A202 SBLE3173 ENGLISH FOR PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION

SET A
Job Interview (Stage 2)

STAGE 2 – GROUP PROBLEM SOLVING

1. Candidates are given a random cue card from the suggested list below.
2. Candidates are given 5 minutes of preparation time. The estimated time for the discussion is
approximately 10 – 15 minutes per group.
3. The interviewer is not allowed to interrupt during the discussion.

SITUATION 1 
You have been promoted recently. However, your senior colleagues do not see eye to eye with you
and always dismiss your ideas because you are the junior in the team. You feel that you are having
problem fitting in. How are you going to address this situation?

SITUATION 2 
You are the CEO of your company and with the current pandemic situation, you have decided to
allow the employees to work from home. It may sound appealing where your staff can set their own
working hours and work when they feel like it. However, you notice that they are having trouble with
managing their time. With most of them having kids at home, they procrastinate and miss the
deadlines a lot. This has affected your company. Discuss how you are going to deal with the
scenario?

SITUATION 3 
Your company recently hired new interns for your department. Within the first month, you notice that
the interns are slacking off most of the time. They come in at 8am and leave at 5pm every day
without doing any work-related tasks; instead, they are always on their smartphones. The staff are
getting annoyed whenever they ask them for help, they would take a lot of the time just to complete a
simple task. As the Manager, what can you do?

SITUATION 4 
Ben is one of the newest insurance agents at Life Insurance Group and is hard working. He has
been working all hours to get clients to invest with the company, but some of the senior agents
always get their way to close deals with Ben’s clients. This has affected Ben’s work performance and
commissions. What should Ben do?

SITUATION 5 
You are the Head of the HR department and a female employee in your company has filed a
complaint on harassment against one of her co-workers. To protect the company’s public image and
the female employee’s rights, how would you handle this situation?

SITUATION 6 
Holly has been working in the company for 7 years now. She is very hardworking and competent in

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doing her work. However, she still has not been offered a promotion to work as a permanent staff.
What should Holly do?

SITUATION 7 
You are the sales and marketing team leader for one of the largest 24-hours convenience chain
stores in Malaysia, GoMart. Your company is planning to expand the chain around Asia and has
asked your team to make preparations to introduce GoMart in China, Japan and Korea. As the
leader, what strategies can you think to advertise GoMart there?

SITUATION 8 
Just Eat is one of the food delivery and takeaway apps that offers to deliver food from all local
restaurants and takeaway stores. During the pandemic, Just Eat has been one of the top apps that
users regularly visit. However, with the increasing number of other food delivery apps, Just Eats
needs to come up with some strategic plans to sustain the business. As managers, suggest at least
three different ideas.

SITUATION 9 
You have been running an event management company for eight years now. Since the Covid-19
pandemic, your company has been losing clients and event planning jobs. In ensuring the company
does not go bankrupt, discuss ways on how to sustain your company during the pandemic.

SITUATION 10
Maya has been hired as a fashion designer assistant for Scarlet Magazine, for two years now. While
working with the fashion designer, Maya noticed that she likes to take full credit of Maya’s ideas on
every project and never gives her any recognition. What should Maya do?

SET B

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Job Interview (Stage 2)

STAGE 2 – GROUP PROBLEM SOLVING

1. Candidates are given a random cue card from the suggested list below.
2. Candidates are given 5 minutes of preparation time. The estimated time for the discussion is
approximately 10 – 15 minutes per group.
3. The interviewer is not allowed to interrupt during the discussion.

SITUATION 1 
Edmond is the newly-appointed Sales and Marketing manager of an established advertising
company. His excellent work achievements during his tenure as an Assistant Manager led to his
promotion to the managerial position despite his young age. He is now in-charge of leading and
supervising staff members who are mostly much older and have been with the company much longer
than him.
How can Edmond manage and improve the group dynamics to achieve the company’s objectives?

SITUATION 2 
Some members of a meeting expect the Chairperson or other more active members to do all the
talking despite knowing the importance of participation from all members of the meeting to ensure
unanimous decision as a result of the meeting.
 As the Chairperson, how are you going to solve this problem?

SITUATION 3 
You have just been appointed as the new Customer Service Executive at a telecommunications
company. You are in-charge of training a group of your customer support staff at the call-center on
how to manage complaints from angry customers. What will your advice be to them on the best ways
to approach and handle this situation?

SITUATION 4 
You are the head of a unit in an IT company and most of your team members are from a diverse set
of education backgrounds, expertise and character. How do you ensure that your group will complete
the assigned tasks successfully despite the various differences that exist within the group?

SITUATION 5 
As a Human Resource Manager at a major industrial organization, you are responsible to oversee
activities involving the company’s staff members such as the recruitment process, workplace safety
issues, worker benefits, compensation and welfare, training and development and etc.
Recently, you received a report from a departmental manager who expressed his concern over the
mental health of one of his staff. The staff was reported to have lost interest in her work and has
shown recognizable signs of severe depression. How would you deal with this situation?
SITUATION 6 
Ameen is known to be very outspoken in voicing his opinions and undoubtedly some of his views are
considered good for the company. However, he does not really accept other people’s views well,

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especially the ones that are different from his. In fact, he can be quite defensive and sometimes, he
just rejects other people’s opinions. As his superior, what would be the best way to approach and
offer advice to Ameen?

SITUATION 7 
You work as a Senior Manager of an accounting company. Recently, you received information that
one of your staff is involved in an illegal activity that involves the mismanagement of company funds.
After investigation, you found that the allegation was indeed true. You are at a crossroad because
the suspected individual is your close friend at work. What is the best way for you to handle this
matter?

SITUATION 8 
Based on a recent survey, it was found that employee morale in general has taken a plunge since
the start of the pandemic. With mandatory quarantine, physical distancing and remote working
policies that are taking place, many employees are now feeling the effect of the drastic changes to
their previously ‘normal’ routine. They feel more stressed, unhappy and unmotivated at work. As the
Head of Human Resource, give recommendations to the management on the best approaches to
boost your staffs’ morale.

SITUATION 9 
You have a group of new staff who just joined the company about a month ago. Based on their
resumes and qualifications, it appears that they have the right skills and experience to serve your
company. However, they seem to be passive and refuse to participate or voice their opinions in
meetings and discussions. As their manager, how would you deal with this matter?

SITUATION 10
You are a manufacturing company that recently received a contract from a foreign company based in
Australia. A group of consultants from the Australian company will pay a visit in a month’s time to
have a thorough discussion on expanding your brand in Australia. The team that is responsible to
participate in the discussion is not proficient in English. As a team leader, how would you deal with
this situation?