higher chances to find a better candidate. You might find a candidate that has much more relevant capabilities and experience from those you can find internally. * People from outside the company with “new blood” might bring new energy and perspective to the organization. This can be exciting and add motivation also to current employees.
* “New eyes” of a new executive coming from the outside can elp in rethinking the company’s goals, processes, strategy and procedures. In addition to the immediate options of “insiders vs. outsiders” options also two additional sources should be considered. The first one is “inside-outsiders”, which are internal candidates who are coming from some distinct department in the company that doesn’t have necessarily a direct relation to the specific field that they are recruited for. Those candidates have the advantages of internal candidate but they are usually not bound to the corporate tradition and ideology and so may have a more objective view of the organization.The second group is the “outside-insiders”, which are usually former employees, customers, suppliers, advisors, etc.
that has worked with company and understands it very good. It will most probably be fairly easy to find those candidates (also by using advices from their internal counterparts) and they will bring a very relevant experience and view to the company. Question 2 Job Title: Director of Networking Products BitStream is looking for a seasoned executive to bring to market a new and exciting network printing experience for Novell networks. Key functions and responsibilities: Define the key functions and features of the network printing manager product. * Manage the development process of the new product. * Define and develop the marketing plan of the product.
* Define and manage the go to market, distribution and sales strategy of the product. Job requirements: * At least 5 years of experience in working with VAR Channels. * At least 3 years of experience as a manager in a networking products company. * Ability to understand and define customer and market requirements for a new product. * Ability to develop and manage a dynamic and competitive sales organization. High energy, enthusiasm and drive to build a new and successful organization.
Question 3 In choosing the right candidate, Jim Sole should use several different mechanisms which will all together give a complete and full view of the candidate chances of being a good fit to the role. The first and most important mechanism will be an interview; the type of interview used will be PBI (Past Behavioral Interview), which will mainly ask around the candidates experience performing certain activities. This kind of interview has proved to be a good predictor for performance.Jim should do about 3 interviews each with a different interviewer (Jim Himself, The VP of OEM strategic planning and the HR manager). The questions should be mainly around the candidates experience with activities relevant to the requirements of the job (Defining a products requirements and features, building a sales organization, building marketing strategies, working on developing relationships with VAR and OEM channels). The weakness of interviews is that skilled candidates could easily present the facade they think the interviewer want to see without really having the right capabilities.
The next mechanism that should be used are different kind of simulations tests and questions (such as “tacit knowledge” tests) that actually put the candidate in a specific situation and asks him to explain what he would do and why. These kinds of tests are meant to reveal if and how the candidate know to manage him and others and how he navigates complicated social situations. Those tests could also check if the decisions that the candidate takes are correct and relevant given his knowledge and experience in the relevant area. The main weakness of test is that sometimes candidates will not accept doing them, mainly in executive levels.The third mechanism that should be used is background or reference checks. Usually, past employer of those executive level candidates are esteemed executives themselves which have good understanding of the market as well as have worked closely with the candidates and can reveal very valuable information about them.
They can easily disclose relevant information (either negative or positive) that could not be found in other ways. The main issue with reference is that they are always subjective to the specific persons way of thinking which could be different from the one used in this company.
