Anheuser-Busch InBev Assessment Tests

Anheuser-Busch InBev Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are an insight assistant at Anheuser-Busch InBev. You and a colleague share the monthly customer survey write-up: she pulls the data and you write the commentary. In last week’s team meeting she said the commentary was what had held the report up, which is not how you saw it. The next report is due on Friday and her data has just landed in your inbox. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Write the commentary and put a note at the top of the report setting out how long each stage took this month, so that the team can see where the time actually goes.
   2. Write the commentary and let last week go, since Friday matters more than a remark in a meeting and there is nothing to gain from picking it up now.
   3. Write the commentary for Friday, and ask her for ten minutes today to agree who needs what by when, so that next month's timings are not a matter of opinion.
   4. Stop drafting the commentary after that remark and leave her to write this month's herself, since she has a clear view about which part of the work takes the time.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Write the commentary for Friday, and ask her for ten minutes today to agree who needs what by when, so that next month's timings are not a matter of opinion.

   Least effective: D. Stop drafting the commentary after that remark and leave her to write this month's herself, since she has a clear view about which part of the work takes the time.

   A: Answers a private remark in a public document: the timings are accurate and the report becomes the place a disagreement between two colleagues is conducted.

   B: Prioritises harmony over honesty: the deadline is met and the same account of who slows the report down is left standing for next month.

   D: Withdraws your half of a shared job after a disagreement: Friday's report is put at risk to make a point, and the point is made to a colleague rather than about the work.

   The most effective response is to write the commentary for Friday and ask her for ten minutes to agree who needs what by when: the report still goes out, and the thing the two of you actually disagree about, which is where the time goes, gets settled in advance instead of in the next meeting. It beats putting a note about this month’s stage timings at the top of the report, because that argues with her in front of readers who have no part in it. It beats letting last week go, because the account she gave stands and the same thing happens next month. The least effective response is stopping the drafting and leaving her to write this month’s herself: the shared deadline is put at risk in order to answer a remark, which is a different kind of wrong from arguing in public or from staying quiet. The principle: a complaint about how shared work runs is fixed by agreeing how it will run, never by removing your part of it.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a customer care assistant at Anheuser-Busch InBev. In a team meeting this morning a colleague said your handovers were sloppy and had caused her to reopen two cases last week. She said it in front of everybody and you disagree with the second example. The two of you hand work to each other every afternoon, and this afternoon’s handover is at four. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Reopen the point in front of the team at tomorrow's meeting with both cases in front of you, so that the record is corrected where the remark was made.
   2. Stop giving her the detailed handover after that meeting and send her the bare case list instead, since her view of the notes you write is clear enough already.
   3. Ask the team leader to set out a standard for handovers, so that the question stops being about your work and becomes a matter of the process everybody follows.
   4. Do the four o'clock handover, then ask her to go through both cases with you and agree what a handover needs to contain from now on.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Do the four o'clock handover, then ask her to go through both cases with you and agree what a handover needs to contain from now on.

   Least effective: B. Stop giving her the detailed handover after that meeting and send her the bare case list instead, since her view of the notes you write is clear enough already.

   A: Continues a dispute in the room it started in: the team watches two colleagues litigate two cases, and the handover between them is no better afterwards.

   B: Withdraws the useful part of a handover after a disagreement: her cases get worse, customers wait longer, and the response to a complaint about quality is less of it.

   C: Escalates a two-person problem into a policy: it may produce a standard eventually, and it answers a colleague by going round her.

   The most effective response is to do the four o’clock handover and then ask her to go through both cases and agree what a handover should contain: this afternoon’s work is unaffected, the disagreement about the second case is tested with the person who raised it, and the two of you leave with a standard rather than a grievance. It beats reopening the point in front of the team tomorrow, because the team then watches two colleagues argue about two cases and the handover itself is no better. It beats letting the remark pass, because half of it was wrong and all of it now stands. The least effective response is cutting her handover back to a bare case list: her cases and her customers pay for a disagreement between the two of you, and answering a complaint about quality by giving less is a different kind of wrong from arguing in public or from staying quiet. The principle: when somebody criticises the work you hand them, improve the handover and settle the facts with them, never reduce what you hand over.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a supplier quality assistant at Anheuser-Busch InBev. In a meeting with a supplier, he says loudly that a delay last month was caused by your colleague sitting next to you sending the specification late. You know the specification went on time and that the delay was the supplier’s own. Your colleague has gone red and is saying nothing. The meeting is deciding how the next order is handled. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Say nothing while the supplier makes his case, since contradicting him in the meeting would harden the argument and the point can be dealt with afterwards in writing.
   2. Say that your colleague sent the specification on time and ask the supplier to explain how the delay arose at his end, given that it did not arise at yours.
   3. Suggest the meeting moves on to the next order and that the delay is picked up separately, since arguing about last month will not get anybody anywhere today.
   4. Say plainly that the specification went out on time, ask what happened on his side, and suggest the two of you go through the dates together after the meeting.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Say plainly that the specification went out on time, ask what happened on his side, and suggest the two of you go through the dates together after the meeting.

   Least effective: A. Say nothing while the supplier makes his case, since contradicting him in the meeting would harden the argument and the point can be dealt with afterwards in writing.

   A: Withholds a fact your colleague needs in the room: the account that stands unchallenged is the one the meeting plans the next order around.

   B: Wins the point and hardens the room: the correction is right, the supplier is publicly wrong, and the next order still has to be agreed with him this morning.

   C: Buys progress at a colleague's expense: the meeting moves on with the accusation left standing, and she sits through the rest of it.

   The most effective response is to say plainly that the specification went out on time, ask what happened on his side, and offer to go through the dates afterwards: the untrue part is corrected in the room where it was said, the supplier is given a route that is not humiliation, and the meeting can still decide the next order. It beats correcting him and asking him to explain himself, because that is the same fact delivered so as to leave him with nowhere to go. It beats moving the meeting on, because the accusation stands and your colleague sits under it. The least effective response is saying nothing and dealing with it in writing later: the room plans the next order around an account you know to be false, and the colleague it is about is left alone with it, which is a different kind of wrong from correcting him too sharply or from changing the subject. The principle: correct the fact where it was stated, and give the other party a way to be wrong without being cornered.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a commercial graduate at Anheuser-Busch InBev. You are one of three people scoring proposals from four suppliers, and the scores go in on Friday. A contact at one of them, whom you have dealt with for months, drops by with a hamper and a voucher for a restaurant, saying they are just a thank you for the work so far and nothing to do with the tender. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Take the hamper for the team to share and leave the voucher, since something shared around the office cannot reasonably be said to have influenced anybody's scoring on Friday.
   2. Decline both, tell him plainly that you cannot accept anything while the tender is live, and tell the person running the tender that the offer was made.
   3. Accept the hamper and the voucher as offered, and thank him for thinking of the team after a long few months of work together.
   4. Decline both politely on the doorstep and say nothing to anybody afterwards, since he took the refusal well and no harm has actually come of it.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Decline both, tell him plainly that you cannot accept anything while the tender is live, and tell the person running the tender that the offer was made.

   Least effective: C. Accept the hamper and the voucher as offered, and thank him for thinking of the team after a long few months of work together.

   A: Splits a gift into an acceptable half: the supplier still leaves having given something to a scorer during a live tender, and the line has moved rather than held.

   C: Takes a benefit the role forbids while holding the pen: whatever was meant by it, one of the four suppliers has given a scorer a present during the scoring.

   D: Keeps a fact the tender's owner needs: the refusal is right and the person responsible for a fair process never learns that an approach was made at all.

   The most effective response is to decline both, say plainly that you cannot accept anything while the tender is live, and tell the person running it that the offer was made: it protects the scoring, it is straightforward with a contact you will keep dealing with, and it puts the approach on the record where the process can account for it. It beats keeping the hamper for the team, because a shared gift is still a gift to a scorer. It beats declining quietly and telling nobody, because the person responsible for a fair tender is the one who has to know. The least effective response is accepting the hamper and the voucher as offered: a supplier being scored this week has given a present to one of the people scoring them, which is a different kind of wrong from mishandling the refusal or from failing to report it. The principle: while you hold the pen, take nothing, and tell the person who owns the process what was offered.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a duty supervisor at Anheuser-Busch InBev. A weekly walk round the area you cover has to be recorded every week. On two of the last eight weeks it was not done, both times during unusually busy periods, and the sheet simply has gaps. A reviewer is going through the records with you this afternoon and has asked whether the walk has been completed every week. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Say that the walk is done every week as a matter of routine, and offer to send the reviewer the sheet afterwards so that she can look through the detail in her own time.
   2. Tell the reviewer the walk was missed twice in eight weeks, show her the sheet, and say what was happening in the area on both of those weeks.
   3. Tell her the sheet has gaps and that you will look into what happened on those two weeks, without saying that you already know both were busy periods.
   4. Assure the reviewer that the walk was completed in every one of the eight weeks, since it nearly always is and the two gaps were the result of unusually busy periods.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell the reviewer the walk was missed twice in eight weeks, show her the sheet, and say what was happening in the area on both of those weeks.

   Least effective: D. Assure the reviewer that the walk was completed in every one of the eight weeks, since it nearly always is and the two gaps were the result of unusually busy periods.

   A: Answers with the routine rather than the record: the gaps are still there and the reviewer finds them later, having been told something different to her face.

   C: Holds back the half you already know: the gaps are disclosed, and the explanation that would let her judge them properly is kept in reserve.

   D: Gives an assurance you know to be untrue: the reviewer's whole purpose is to find out what happened, and she is told the opposite by the one person who knows.

   The most effective response is to tell the reviewer the walk was missed twice in eight weeks, show her the sheet and say what was happening on those weeks: the record and your account of it agree, the context that makes the gaps understandable is offered rather than withheld, and she can do the job she is here to do. It beats answering with what happens as a matter of routine, because she will find the gaps afterwards having heard otherwise from you. It beats disclosing the gaps while keeping back what you know about them, because the explanation is the part that lets her judge them. The least effective response is assuring her that the walk was completed in every one of the eight weeks: the person with the facts tells the person checking them something untrue, which is a different kind of wrong from deflecting or from being incomplete. The principle: when somebody is checking a record, the record and what you say about it must be the same thing.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are an availability analyst at Anheuser-Busch InBev. An order for next week has been stopped by a system block because the volume is well above the agreed limit for that line. The manager who normally lifts a block is away, the ordering window closes at six, and you hold the rights to release a blocked order yourself. Without the order there will be nothing on that line for a week. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Release the blocked order yourself before six, using the rights you hold, and leave a note on the file for the manager to read when he is back.
   2. Ring the manager covering for him now with the volume, the limit and the six o'clock window, and ask for a decision either way before the window closes.
   3. Let the order fail at six and put it through on Monday when the manager is back and can lift the block himself in the ordinary way.
   4. Split the order into three smaller ones that each sit under the limit, and tell your supervisor what you have done when she is back on Monday.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Ring the manager covering for him now with the volume, the limit and the six o'clock window, and ask for a decision either way before the window closes.

   Least effective: A. Release the blocked order yourself before six, using the rights you hold, and leave a note on the file for the manager to read when he is back.

   A: Breaches a limit that exists to be a limit: the rights make it possible and nobody with the authority to set the volume aside has agreed that this is the week to do it.

   C: Accepts the worst outcome without testing it: nobody has yet asked a single person whether the limit can be set aside, and a week of nothing is the result of that silence.

   D: Builds a workaround around a control: the same volume arrives, the limit is neither respected nor changed, and the next person to look at the line sees three ordinary orders.

   The most effective response is to ring the manager covering for him with the volume, the limit and the six o’clock window, and ask for a decision either way: the block is a limit somebody set deliberately, somebody with authority is always covering, and the deadline is a reason to ask quickly rather than a reason not to ask. It beats letting the order fail until Monday, because nobody has been asked and a week of nothing is a heavy price for not asking. It beats splitting the order into three under the limit, because that leaves the control formally intact and practically gone. The least effective response is releasing the blocked order yourself: the volume limit is set aside by the person it was meant to stop, which is a different kind of wrong from giving up or from being too clever. The principle: rights are what let you act, not what makes the action yours to authorise.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a procurement graduate at Anheuser-Busch InBev. A supplier has agreed a change to what he provides, and everybody expects the written variation to be signed next week. He has offered to start on the new basis on Monday so that nothing is lost. Work started before a variation is signed is not covered by the agreement, and your manager is at a conference until Wednesday. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Ask the supplier to hold until the variation is signed, and put the signature in front of whoever can approve it in your manager's absence so it happens this week.
   2. Tell the supplier to start on Monday on the new basis, with the written variation to follow next week as everybody expects.
   3. Ask the supplier to start on Monday but to invoice only once the variation is signed, so that nothing is paid for outside the agreement.
   4. Tell the supplier nothing can happen until your manager is back on Wednesday, and let him decide for himself what to do with Monday and Tuesday.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Ask the supplier to hold until the variation is signed, and put the signature in front of whoever can approve it in your manager's absence so it happens this week.

   Least effective: B. Tell the supplier to start on Monday on the new basis, with the written variation to follow next week as everybody expects.

   B: Breaches the rule about when work may start: a week of work would sit outside the agreement entirely, and the supplier is the one carrying that if anything goes wrong.

   C: Solves the payment and not the exposure: the work is still done outside the agreement, which is what the rule about starting is actually about.

   D: Treats one person's diary as the only route: somebody is covering this week, and two days are given away without anybody being asked.

   The most effective response is to ask the supplier to hold and to put the signature in front of whoever is covering: the rule is kept, the week is not simply written off, and the person who can actually sign is asked. It beats asking him to start and invoice later, because the exposure is in the work rather than in the payment. It beats telling him to wait for Wednesday, because somebody is covering and nobody has asked them. The least effective response is telling him to start on Monday on the new basis: a week of work sits outside the agreement, and it is the supplier who carries that if it goes wrong, which is a different kind of wrong from a half fix or from a needless delay. The principle: the point of a rule about when work may begin is the work, and an expected signature is not a signature.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a shift supervisor at Anheuser-Busch InBev. Two of your team have fallen out over a rota change that moved one of them off Fridays. Each has told you the change was the other’s doing. In fact it was made by the scheduling team for reasons neither knows. Both are refusing to swap cover for each other, which is making the week harder for everybody. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Get the two of them together, explain that the change came from scheduling and why, and ask them to agree how cover works between them for the rest of the month.
   2. Tell each of them separately that the other had nothing to do with it, since a conversation between the three of you would be more heat than it is worth.
   3. Rearrange the cover yourself so that the two of them do not have to rely on each other, which takes the immediate pressure off the rest of the week.
   4. Promise both of them that the rota change will be reversed next month, which stops the argument and gets everybody covering for each other again.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Get the two of them together, explain that the change came from scheduling and why, and ask them to agree how cover works between them for the rest of the month.

   Least effective: D. Promise both of them that the rota change will be reversed next month, which stops the argument and gets everybody covering for each other again.

   B: Corrects the facts and leaves the relationship: both know they were wrong about the cause, and neither has said anything to the other.

   C: Designs around the fallout: the week runs, and two people who work the same shifts are formally kept apart by their supervisor.

   D: Buys peace with something nobody has agreed: the change belongs to scheduling, and next month both of them learn that your word was worth nothing.

   The most effective response is to get the two of them together, explain that the change came from scheduling and why, and ask them to agree how cover works for the rest of the month: the false belief that started it is removed in front of both, and the thing that actually has to work again, which is the cover between them, is what they are asked to settle. It beats telling them separately, because neither has to say anything to the other and the working relationship stays broken. It beats rearranging the cover around them, because their supervisor has formally kept them apart. The least effective response is promising the change will be reversed next month: it is not yours to reverse, and when it is not, both of them learn what your word is worth, which is a different kind of wrong from correcting them privately or from working around them. The principle: end a dispute with the truth in front of both parties, never with a promise you cannot keep.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a people team graduate at Anheuser-Busch InBev. A team member has told you privately that her line manager has been changing her shifts at short notice for a month, and that she has stopped saying anything because it is not worth the friction. She has asked you not to make a fuss. Repeated short-notice changes are something the people team is meant to look at. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Take it straight to the manager's own manager today with the dates in front of you, since a month of short-notice changes is exactly what the people team exists to pick up.
   2. Suggest she raises it with her manager herself, and offer to help her prepare what she wants to say if she decides to do that.
   3. Explain to her that a month of short-notice changes is something you have to pass on, agree with her how and when it is raised, and raise it so that she is not surprised.
   4. Tell her there is nothing the people team can do without a formal complaint from her, which is not something you have actually checked.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Explain to her that a month of short-notice changes is something you have to pass on, agree with her how and when it is raised, and raise it so that she is not surprised.

   Least effective: D. Tell her there is nothing the people team can do without a formal complaint from her, which is not something you have actually checked.

   A: Escalates over the person who raised it: the conversation happens about her rather than with her, and the next person with a problem watches how this one went.

   B: Leaves the pattern with the one person least able to change it: the offer of help is genuine, and the shifts carry on exactly as they were.

   D: States a limit that does not exist: she stops looking for help on the strength of a rule you invented, and the pattern goes unexamined because of it.

   The most effective response is to explain that a month of short-notice changes has to be passed on, agree with her how and when, and then raise it: it is honest about what you can and cannot promise her, it keeps her in the conversation about her own situation, and the pattern reaches the people who are meant to see it. It beats going straight to the manager’s manager today, because she is the person it happens to and she finds out afterwards. It beats suggesting she raise it herself with your help, because she has already judged that route not worth the friction and nothing changes. The least effective response is telling her the people team can do nothing without a formal complaint: that is a limit you have not checked and it is not true, so she stops looking for help on the strength of it, which is a different kind of wrong from escalating over her head or from under-reaching. The principle: be honest about what you must pass on, and take somebody with you rather than either around them or nowhere at all.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a customer experience graduate at Anheuser-Busch InBev. A colleague is on leave for a fortnight and her cases have come to you on top of your own. You are working late and falling behind, and forty cases are now past the promised reply date. She has left you her login so you can see her case notes, and using it would let you close cases in her name much faster than working through your own queue. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Work through both queues in date order and accept that some cases will be late, since the fortnight is nearly half over and there is no way to answer everything on time.
    2. Clear the backlog using your colleague's login while she is away, since the cases have to be answered and working in her name is much quicker than moving each one across to yourself.
    3. Answer the oldest forty first and leave your own newer cases until the backlog is clear, so that nobody is waiting longer than the promised date by more than a day or two.
    4. Tell your team leader today how many cases are past the promised date and what you can realistically clear, so that the queue can be shared out while your colleague is away.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: D. Tell your team leader today how many cases are past the promised date and what you can realistically clear, so that the queue can be shared out while your colleague is away.

    Least effective: B. Clear the backlog using your colleague's login while she is away, since the cases have to be answered and working in her name is much quicker than moving each one across to yourself.

    A: Absorbs the overload silently: it is honest work and nobody who could add a person, extend a promise or reset expectations has been told the position.

    B: Breaches the rule on who acts under whose name: the queue may shrink, and every case closed that way is recorded as the work of somebody who is on leave.

    C: Rearranges the queue without changing its size: the oldest are rescued, your own newer cases now age past their dates, and the workload itself is unaddressed.

    The most effective response is to tell your team leader how many cases are past the promised date and what you can realistically clear, and ask for the queue to be shared: the only fix for a fortnight of two workloads is a decision about resource, and that decision belongs to somebody who does not yet know the numbers. It beats working through both queues in date order, because that is the same overload carried quietly. It beats answering the oldest first, because it moves the lateness around rather than reducing it. The least effective response is clearing cases under your colleague’s login: the record then says she answered customers while she was on leave, and using somebody’s credentials because it is faster is a different kind of wrong from struggling on or from reordering the queue. The principle: when the work will not fit, make the size of it visible to whoever can change it, and never solve it by acting as somebody else.