Principles of Management: Recruitment and Hiring Case Study Analysis

This case study analyzes the recruitment and hiring practices of a mortgage lending firm, focusing on the selection of salespeople. The case presents a scenario where a sales manager's preference for a candidate with a strong background clashes with the founder's inclination towards a less experienced but potentially more adaptable candidate. The analysis delves into the impact of appearance, perceptions, and stereotyping on the hiring committee's decisions, emphasizing the importance of thorough interviews and objective evaluation criteria. The study highlights the leadership traits required for sales managers to navigate unexpected events within their sales force, such as adaptability, communication, and the ability to mitigate risks. Ultimately, the case underscores the significance of job analysis, effective communication during interviews, and recognizing the potential of candidates beyond initial impressions, offering valuable insights into strategic management and organizational behavior.

Principles of Management 1
Running Head: PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT
Principles of Management
Team Member 1 Name and ID Number
Team Member 2 Name and ID Number
Team Member 3 Name and ID Number
American University in the Emirates
MGT 205, Organizational Behavior
Mr. Matthew A. Gilbert, Instructor
Date

Principles of Management 2
Introduction
Human resource is one of the major aspects of success for a company and therefore it is
important for an organisation to hire the right person at the right time in order to maximize the
efficiency of the individual and improve the productivity of the company. The case that is going
to be studied in the assignment deals with the recruitment and hiring of two candidates in the
position of a sales person. Where one candidate has the support and confidence of the sales
manager the other lacks it. But consequently the person who was supported by the manager end
up losing the job and the person who did not have the confidence of the manager in the
beginning prove to be the best for the job role. The case deals with the issues with misconception
in recruiting people. Furthermore, it highlights barriers in the process of teamwork and skill
development. The purpose of the assignment is to understand strategic management decisions
and policies undertaken by the company and how to avoid situations like the ones mentioned in
the case1.
Situation
The case analyses the situation of a new mortgage lending firm located in California. The
territories of sale were divided in eight segments and accordingly sales people were hired by the
company, the sales manager had the responsibility of choosing the people along with a hiring
committee. The last two people were interviewed because of recommendations from existing
sales people. Pete had an excellent background and experience. He had fulfilled all the criterions.
While on the other hand, Carolyn was unlike anything that the manager was looking for, but she
had communication skills and was confident which the major requirements of a sales person are.
The founder of the company was in favor of Carolyn as he thought that because of lack of
1 Alan R. Hamlin, 'Pete and Carolyn: A Case of Costly Misperceptions', (2018) .

Principles of Management 3
experience she would learn from the basics which can be important. The lady would be a good
addition as there were no other women in the team. Therefore both the people were hired and
were given territories of similar kind. The challenge was that none of these candidates have any
contacts or experience in real estate.
Results
Pete: Pete started generating sales and did not require much training he was confident and
quickly learnt about the territory and the industry. He only took training in the real estate finance.
But soon he started facing issues; there were complaints against him from the staff and clients.
He also faced allegations for being unethical in the business. Pete was put in a development
program for 60 days under the check of another sales person. But the situation didn’t improve
hence he was fired.
Carolyn: Carolyn’s improvement was remarkable as she learnt from the basics her perspective f
every aspect was fresh which made her one of the finest sales person in the company in only 18
months of recruitment. Wherever she lacked in expertise, she learnt from training and quickly
incorporated the training in her.
In the future the company must focus on the training of the new recruits even if they had
experience in the field in order to understand their style and improve and mould it according to
the policies of the company. Another aspect that the business should learn from the experience
that they should concentrate on the aspects of interview before any misperception is created2.
2 Alan R. Hamlin, 'Pete and Carolyn: A Case of Costly Misperceptions',(2018).

Principles of Management 4
Analysis
Provide thorough and thoughtful answers to at least THREE of the questions below:
1. What role should appearance play in the selection process of a salesperson?
Appearance do play an important role for any person at any point of time as first
impression is significant and as sales deal with monetary transactions, people should
appear to appropriate as the clients would trust the sales person with their money that
they will invest3. Though it is one of the most important aspects it is not the only factor
that should matter in the selection process as the grooming is in the process of training
after the job is secured by a particular individual. In this case, the person who had the
best appearance did not prove to be successful, whereas the person whose appearance
was not that good proved to excel in the process. Thus, with training and grooming the
company can develop the skill of an individual. Therefore, it can be concluded that
appearance is important but it can be trained and improved4.
2. How can perceptions and stereotyping affect a hiring committee’s attitude in the
recruiting and selection process? What can be done to minimize misperceptions?
In the process of recruitment job analysis is an important part the skill and quality that a
person requires to fulfill the vacancy should be priority and how the individual can be trained to
improve the efficiency is also one of the major criteria in the process of hiring5. In any case
having a pre-conception and stereotyping a candidate can cloud the judgment of the committee
and overlook the potential of the candidate in the case of Carolyn, without having any experience
3 Kesari B. Salesperson performance evaluation: A systematic approach to refining the sales force. EXCEL
International Journal of Multidisciplinary Management Studies.;4(6), (2014), 49-66.
4 Shannahan KL, Shannahan RJ, Bush AJ. Salesperson coachability: what it is and why it matters. Journal of
Business & Industrial Marketing.;28(5),(2013), 411-20.
5 Chaneta I. Recruitment and selection. International Journal of Management, IT and Engineering.;4(2), (2014), 289.

Principles of Management 5
or proper appearance her skill of communication and confidence along with her urge to learn
from the scratch helped her becoming successful in 18 months of joining the company. She also
had one quality which is essential in sales is to build credible relations be it with the office staffs
or with the clients. Perception and stereotyping can end up in choosing the wring person on the
basis of the outer appearance. In order to minimize this misperception there has to be a detailed
interview which will help the interviewer in identifying the qualities of the individual which can
be useful for the company as well as can be improved by training6.
3. What kinds of leadership traits do Sales Managers need to possess in order to deal
with unexpected events involving his/her sales force?
Leadership quality in the managerial post is important, one of the most important roles of a
leader is to inspire and motivate people to achieve the goals and objective. It is important for a
leader to have an unbiased opinion about all the subordinates. A leader should not have
preconception. As a sales manager it is important to have the following qualities: understanding,
farsightedness, and creativity, intellect and motivation skills.
A sales leader should be able to change with the changes in the industry. The manager should be
able to mitigate risk and solve problems in the field along with that the manager must have
interpersonal persuasive and communication skills7.
A sales manager should be always ready to face unforeseen circumstances, as the dynamics in a field
work can change at any point of time. With the help of the above mentioned skills along with
rationalization and ability to critically analyze the sales manager deals with situation8. The role of a
sales manager is to look after a group of people working under him not only that it is his duty to see
6 Ingram TN, LaForge RW, Williams MR, Schwepker Jr CH. Sales management: Analysis and decision making.
(Routledge; 2015).
7 Ingram, T. N., LaForge, R. W., Williams, M. R., Schwepker Jr, C. H. , Sales management: Analysis and decision
making ([n.p.]: Routledge, 2015).
8 Johnston MW, Marshall GW. Sales force management: Leadership, innovation, technology. (Routledge; 2016 Apr
14).

Principles of Management 6
that these people are motivated and perform their tasks with efficiency9. In this case the issues were
with the misperception that the manager had which lead to some disappointed clients as well as staff
in the process. Therefore it can be said that the manger should also be visionary and farsighted in his
or he judgment.
Conclusion
It can be concluded form the above discussion that in the process of hiring. Job analysis and
right communication through the process of interview is most important while recruiting a
person for a vacant position. People who come to interview write about their experience and
skills in their CV but it is the role of the hiring committee to understand the potential of a person
and proving the right person with the right job. In this case the issue of misconception and over
confidence is highlighted the most. The person who seemed to be most promising was identified
to have been employing unethical means of sales, whereas the person with least experience
provided the job role with a fresh new perspective which added value to the role and led the
person to success.
9 Menguc B, Auh S, Uslu A, 'Customer knowledge creation capability and performance in sales teams', Journal of
the Academy of Marketing Science, 41(1), (2013), 19-39.

Principles of Management 7
References
Johnston MW, Marshall GW. Sales force management: Leadership, innovation, technology.
(Routledge; 2016 Apr 14).
Menguc B, Auh S, Uslu A, 'Customer knowledge creation capability and performance in sales
teams', Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 41(1), (2013), 19-39.
Ingram TN, LaForge RW, Williams MR, Schwepker Jr CH. Sales management: Analysis and
decision making. (Routledge; 2015).
Ingram, T. N., LaForge, R. W., Williams, M. R., Schwepker Jr, C. H. , Sales management:
Analysis and decision making ([n.p.]: Routledge, 2015).
Kesari B. Salesperson performance evaluation: A systematic approach to refining the sales force.
EXCEL International Journal of Multidisciplinary Management Studies.;4(6), (2014), 49-66.
Shannahan KL, Shannahan RJ, Bush AJ. Salesperson coachability: what it is and why it matters.
Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing.;28(5),(2013), 411-20.
Chaneta I. Recruitment and selection. International Journal of Management, IT and
Engineering.;4(2), (2014), 289.
Alan R. Hamlin, 'Pete and Carolyn: A Case of Costly Misperceptions',(2018).