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Maybe you haven't had to take a test as part of a hiring process, but you probably will in your next job search. About 76% of organizations with more than 100 employees rely on assessments for external hiring, especially for senior positions. It helps to know what companies are measuring and the tools they're using. (1) Competence. Aptitude tests can evaluate skills, abilities, and potential. Some companies use situational judgment tests, which present scenarios that correspond to particular roles. (2) Work ethic. Self-report questionnaires can assess traits such as ambition and reliability. (3) Emotional intelligence. Psychological tests, scenario-based tests, and performance tasks can measure empathy, self-awareness, and emotional literacy. You can set yourself up for success by practicing, scheduling tests for the time of day when you're most focused and alert, and answering questions in a way that presents your best self. Tests aren't just for the employer's benefit. They can also reveal how things work in an organization and which traits matter most--invaluable information in any job search.

The noted documentarian on waning attention spans and why business leaders should study history.

That some companies are choosing to invest in better-trained and more service-oriented workforces should be no surprise. With increasing competition, technological advances and globalization, many companies, especially those selling services, have come to realize that employee expenditures are more than a cost: Employees are the face of the business and sources of innovation and organizational knowledge. They interact with customers at every touch point and create lasting brand impressions. They personify the company's service philosophy and are expected to live by its culture and values. While the products and services many companies offer can appear quite similar on the surface, exceptional service can be a competitive advantage. Competing through service is only possible when the organization treats its employees as a valuable resource. Well-known service-focused companies, including Whole Foods Market, Starbucks, Marriott International and Southwest Airlines, have long invested in initiatives focused on maintaining a holistic framework of making both their customers and their employees happy. Herb Kelleher, the founder and chairman emeritus of Southwest, summarized this philosophy well when he said, "You put your employees first, and if you take care of them, then they will take good care of you, and then your customers will come back, and your shareholders will like that, so it's really a unity." Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, echoed this view: "[Employees] are the true ambassadors of our brand, the real merchants of romance and theater, and as such the primary catalysts for delighting customers." For the past two decades, employee engagement has been a topic of interest both in the academic literature and among managers.

This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. Recent corporate crises such as BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill debacle and the Libor rate-fixing scandal in the City of London have a common thread. The troubles simmered below the CEO's radar, and by the time the problems were revealed, most of the damage had been done. As organizations and business environments become more complex, how are executives supposed to keep tabs on what competitors and employees are doing? Although many management experts have assumed that better information systems and more data are the most promising way forward, authors Davide Nicolini, Maja Korica and Keith Ruddle are skeptical. Rather, they say, the way for senior executives to "stay in the know"is by assembling and maintaining what they call a "personal knowledge infrastructure."And while information technologies may be part of this personal knowledge infrastructure, the authors say technology is just one of the components. The article is based on a two-year study of the day-to-day work of seven CEOs of some of the largest and most challenging hospital- and mental health-based organizations in England. As settings for studying the challenges of using information and knowledge to stay on top, the authors note, health-care organizations sit at the crossroads between the private and public sectors and are expected to meet multiple, often competing, demands. The authors sought to answer a simple question: How did the CEOs know what they needed to know in order to be effective at their jobs? While the importance of informational roles to executives is well established, the authors take the idea a step further, arguing that managers -and especially senior executives -are only as good at acquiring and interpreting critical information as their personal knowledge infrastructures.

This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. The 2015 Data & Analytics Report by MIT Sloan Management Review and SAS finds that talent management is critical to realizing analytics benefits. This fifth annual survey of business executives, managers and analytics professionals from organizations located around the world captured insights from 2,719 respondents. It finds that organizations achieving the greatest benefits from analytics are also much more likely to have a plan for building their talent bench. That talent plan includes (1) giving preference to people with analytical skills when hiring and promoting, (2) developing analytical skills through formal training, and (3) integrating new talent with more traditional data workers.

In India, customers were used to the idea of buying groceries in stores. BigBasket.com, India's first online grocery retailer, was set to break this mindset. Customers were signing up at an aggressive rate based on word-of-mouth. With a commitment to provide a top-quality product assortment at competitive prices, BigBasket successfully provided last-mile delivery to customers across Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai. While traditional brick and mortar grocery retailers were struggling, BigBasket became the first online grocery retailer to report a breakeven in March 2014 in one of the cities where it operated.<br><br>Brick and mortar grocery retailers had started focusing on a hybrid model and analysts believed that hybrid models had more profit potential than pure online grocery retailers. Despite this, BigBasket had arranged funding from venture capitalists, receiving the highest-ever amount of Series A funding among the online retail industry in India. BigBasket leveraged innovative, customer-centric policies that not only boosted customer confidence but also enhanced overall profit margins. Could it permanently change the shopping habits of consumers? Was the breakeven a short-term phenomenon for BigBasket or would it achieve similar performance in other cities? Would online grocery retailing be profitable in the long run?

Ola Cabs, a pioneer in the taxicab aggregation business in India, was confronting several issues that were posing serious challenges to the company. The government had temporarily banned cab services offered by aggregators due to an incident involving an assault on a female passenger. Subsequently, new regulations were put in place to protect passenger safety, which stipulated that cab aggregators must obtain a licence under the radio taxi category. This was a major blow to Ola Cabs as it was a technology platform provider that connected customers with cab owners. The situation required quick resolution as Ola Cabs was going through a major phase of unprecedented growth and had set ambitious targets in terms of revenue. The company had been growing at a rate of 40 per cent month on month, and had more than 50,000 cabs in its network, which spread across 28 cities.

In September 2014, the chief executive officer of Michel Nassif et Fils, an importer and producer of food and printed goods headquartered in Beirut, Lebanon, is trying to figure out what decisions he needs to take to ensure the development of the company that had been founded by his grandfather a century ago. At the age of 48, right after the birth of his first son, he realizes that he needs a plan to ensure a viable future for this family-owned company. He knows that succession planning will involve the entire management team, none of whom currently has a leadership position. As had his father and grandfather before him, he alone makes all decisions for the company. He is considering whether to pick a potential successor internally to be trained and prepared for senior management or to remain at the head of the company until his son is old enough to take over.

In India, customers were used to the idea of buying groceries in stores. BigBasket.com, India’s first online grocery retailer, was set to break this mindset. Customers were signing up at an aggressive rate based on word-of-mouth. With a commitment to provide a top-quality product assortment at competitive prices, BigBasket successfully provided last-mile delivery to customers across Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai. While traditional brick and mortar grocery retailers were struggling, BigBasket became the first online grocery retailer to report a breakeven in March 2014 in one of the cities where it operated.<br><br>Brick and mortar grocery retailers had started focusing on a hybrid model and analysts believed that hybrid models had more profit potential than pure online grocery retailers. Despite this, BigBasket had arranged funding from venture capitalists, receiving the highest-ever amount of Series A funding among the online retail industry in India. BigBasket leveraged innovative, customer-centric policies that not only boosted customer confidence but also enhanced overall profit margins. Could it permanently change the shopping habits of consumers? Was the breakeven a short-term phenomenon for BigBasket or would it achieve similar performance in other cities? Would online grocery retailing be profitable in the long run?

<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER - MENA Business Cases category at the 2015 EFMD Case Writing Competition</strong></p><br>In September 2014, the chief executive officer of Michel Nassif et Fils, an importer and producer of food and printed goods headquartered in Beirut, Lebanon, is trying to figure out what decisions he needs to take to ensure the development of the company that had been founded by his grandfather a century ago. At the age of 48, right after the birth of his first son, he realizes that he needs a plan to ensure a viable future for this family-owned company. He knows that succession planning will involve the entire management team, none of whom currently has a leadership position. As had his father and grandfather before him, he alone makes all decisions for the company. He is considering whether to pick a potential successor internally to be trained and prepared for senior management or to remain at the head of the company until his son is old enough to take over.

Ola Cabs, a pioneer in the taxicab aggregation business in India, was confronting several issues that were posing serious challenges to the company. The government had temporarily banned cab services offered by aggregators due to an incident involving an assault on a female passenger. Subsequently, new regulations were put in place to protect passenger safety, which stipulated that cab aggregators must obtain a licence under the radio taxi category. This was a major blow to Ola Cabs as it was a technology platform provider that connected customers with cab owners. The situation required quick resolution as Ola Cabs was going through a major phase of unprecedented growth and had set ambitious targets in terms of revenue. The company had been growing at a rate of 40 per cent month on month, and had more than 50,000 cabs in its network, which spread across 28 cities.

The Mulliez family owns one of the largest retail empires in the world. From its origins in northern France, its members have launched more than 20 different retail enterprises including Auchan (supermarkets), Boulanger (electronic devices), Decathlon (sports stores), Phildar (hosiery and yarn) and many other well-known brands. With more than 700 family members currently, they have nurtured a unique business model whereby new generations receive an in-house education and incentives are provided through innovative ownership design. The case identifies the contributions of the Mulliez family that underpin the conglomerate´s successful business strategy. It also analyses the challenges facing the family and its use of special governance structures to mitigate them.

The Kam family has owned Yung Kee, a huge 750-seat restaurant in Hong Kong, for more than 50 years. Starting out as a food stall, the business still 'packs them in' today. However, soon after the death of the patriarch, at the age of 96, in 2004, his two oldest sons became embroiled in a bitter and very public family feud over the restaurant's management and the family fortune, estimated to be worth HK$2 billion.

The 2013/14 exit announcement by Australian car manufacturers poses a threat to the survival of the country's automotive industry, and the pull-out is expected to have a significant and adverse impact on the Australian economy as a whole. The case highlights the dilemma that government decision-makers often face: Should they provide protection to loss-making industries in order to support domestic employment and economic output, or should they let struggling industries die out to make room for more prosperous economic activities? The case also highlights the dilemma faced by firms within a supply chain when original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) exit: Should the firm follow the OEMs or adopt survival strategies?

By the end of 2013, PC Financial remained one of the few successful no-frills banking providers in Canada. Since its founding in 1998, the company had grown into a significant competitor in consumer financial services with nearly three million customers and $644 million in revenue. The financial crisis of 2008 and the competitive situation in Canadian retail financial services had led to the acquisition and in some cases closure of several of its competitors. While the changes in the market arguably seemed to be beneficial by reducing competition, they also raised questions about the company's ability to continue as a separate operating entity.

By the end of 2013, PC Financial remained one of the few successful no-frills banking providers in Canada. Since its founding in 1998, the company had grown into a significant competitor in consumer financial services with nearly three million customers and $644 million in revenue. The financial crisis of 2008 and the competitive situation in Canadian retail financial services had led to the acquisition and in some cases closure of several of its competitors. While the changes in the market arguably seemed to be beneficial by reducing competition, they also raised questions about the company’s ability to continue as a separate operating entity.

The 2013/14 exit announcement by Australian car manufacturers poses a threat to the survival of the country’s automotive industry, and the pull-out is expected to have a significant and adverse impact on the Australian economy as a whole. The case highlights the dilemma that government decision-makers often face: Should they provide protection to loss-making industries in order to support domestic employment and economic output, or should they let struggling industries die out to make room for more prosperous economic activities? The case also highlights the dilemma faced by firms within a supply chain when original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) exit: Should the firm follow the OEMs or adopt survival strategies?

The case looks at Ian Lambert's first year as the new general manager of ElektroSecur, a Canadian SMB with about 40 employees, specialized in the production and distribution of emergency vehicle technologies. Part A of the case focuses on his first six months in the job (September 2012 to February 2013), while Part B shifts attention to the following six months (March to August 2013). Part A: Ian Lambert took over as general manager of ElektroSecur in September 2012. The company was founded in 1997 by its two current owners, Daniel Dufour and Marc Rorty, who are respectively president and vice-president, business development. ElektroSecur had annual sales of approximately $7 million generated by some 50 in-house products and roughly 100 products distributed by it. The company was making a small net profit of no more than $20,000 a year and had always struggled to remain profitable. Part B: Contrary to what Ian had hoped after six months on the job (Part A), the company's financial situation did not improve over the following six months. Financially speaking, it was shaping up to be the worst year in the company's history. Up to the month of May, sales were more catastrophic than ever.

The case looks at Ian Lambert's first year as the new general manager of ElektroSecur, a Canadian SMB with about 40 employees, specialized in the production and distribution of emergency vehicle technologies. Part A of the case focuses on his first six months in the job (September 2012 to February 2013), while Part B shifts attention to the following six months (March to August 2013). Part A: Ian Lambert took over as general manager of ElektroSecur in September 2012. The company was founded in 1997 by its two current owners, Daniel Dufour and Marc Rorty, who are respectively president and vice-president, business development. ElektroSecur had annual sales of approximately $7 million generated by some 50 in-house products and roughly 100 products distributed by it. The company was making a small net profit of no more than $20,000 a year and had always struggled to remain profitable. Part B: Contrary to what Ian had hoped after six months on the job (Part A), the company's financial situation did not improve over the following six months. Financially speaking, it was shaping up to be the worst year in the company's history. Up to the month of May, sales were more catastrophic than ever.

In 2012, Pactera, a China-headquartered IT service firm, went public on the NASDAQ. In 2014, it was taken private by a consortium led by the U.S.-based global investment and advisory firm Blackstone. This accelerated the firm's expansion in the U.S. market and its plans to move up the value chain. Pactera's executive vice-president must formulate and implement the right strategy in order to continue its success in the U.S. market, gain access to cutting-edge technology and talent, and better compete against sophisticated American and Indian rivals. Failure to apply the correct strategy to its operations in the U.S. market could restrict its growth and negatively impact its performance in the global market.