The Selection Process in JC Premium Cars: No More Candidates?

In mid-December 2016, John Cortes, owner, founder, and general manager of JC Premium Cars in Colombia, reached the final stage of the recruitment process for a new sales manager. A prestigious international headhunting firm had spent nearly two months seeking suitable candidates who could also potentially succeed Cortes as general manager. He had recently sold a significant stake in the firm to SLB, a multinational bank that was rapidly expanding into the country. At the assessment center, the performances of the three shortlisted candidates left Cortes dissatisfied. He was negatively surprised by the performance of his favorite candidate, while the other two finalists did not exactly fit the desired profile, contrary to the impressions he had formed of them earlier in the process. The recruitment process had begun with a fundamental instruction from Cortes to the headhunter: "I want the best and the most experienced individuals in the market." He thereby set very specific criteria in terms of experience and knowledge within JCPC's market niche. The headhunting firm found only a few candidates meeting Cortes's requirements, and eventually concluded that "These are all the qualified candidates available in the market." Cortes, who had hoped to retire in order to rest and dedicate himself to other businesses, now believed this would not be possible in the near future. As SLB needed to approve the sales budget for the following year, Cortes was pressed to appoint the new sales manager before the end of the month.

• Hiring and recruitment
• Succession planning
• Entrepreneurs and founders
• Organizational behavior
• Executive selection