Campbell Soup Company Assessment Tests

Campbell Soup Company Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a customer care assistant at Campbell Soup Company. 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.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a trading assistant at Campbell Soup Company. In Monday’s meeting a colleague said, in front of the team, that your weekly figures were guesswork and had cost her a decision. You were annoyed and said nothing. You send her those figures every Wednesday and she uses them to set her orders. It is Wednesday morning and the figures are ready. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send the figures as usual and add a line to the whole team explaining how they are built, so that everybody can see the remark on Monday was unfair.
   2. Send the figures as usual, then ask her for ten minutes to go through how they are built and what the decision needed that they did not give her.
   3. Send the figures as usual and say nothing about Monday, on the basis that raising it now would only make the next meeting more uncomfortable for both of you.
   4. Stop sending her the weekly figures after that meeting and let her ask for them if she still wants them, since she made her view of their value clear enough.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Send the figures as usual, then ask her for ten minutes to go through how they are built and what the decision needed that they did not give her.

   Least effective: D. Stop sending her the weekly figures after that meeting and let her ask for them if she still wants them, since she made her view of their value clear enough.

   A: Answers a private grievance in public: the correction is aimed at an audience rather than at her, and the person it is really about reads it alongside everyone else.

   C: Prioritises harmony over honesty: the working relationship stays polite, the complaint about your work stands unexamined, and it will be repeated.

   D: Withdraws your work from a colleague after a disagreement: her orders go out on nothing, and a complaint about quality is answered by removing the thing entirely.

   The most effective response is to send the figures as usual and then ask her for ten minutes on how they are built and what her decision needed: it keeps the work flowing, it treats the remark as information about a gap rather than as an insult, and it puts the conversation where it belongs, which is between the two of you. It beats adding a public line to the team about how the figures are built, because that answers her in front of an audience and makes the disagreement everybody’s. It beats saying nothing at all, because the complaint stands and the next set of orders is set on the same misunderstanding. The least effective response is stopping the weekly figures after the meeting and making her ask: the work she depends on is withdrawn because of how she spoke to you, which is a different kind of wrong from being defensive in public or being silent. The principle: criticism of your work is answered by improving what the other person needed, never by taking the work away.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a purchasing assistant at Campbell Soup Company. A piece of work you and three colleagues share, checking supplier documents before renewal, has slipped: one colleague has not done his forty for three weeks running, and the rest of you have quietly absorbed them. The renewal deadline is in a fortnight. Monday’s team stand-up is where the work is reviewed and everybody will be there. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Raise the missed documents in front of the whole team at Monday's stand-up, naming who had the action each week, before speaking to him at all.
   2. Carry on absorbing his forty between the three of you until the renewal is done, and raise how the work is shared once the fortnight is over and everybody has more time.
   3. Ask your manager to redistribute the documents formally, since three weeks of the same gap is a workload question rather than something the four of you should be solving between yourselves.
   4. Speak to him this week on his own and say plainly what the three of you have been absorbing, so that the two of you can agree who does what before the renewal.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Speak to him this week on his own and say plainly what the three of you have been absorbing, so that the two of you can agree who does what before the renewal.

   Least effective: A. Raise the missed documents in front of the whole team at Monday's stand-up, naming who had the action each week, before speaking to him at all.

   A: Puts a colleague's failure in front of an audience: the facts are right, and the first he hears of a complaint about his work is in a room with everybody else in it.

   B: Defers a problem the deadline makes urgent: the fortnight is exactly when the extra hundred and twenty documents cannot be absorbed, and the conversation is postponed past the point of use.

   C: Escalates before asking: nobody has yet asked him what is going on, and the first move is a manager rearranging work over his head.

   The most effective response is to speak to him on his own this week, say plainly what has been absorbed and what the renewal needs, and agree who does what: he may have a reason nobody has asked for, the deadline needs a plan rather than a verdict, and the conversation happens where it can still change the outcome. It beats carrying on absorbing the work, because the fortnight is precisely when that stops being possible. It beats asking the manager to redistribute the documents, because nobody has yet asked him anything. The least effective response is naming him at Monday’s stand-up: the facts are accurate and the setting turns a workload problem into a public accounting, which is a different kind of wrong from postponing the conversation or from taking it over his head. The principle: raise a colleague’s shortfall with the colleague first, and keep the audience out of it.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a customer care assistant at Campbell Soup Company. A refund you processed last week went out at forty pounds instead of four hundred, and a colleague has just spotted it while closing the case. The customer has not been in touch. Your team leader is at her desk. Refunds of this size are corrected by her, and the weekly payment run closes on Friday afternoon. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send the customer the missing amount from the goodwill budget today and note what happened in the case, then raise the error at the team meeting next week.
   2. Tell your team leader this morning what you got wrong, with the case reference and the two amounts, so the shortfall can be corrected before Friday's payment run closes.
   3. Keep it between you and the colleague who found it, correct the figure in the case notes, and hope the customer does not compare what was promised with what arrived.
   4. Ask the colleague who spotted the shortfall to raise it with the team leader, since she found it and can explain what she saw in the case more clearly than you can.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell your team leader this morning what you got wrong, with the case reference and the two amounts, so the shortfall can be corrected before Friday's payment run closes.

   Least effective: C. Keep it between you and the colleague who found it, correct the figure in the case notes, and hope the customer does not compare what was promised with what arrived.

   A: Delays the decision: the customer is made whole, but the person who owns refunds of this size hears about it a week after the payment run she has to correct it in.

   C: Conceals your own error by agreement: the notes read correctly, the customer is still three hundred and sixty pounds short, and the one person who could put it right before Friday is deliberately not told.

   D: Passes responsibility to others: the error is yours, and handing the conversation to the person who caught it makes the correction slower and the account of it second hand.

   The most effective response is to tell your team leader this morning what you got wrong, with the case reference and both amounts: she is the person who can correct a refund of that size, Friday’s run is the deadline that decides whether the customer waits days or weeks, and owning the mistake out loud is what makes the correction possible. It beats sending the missing amount from the goodwill budget and raising it next week, because the correction lands after the run and the budget is not what a mispayment should be repaired from. It beats asking the colleague who spotted the shortfall to raise it, because the error is yours to report and a second-hand account is slower and less complete. The least effective response is keeping it between the two of you and hoping the customer does not compare the figures: the record is tidied while the customer stays short, and concealment is a different kind of wrong from reporting late or reporting through somebody else. The principle: your own error is the one you take to the person who can fix it, at once and in your own words.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a duty supervisor at Campbell Soup Company. 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 Campbell Soup Company. You and a colleague are presenting a joint piece of analysis on Thursday. You have done the numbers and he has done the site interviews. Two of your sections are unfinished and you have a separate deadline on Wednesday. He has said he is happy to present alone if that helps. Thursday’s audience will ask about the numbers. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell him today which two sections are unfinished, agree what you can realistically have ready by Thursday, and split the presenting so that you take the numbers.
   2. Present together as planned and finish the two sections on Wednesday night after the other deadline, since they are nearly done and nobody else needs to know they were late.
   3. Ask to move Thursday's presentation to next week, since two unfinished sections and a Wednesday deadline is not a position to present a joint piece of work from.
   4. Give the presentation to your colleague to deliver on his own, without telling him which two sections you have not finished.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Tell him today which two sections are unfinished, agree what you can realistically have ready by Thursday, and split the presenting so that you take the numbers.

   Least effective: D. Give the presentation to your colleague to deliver on his own, without telling him which two sections you have not finished.

   B: Keeps a risk to yourself: if Wednesday night goes wrong, the first anybody hears about two missing sections is in the room on Thursday.

   C: Moves the date before trying the day: two sections and a colleague who has offered help make Thursday reachable, and the audience is assembled for it.

   D: Hands over a job with a hole in it: he stands in front of an audience that will ask about numbers he did not build, unaware that two sections are missing.

   The most effective response is to tell him today which sections are unfinished, agree what is realistic by Thursday, and split the presenting so you take the numbers: he can plan around the true position, the Wednesday deadline is accounted for, and the part of the audience’s questions only you can answer is answered by you. It beats presenting as planned and finishing on Wednesday night, because a private risk becomes everybody’s problem if the night goes badly. It beats moving the presentation, because Thursday is reachable and the audience is already assembled. The least effective response is handing him the presentation without saying two sections are missing: he faces questions about numbers he did not build, not knowing what is absent, which is a different kind of wrong from carrying the risk quietly or from postponing. The principle: a colleague can only cover for you against the truth, so tell them what is actually missing.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a purchasing assistant at Campbell Soup Company. A supplier has rung to query a set of volumes that a colleague of yours prepared. You can see that your colleague’s numbers are right and that the supplier has misread the layout. He is impatient, has queried her figures before, and says he would rather deal with you from now on because she takes days to reply. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell him her figures are often unreliable and that he should bring the numbers to you in future, so that at least the queries get answered quickly.
   2. Show him where the layout misled him, say the figures are right, and tell him you will pass on his point about reply times to her and your manager.
   3. Answer the query yourself and agree to be his contact for volumes from now on, since he is clearly not going to deal with her and somebody has to answer him.
   4. Tell him the volumes are her work and that he should take the query back to her, since it is her supplier and answering it yourself would cut across her.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Show him where the layout misled him, say the figures are right, and tell him you will pass on his point about reply times to her and your manager.

   Least effective: A. Tell him her figures are often unreliable and that he should bring the numbers to you in future, so that at least the queries get answered quickly.

   A: Undermines a colleague to an outsider: her numbers were right, and a supplier is now told by her own team that her work cannot be trusted.

   C: Solves a relationship problem by rearranging it: she loses her own supplier contact without being consulted, and nobody addresses the reply times.

   D: Applies the boundary and ignores the customer: he is sent back to somebody he says takes days, holding a misreading you could have cleared up in a minute.

   The most effective response is to show him where the layout misled him, confirm the figures are right, and say you will pass his point about reply times to her and your manager: the query is answered on the spot, your colleague’s work is defended because it is correct, and the real complaint goes somewhere it can be dealt with. It beats agreeing to become his contact, because that quietly takes her supplier away without asking her. It beats sending him back to her with his misreading intact, because it costs a minute to clear up. The least effective response is telling him her figures are often unreliable: they were right, and a supplier has been told by her own team not to trust her, which is a different kind of wrong from over-accommodating him or from standing on the boundary. The principle: defend a colleague’s correct work to an outsider, and take the criticism of her that has substance to her and your manager instead.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a commercial graduate at Campbell Soup Company. A quote you sent a customer last week used a price file that had already been replaced, so the price quoted is lower than the one now in force. The customer has not yet ordered. A colleague spotted it this morning while tidying the folder, and nobody else knows. Your manager reviews quotes over a certain value on Friday. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send the customer a corrected quote today with a short apology, and mention the old file to your manager at Friday's review when the quote comes up in any case.
   2. Tell your manager today what happened and which file you used, agree with her what the customer is told, and make sure the replaced file cannot be picked up again.
   3. Correct the price file yourself this afternoon, say nothing about which version the quote came from, and hope it will not be traced back to last week.
   4. Honour the quote you sent, since the customer received it in good faith, and raise the file problem separately once the order has been placed.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell your manager today what happened and which file you used, agree with her what the customer is told, and make sure the replaced file cannot be picked up again.

   Least effective: C. Correct the price file yourself this afternoon, say nothing about which version the quote came from, and hope it will not be traced back to last week.

   A: Delays the part that is not about the customer: the quote is fixed quickly, and the manager learns on Friday that a replaced file was still in use for a week.

   C: Conceals your own error while tidying the evidence of it: the folder looks right, the customer still holds a quote nobody can honour, and the concealment is the part that was chosen deliberately.

   D: Decides a pricing question that is not yours: honouring it may well be right, and it is a call your manager makes with the value in front of her.

   The most effective response is to tell your manager today what happened and which file you used, agree what the customer is told, and make sure the replaced file cannot be picked up again: the person who owns the pricing decision makes it, the customer hears one consistent thing, and the cause is closed rather than the instance. It beats sending a corrected quote today and mentioning the file on Friday, because a replaced file in live use is the more urgent half. It beats honouring the quote and raising the file afterwards, because that is a commercial decision above your level taken by default. The least effective response is correcting the file quietly and hoping it is not traced back: the evidence is tidied while the customer holds a quote nobody can honour, and hiding your own error is a different kind of wrong from telling somebody late or from deciding too much. The principle: fix the cause in the open, and let the person who owns the decision take it with the facts in front of them.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a service recovery assistant at Campbell Soup Company. You have to tell your team on Monday that all case notes now have to be written up before the end of each shift. The change was made because the evening team’s notes have repeatedly been missing, which everybody privately knows. The new rule applies to all three shifts. You are the person announcing it. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Announce the change and explain that the evening team's unwritten cases are the reason for it, and that everybody else is caught only incidentally.
   2. Announce the change, explain what problem it solves for cases handed between shifts, and say how it will be reviewed if it turns out to be unworkable.
   3. Announce the change without explaining why, since the reason involves one shift's performance and there is nothing to gain from getting into that on a Monday morning.
   4. Announce the change and say it has come down from above, so that the team direct any objections to the people who actually decided it rather than to you.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Announce the change, explain what problem it solves for cases handed between shifts, and say how it will be reviewed if it turns out to be unworkable.

   Least effective: A. Announce the change and explain that the evening team's unwritten cases are the reason for it, and that everybody else is caught only incidentally.

   A: Blames a named group in an announcement: the rule is delivered as a punishment for one shift, and every one of them hears it from a colleague in front of the others.

   C: Withholds the reason to avoid the awkwardness: a rule with no explanation is followed for a week and then quietly dropped.

   D: Disowns a message you are delivering: the rule arrives with nobody behind it, which is the surest way to make sure it is not followed.

   The most effective response is to announce the change, explain what problem it solves for cases handed between shifts, and say how it will be reviewed: the reason is honest without being about anybody in particular, the rule is owned by the person delivering it, and there is a route if it proves unworkable. It beats announcing it with no explanation, because an unexplained rule lasts a week. It beats saying it came down from above, because a message nobody stands behind is not followed. The least effective response is explaining that it is the evening team’s fault: people hear their own shift named in front of everybody, which is a different kind of wrong from being unhelpfully brief or from disowning the message. The principle: explain a change by the problem it solves, never by the people it is aimed at.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a supply chain graduate at Campbell Soup Company. Two people you work with, a planner and a site coordinator, have been arguing for a week about who caused a double order. The planner has now started sending you her messages to the coordinator to read. Both need to agree next week’s volumes with you by Thursday, and the argument is stopping that conversation happening at all. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Say to the planner that you are not the right audience for the messages, and ask both of them to a short meeting on next week's volumes so that the double order is aired there.
    2. Agree next week's volumes with each of them separately before Thursday, so that the deadline is met without either of them having to sit in a room with the other while the argument is live.
    3. Ask the coordinator's team leader behind his back what really happened with the double order, so that you know which of them you are dealing with before Thursday.
    4. Reply to the planner that the messages are between the two of them, and wait for the argument to burn out before raising Thursday's volumes with either of them.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: A. Say to the planner that you are not the right audience for the messages, and ask both of them to a short meeting on next week's volumes so that the double order is aired there.

    Least effective: C. Ask the coordinator's team leader behind his back what really happened with the double order, so that you know which of them you are dealing with before Thursday.

    B: Works around the conflict rather than through it: Thursday is met, and the two people who have to plan together every week are further apart than they were.

    C: Investigates a colleague behind his back: it turns a disagreement about an order into a private judgement about a person, formed from one side and without his knowledge.

    D: Waits for a deadline to solve itself: the boundary is right and Thursday arrives with next week's volumes unagreed.

    The most effective response is to tell the planner you are not the right audience for the messages and to put both of them in a short meeting on next week’s volumes with the double order on the agenda: it declines the role of a private audience, and it makes the one conversation that has to happen the place where the argument gets aired. It beats agreeing volumes with each separately, because Thursday is met while the working relationship the next order depends on is left worse. It beats setting the boundary and then waiting, because nothing then moves the deadline forward. The least effective response is asking the coordinator’s team leader behind his back what really happened: it turns a dispute about an order into a private inquiry into a colleague, conducted from one side and without his knowledge, which is a different kind of wrong from avoiding the conflict or from working around it. The principle: refuse the private audience, and put the disagreement in front of the people who have to agree.