Nike Assessment Tests

Nike Online Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a trading assistant at Nike Online. 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.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a stock control assistant at Nike Online. A pallet of goods has arrived without its quality release, which has to be on the system before anything can be booked in. The supplier says the paperwork will follow tomorrow. The site needs the goods this afternoon, and your system access lets you book stock in without the release attached. Your supervisor is on a call for the next hour. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Book the pallet in without the release, since the paperwork is coming tomorrow and the site needs the goods this afternoon rather than in the morning.
   2. Turn the pallet away and tell the supplier to bring it back when the release is in the system, since the rule is clear and the vehicle is still on site.
   3. Hold the pallet where it is and ask the supplier to send the release now by email, so that your supervisor can weigh the site's deadline the moment her call ends.
   4. Leave the pallet in the receiving area unbooked and pick it up tomorrow when the paperwork arrives, without telling the site that their goods are on hold.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Hold the pallet where it is and ask the supplier to send the release now by email, so that your supervisor can weigh the site's deadline the moment her call ends.

   Least effective: A. Book the pallet in without the release, since the paperwork is coming tomorrow and the site needs the goods this afternoon rather than in the morning.

   A: Breaches a stated control: the release exists so that nothing reaches the site unchecked, and the access that makes it easy to skip is not a reason to skip it.

   B: Applies the rule without solving the problem: the goods leave the area, the site still needs them this afternoon, and nobody has tried the hour that was actually available.

   D: Hides a delay somebody is planning against: the site expects the goods this afternoon and finds out they are not coming only when they do not arrive.

   The most effective response is to hold the pallet, ask the supplier to send the release now, and put the site’s deadline to your supervisor as soon as her call ends: it keeps the control intact, it uses the hour rather than spending it, and the person who can authorise an exception hears about it while there is still time to make one. It beats turning the pallet away, because the vehicle leaving makes the afternoon impossible and nobody has yet asked the supplier for the one document that would fix it. It beats leaving the pallet unbooked and saying nothing until tomorrow, because the site is planning around goods that are not coming. The least effective response is booking the pallet in without the release: the check that stops unverified goods reaching a site is stepped around because your access happens to allow it, which is a different kind of wrong from being rigid or being quiet. The principle: a control you personally can bypass is still a control, and the way round it is an exception somebody authorises, not one you take.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a customer care assistant at Nike Online. 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.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a people team graduate at Nike Online. A new starter arrives tomorrow and her system access has not been set up because the request was raised late and still needs approval. Without access she can do very little on her first day. You have a template that would let you create the accounts yourself, which is normally done only after the approval comes through. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Plan her first day around what does not need access, and let the approval and the accounts follow in the ordinary way over the next couple of days.
   2. Chase the approver today explaining that she starts tomorrow, and arrange a first day that works either way so that she is not left waiting on a system.
   3. Create the accounts yourself from the template so that she can work properly from the start, and let the approval catch up with them afterwards.
   4. Ask her line manager to sit with her on her first morning and show her the systems on his own screen, so that she can see what she will be using.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Chase the approver today explaining that she starts tomorrow, and arrange a first day that works either way so that she is not left waiting on a system.

   Least effective: C. Create the accounts yourself from the template so that she can work properly from the start, and let the approval catch up with them afterwards.

   A: Solves the day and drops the cause: a first day of induction is fine, and nobody has tried to get an approval that may only need asking for.

   C: Breaches the approval that access exists to require: the accounts are real from the moment they are made, and the check that decides what she may see never happened.

   D: Fills a first day with watching: she sees the systems, cannot touch any of them, and the approval that would change that is no closer.

   The most effective response is to chase the approver today explaining that she starts tomorrow, and arrange a first day that works either way: the approval may only need asking for, and her day is not left resting on whether it arrives. It beats planning the day around what needs no access, because nobody has tried to fix the actual problem. It beats a first morning watching over her manager’s shoulder, because she still cannot do anything and the approval is no closer. The least effective response is creating the accounts from the template: the approval decides what she may see and it never happens, which is a different kind of wrong from accepting the delay or from improvising round it. The principle: when a control is in the way of a good outcome, spend the effort on the control rather than on the way round it.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a marketing graduate at Nike Online. A line of copy for a new range says customers rate it the best they have tried. The survey it comes from asked people who had already bought the range how it compared with what they bought before, and most said it was better. The claim goes out on Monday. Your manager likes the line and says the survey supports it. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Ask the insight team to run a fresh survey that would support the line as written, and hold the copy until the new results are back and can be quoted properly.
   2. Change the line yourself to say that most customers who bought it preferred it to what they bought before, and send the copy out on Monday without discussing it further.
   3. Show your manager exactly what the survey asked and who it asked, propose wording that says what it actually found, and agree the line before Monday.
   4. Leave the line as it stands: it presents the survey result as fact and your manager is perfectly happy that it does.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Show your manager exactly what the survey asked and who it asked, propose wording that says what it actually found, and agree the line before Monday.

   Least effective: D. Leave the line as it stands: it presents the survey result as fact and your manager is perfectly happy that it does.

   A: Starts from the answer and looks for evidence: the claim is treated as fixed and the research is asked to catch up with it.

   B: Fixes the wording and skips the conversation: the copy is now accurate and your manager still believes the survey supports a claim it does not.

   D: Puts a claim to customers that the evidence does not carry: the survey asked existing buyers to compare with their own last purchase, which is not what the sentence tells the public.

   The most effective response is to show your manager exactly what the survey asked and who it asked, propose wording that matches what it found, and agree the line before Monday: the claim ends up supportable, the decision stays with the person who owns the copy, and it happens before the deadline rather than after it. It beats commissioning a survey to fit the line, because that starts from the answer and shops for evidence. It beats quietly rewriting the line, because your manager carries on believing the survey says something it does not. The least effective response is leaving the line as it stands because your manager is happy with it: a claim goes to customers that the evidence does not support, which is a different kind of wrong from working backwards from a conclusion or from correcting it silently. The principle: the evidence decides what the claim may say, and seniority is not evidence.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a resourcing assistant at Nike Online. A colleague told you at lunch that she is close to walking out because she is doing most of the team’s work and nobody has noticed. She asked you not to repeat it. The same afternoon your team leader asks the three of you to take on another piece of work, and your colleague says yes without comment. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Say nothing to anybody and quietly take some of the new work off her yourself, since she asked you not to repeat it and that at least lightens the load.
   2. Repeat what she said to your team leader so that the allocation can be looked at properly, since somebody close to walking out is not something to keep to yourself.
   3. Tell her you think she should raise it, offer to go with her, and say that if she will not you would want to raise the allocation question yourself without quoting her.
   4. Tell the other two on the team what she said about the workload, before the new work is divided up between you.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell her you think she should raise it, offer to go with her, and say that if she will not you would want to raise the allocation question yourself without quoting her.

   Least effective: D. Tell the other two on the team what she said about the workload, before the new work is divided up between you.

   A: Treats a workload problem as a private favour: her hours improve slightly, and the team leader who allocates the work still has no idea there is a problem.

   B: Breaks a confidence to get a good outcome: she may well be helped, and she learns that what she says to you reaches her manager.

   D: Carries private remarks to the team: something said to one person at lunch becomes the team's business, and she finds out when somebody mentions it.

   The most effective response is to tell her you think she should raise it, offer to go with her, and be straight that you would want to raise the allocation question anyway without quoting her: it respects what she asked while being honest that the workload itself is a team matter, and it gives her the first move. It beats quietly taking work off her, because the person who allocates it still knows nothing. It beats repeating what she said to your team leader, because the confidence goes without her ever being asked. The least effective response is telling the other two what she said: a private remark becomes the team’s property and she discovers it second hand, which is a different kind of wrong from helping quietly or from escalating without permission. The principle: be honest with somebody about what you intend to do with what they told you, and never spread it sideways.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a trading assistant at Nike Online. An account manager has asked you three times today whether a reconciliation is finished. It is not: it needs another hour. You also have a supplier payment file that must be submitted by three o’clock or it waits a week, and it is half past one. The reconciliation has no deadline other than his patience. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Do an hour on the reconciliation now to get him off your back, then submit the payment file with whatever time is left before the three o'clock cut-off.
   2. Ask the account manager to take the reconciliation question to your manager, since being chased three times in a day is not something you should have to work around.
   3. Tell him the reconciliation needs another hour and that he will have it by half past four, then submit the payment file before three so that it is not held a week.
   4. Tell the account manager the reconciliation has been done so that he stops chasing, and finish it properly once the payment file has gone at three.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell him the reconciliation needs another hour and that he will have it by half past four, then submit the payment file before three so that it is not held a week.

   Least effective: D. Tell the account manager the reconciliation has been done so that he stops chasing, and finish it properly once the payment file has gone at three.

   A: Lets the loudest voice set the order: a file that waits a week if it misses three o'clock is given the time left over by a task with no deadline at all.

   B: Escalates a question rather than answering it: he has asked a reasonable thing three times and still does not know when he will have it.

   D: Says a piece of work is finished when it is not: he may act on a reconciliation that does not exist yet, and the peace it buys lasts exactly until he looks.

   The most effective response is to tell him the reconciliation needs another hour and give him a time, then submit the payment file before three: the deadline with a week riding on it is protected, and the person chasing gets the one thing that will actually stop him chasing, which is a time. It beats doing an hour on the reconciliation first, because a task with no deadline is then funded out of the one with a hard cut-off. It beats sending him to your manager, because he has asked a fair question three times and still has no answer. The least effective response is telling the account manager the reconciliation has been done so that he stops chasing: he may act on work that does not exist, which is a different kind of wrong from ordering the day badly or from deflecting him. The principle: manage a chaser with a date, never with a false completion.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a commercial finance assistant at Nike Online. A promotion that a manager championed has come in well below what she forecast, and you have the numbers. She is presenting the quarter to her own director on Thursday and does not know yet. You produced the figures and understand why the gap arose. Your own manager has asked you to make sure she has them. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send her the figures today with no commentary, since the numbers speak for themselves and it is not your place to interpret somebody else's promotion for her.
   2. Put the figures in Thursday's pack and send her a heads-up today that the promotion number is below forecast, so that she is not surprised in the room.
   3. Ask your manager to give her the figures, as bad news about a promotion she championed lands better from somebody at her own level.
   4. Go to her today with the figures and your explanation of the gap, and offer to help her prepare how it is presented on Thursday.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Go to her today with the figures and your explanation of the gap, and offer to help her prepare how it is presented on Thursday.

   Least effective: C. Ask your manager to give her the figures, as bad news about a promotion she championed lands better from somebody at her own level.

   A: Delivers data instead of information: she has two days to work out what happened, and you already know.

   B: Warns without explaining: she knows a bad number is coming and still has to work out why it happened, hours before she presents it.

   C: Hands the message on rather than delivering it: your manager has to explain a gap you understand and she does not, and two of the days before Thursday go on arranging that.

   The most effective response is to go to her today with the figures and your explanation, and offer to help with how it is presented: she gets the news with two days to use it, from the person who can explain it, and the offer of help makes it a working problem rather than a verdict. It beats sending the numbers with no commentary, because she then spends two days working out what you already know. It beats a heads-up today with the figures left to Thursday’s pack, because the explanation is the part she cannot supply herself and only you have it. The least effective response is asking your manager to deliver it: the explanation sits with you and the message with somebody else, and the arranging eats the time she needs, which is a different kind of wrong from being too spare or from mistiming it. The principle: bad news is delivered early, by the person who can explain it, with help attached.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are an availability analyst at Nike Online. A report you use every week double counts one type of transfer, which makes availability look better than it is. You have twice messaged the team who own the report and heard nothing. Colleagues in three areas use the same report to decide what to order. Your own workaround takes ten minutes a week and nobody else knows about it. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send the fault on to the reporting team a third time and take it off your own list, since the report belongs to them and you have now told them twice.
   2. Write up your workaround and share it with the three areas, so that everybody can correct the number for themselves until the report is fixed.
   3. Tell the three areas what the fault does to the number, and take it to the reporting team's manager with the two unanswered messages, since nothing else has moved them.
   4. Keep applying your own correction and wait for the reporting team to reply, since chasing a third time and going over their heads would both be premature.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell the three areas what the fault does to the number, and take it to the reporting team's manager with the two unanswered messages, since nothing else has moved them.

   Least effective: A. Send the fault on to the reporting team a third time and take it off your own list, since the report belongs to them and you have now told them twice.

   A: Passes it on and stops caring: two messages have already vanished, a third changes nothing, and the three areas ordering from the report still do not know.

   B: Spreads the repair instead of the fix: every area now spends ten minutes a week on a fault that still nobody owns.

   D: Waits on a team that has ignored two messages: your own numbers are right, and three areas keep ordering from a figure that is not.

   The most effective response is to tell the three areas what the fault does to the number and take it to the reporting team’s manager with the two unanswered messages: the people making decisions stop using a wrong figure today, and the fix goes to somebody with the standing to make it happen. It beats sharing your workaround with the three areas, because that spends everybody’s time on a fault that still has no owner. It beats waiting for a reply, because two messages have already gone unanswered while the ordering carries on. The least effective response is sending it a third time and taking it off your list: nothing about a third message is different, and the areas ordering from the report are still not told, which is a different kind of wrong from spreading the workaround or from waiting. The principle: when the owner will not act, protect the people using the output and escalate with the evidence of what you already tried.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a trading assistant at Nike Online. A business customer has asked four times when new pricing will be issued, and each time you have said it is coming. The person who sets it has not given you a date and is not answering messages. The customer says he cannot plan his own ordering without it and is starting to sound as though he does not believe you. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Tell the customer honestly that you do not yet have a date, say what you are doing to get one and by when, and go to the pricing manager's team leader today.
    2. Stop replying until you have something concrete to tell him, since a fifth message that says the same thing as the other four will only make matters worse than they already are.
    3. Tell him the pricing is held up by the person who sets it and that you have chased repeatedly, so that he can see the delay is not something you control.
    4. Promise the customer the new pricing by Friday, since these usually come through within a week or so and a date is what he keeps asking you for.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: A. Tell the customer honestly that you do not yet have a date, say what you are doing to get one and by when, and go to the pricing manager's team leader today.

    Least effective: D. Promise the customer the new pricing by Friday, since these usually come through within a week or so and a date is what he keeps asking you for.

    B: Answers a loss of confidence with silence: the customer is left to conclude that nobody is dealing with it at all, which is worse than a thin answer.

    C: Explains your own position instead of solving his: the customer still cannot plan, and he now knows the business does not answer its own people either.

    D: Gives a date nobody has agreed to: the one thing he still trusts is what you say, and Friday is invented to end a conversation rather than to be met.

    The most effective response is to tell him honestly that you have no date yet, say what you are doing about it and by when, and go to the pricing manager’s team leader today: he gets the truth and a commitment you control, and the blockage finally reaches somebody with the standing to clear it. It beats going quiet until there is something concrete, because silence reads as nobody dealing with it. It beats explaining that the hold-up is with the person who sets pricing, because that tells him about your problems rather than solving his. The least effective response is promising the pricing by Friday: no such date exists, he plans on it, and a fifth assurance that fails is the one that ends his belief in anything you say, which is a different kind of wrong from going silent or from explaining too much. The principle: when the only thing you can offer is honesty and a next step, offer those rather than a date you cannot deliver.