PepsiCo Assessment Tests

PepsiCo Online Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a commercial finance assistant at PepsiCo 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.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a commercial graduate at PepsiCo Online. A business customer has emailed you about a delivery that was short by six cases. Shortages are handled by the returns team through an online form, which the customer can complete himself. He has sent you the details and photographs already. He orders every week and this is the second shortage this month. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Refer the customer to the returns team and send him the link to the form, since shortages are theirs to settle and he already has all the details they will need.
   2. Complete the returns form yourself with what he has sent and tell him it is done and when he will hear, and flag the shortage since it is the second this month.
   3. Arrange for six cases to go out on his next delivery, and log the shortage on the returns form afterwards so that the record still exists.
   4. Reply that you have passed his email to the returns team, and leave them to contact him for anything else they need to process the claim.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Complete the returns form yourself with what he has sent and tell him it is done and when he will hear, and flag the shortage since it is the second this month.

   Least effective: A. Refer the customer to the returns team and send him the link to the form, since shortages are theirs to settle and he already has all the details they will need.

   A: Hands the customer the work rather than the answer: he has already written the case out once, and the second shortage this month goes unnoticed by anybody who could look at the cause.

   C: Settles it before recording it: the customer is made whole, and the claim reaches the process only after the decision was taken outside it.

   D: Announces a handover instead of completing one: nothing has been logged, and he waits to be contacted by a team that has not been asked for anything specific.

   The most effective response is to complete the returns form yourself with what he has sent, tell him it is done and when he will hear, and flag the second shortage this month: he does not have to write his case out twice, the claim enters the process properly, and the pattern reaches somebody who can look at it. It beats sending six cases first and logging the shortage afterwards, because the decision is then taken outside the process that exists to make it. It beats telling him you have passed his email on, because nothing has actually been logged. The least effective response is sending him the link and asking him to fill the form in: he has already done the work once, and a second shortage in a month passes unseen, which is a different kind of wrong from being informally generous or from being vague. The principle: when the customer has already given you what the process needs, put it into the process yourself.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a purchasing assistant at PepsiCo Online. 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.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a commercial graduate at PepsiCo Online. 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.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a people team graduate at PepsiCo Online. You and two colleagues run a shared inbox. One of them answered a query yesterday in a way you think was wrong and rather blunt, and the person who asked has replied saying she found it unhelpful. The three of you share a group chat. The colleague is out this morning and the query is still open. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Answer the query again yourself properly and say nothing to him about it, since the person who asked needs a decent answer more than he needs a conversation.
   2. Answer the query properly today, then speak to him when he is back about what she said and how the three of you want questions like it answered.
   3. Put the reply and her response in the group chat and criticise the way he handled it, with the other two of you copied in.
   4. Forward the exchange to your manager and ask her to speak to him, since the tone of it is really a management matter rather than something for a peer to raise.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Answer the query properly today, then speak to him when he is back about what she said and how the three of you want questions like it answered.

   Least effective: C. Put the reply and her response in the group chat and criticise the way he handled it, with the other two of you copied in.

   A: Repairs the case and leaves the cause: he answers the next one the same way, having never been told that this one landed badly.

   C: Personalises a work question in front of the team: he is absent, the exchange is exhibited to a colleague who was not involved, and he reads it when he gets back.

   D: Escalates before speaking to him: the first he hears about a blunt reply is from his manager, over something a colleague could have raised directly.

   The most effective response is to answer the query properly today and speak to him when he is back about what she said and how the three of you want such questions handled: the person waiting gets an answer, the feedback goes to him rather than around him, and the outcome is an agreement about the inbox. It beats answering it yourself and saying nothing, because the next query gets the same reply. It beats forwarding it to your manager, because a peer could raise this in a minute. The least effective response is putting the exchange in the group chat with a criticism attached: it is exhibited to a third colleague while he is out and he reads it on his return, which is a different kind of wrong from quietly repairing it or from escalating it. The principle: take an issue with a colleague’s work to the colleague, and keep the audience out of it.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a service recovery assistant at PepsiCo Online. A case you were handling has sat for a fortnight because you never actioned a note a colleague sent you. The customer has now written again. Your colleague sent the note by message and would have no reason to check what happened to it. Cases open longer than ten days are listed for your team leader each week. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Put the case right today at speed and mention the fortnight to your team leader only if it comes up on this week's list of cases open longer than ten days.
   2. Apologise to the customer, sort the case out today, and tell the colleague who sent the note what happened so that she knows it was not ignored deliberately.
   3. Keep it to yourself and reopen the matter as a fresh case, so the fortnight does not show up anywhere and the customer is dealt with from today.
   4. Tell your team leader today that you missed the note and say what you are doing for the customer, so that she can look at how notes like it get picked up.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell your team leader today that you missed the note and say what you are doing for the customer, so that she can look at how notes like it get picked up.

   Least effective: C. Keep it to yourself and reopen the matter as a fresh case, so the fortnight does not show up anywhere and the customer is dealt with from today.

   A: Leaves the disclosure to a report: the customer is served, and whether your manager hears about it is decided by a list rather than by you.

   B: Tells the person least able to act: the colleague is reassured, the customer is served, and the manager who could stop it happening again hears nothing.

   C: Conceals your own error by starting the clock again: the customer's two lost weeks disappear from the record, and the list your team leader reads is made to show something that did not happen.

   The most effective response is to tell your team leader today that you missed the note, say what you are doing for the customer, and ask her to look at how such notes get picked up: the customer is dealt with, the person who can change the process knows, and the account of it comes from you rather than from a report. It beats leaving it to the ten-day list, because that lets a report decide whether your manager is told. It beats telling only the colleague who sent it, because she cannot change anything. The least effective response is reopening it as a fresh case so the fortnight disappears: the record is made to show a delay that never happened, and hiding your own error is a different kind of wrong from disclosing it passively or from telling the wrong person. The principle: own a lapse to the person who can act on it, and never make the record tidier than the truth.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a trading assistant at PepsiCo Online. You and a colleague have built a set of figures for a business customer, she on the volumes and you on the pricing. Checking them this morning you found two of her assumptions were out of date and corrected them, which changes her volumes slightly. The figures go to the customer at noon and she is at a site until the afternoon. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Message her now with the two assumptions you changed and why, send the figures at noon, and go through it with her afterwards so that she is not asked about volumes blind.
   2. Hold the figures until she is back and can look at the changes herself, and tell the customer they will arrive later this afternoon instead of at noon.
   3. Send the figures at noon with her original assumptions left in, and tell the customer the volumes may be revised once she is back.
   4. Send the corrected figures at noon without telling her that two of her assumptions were changed, since the correction is right and she will see the final version anyway.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Message her now with the two assumptions you changed and why, send the figures at noon, and go through it with her afterwards so that she is not asked about volumes blind.

   Least effective: D. Send the corrected figures at noon without telling her that two of her assumptions were changed, since the correction is right and she will see the final version anyway.

   B: Moves an external commitment for an internal check: the customer's deadline slips for two assumptions she can review just as well afterwards.

   C: Sends numbers you know are wrong with a caveat attached: the customer gets a figure the sender does not believe, and a promise of a possible revision.

   D: Withholds a change to a colleague's own work: she may be asked about volumes she did not produce, and the first she knows of it is when somebody queries them.

   The most effective response is to message her now with the two assumptions you changed and why, send at noon, and go through it when she is back: the customer gets accurate figures on time, and the person whose work was changed knows before anybody asks her about it. It beats holding the figures until the afternoon, because an external commitment is moved for a check that can happen afterwards. It beats sending her original assumptions untouched, because the customer then gets numbers you know to be out of date. The least effective response is sending the corrected figures without telling her: she may be questioned about volumes she did not produce and finds out from the query, which is a different kind of wrong from being over-cautious or from being too deferential. The principle: correct the work when it is wrong, and tell the person whose name is on it before anybody else does.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a customer care assistant at PepsiCo Online. A customer has been waiting three weeks for a replacement and has now rung for the fourth time. You can see a manager’s authorisation code in a shared document, left there for a different type of case, which would let you settle the whole thing today. Your team leader is in a meeting until three, and the customer is on the line now. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Settle the case now with the manager's authorisation code from the shared document, since the customer has waited three weeks and the outcome would be the same either way.
   2. Tell the customer that nothing can be done until your team leader is out of her meeting this afternoon, and ask him to ring the team back himself after three o'clock.
   3. Apologise, take the case number, and put a written request to your team leader so that she can look at it when her meeting finishes this afternoon.
   4. Tell the customer what you can do now and what needs approval, put an urgent note to your team leader with the case number, and commit to ringing him back before five.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell the customer what you can do now and what needs approval, put an urgent note to your team leader with the case number, and commit to ringing him back before five.

   Least effective: A. Settle the case now with the manager's authorisation code from the shared document, since the customer has waited three weeks and the outcome would be the same either way.

   A: Breaches an authority that was never given to you: the code was left for another purpose, and a good outcome reached that way is still an approval nobody made.

   B: Ignores the customer's actual need: a fourth call is answered with a fifth call, and the work that could be done meanwhile is not started.

   C: Leaves the customer holding the uncertainty: the request is sound, and the person who has rung four times is told nothing about what will happen or when.

   The most effective response is to tell the customer what you can do now and what needs approval, put an urgent note to your team leader, and commit to ringing back before five: it gives a customer on his fourth call the two things he does not have, which are a picture and a time, and it moves the approval without pretending you hold it. It beats asking him to ring back after three, because the fifth call is his to make and nothing progresses meanwhile. It beats a written request with nothing said to him, because he is left holding the uncertainty for another afternoon. The least effective response is settling it now with a manager’s code found in a shared document: the outcome may be right and the approval is one nobody gave, which is a different kind of wrong from being unhelpful or slow. The principle: an authority you can reach is not an authority you have, and the customer’s wait is not the thing that grants it.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a marketing graduate at PepsiCo Online. A campaign page has to be live on Thursday morning. The wording still needs its compliance check, which normally comes back within a day, and you sent it over an hour ago. You also owe the insight team a summary by Thursday that only you can write. It is Wednesday afternoon and the page cannot go live without the check. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Write the insight summary this afternoon and come back to the campaign page first thing on Thursday, on the basis that the compliance check will almost certainly have arrived overnight.
   2. Publish the page on Thursday morning without waiting for the compliance check, since it normally comes back approved and the launch date has been advertised.
   3. Ask the insight team to take the summary off you this week so that you can give the whole of Thursday morning to chasing the compliance check.
   4. Chase the compliance check now with the Thursday time on it and write the summary while you wait, so that both move, and tell your manager today if nothing comes back by five.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Chase the compliance check now with the Thursday time on it and write the summary while you wait, so that both move, and tell your manager today if nothing comes back by five.

   Least effective: B. Publish the page on Thursday morning without waiting for the compliance check, since it normally comes back approved and the launch date has been advertised.

   A: Acts on an assumption about somebody else's queue: if the check has not come back by Thursday morning there is no time left to do anything about it.

   B: Breaches the one step the launch is not allowed to skip: the check exists because the wording can be wrong, and a date somebody advertised is not an approval.

   C: Sheds the wrong task: the summary is work only you can do, and the check is not made faster by having more of your time available to wait for it.

   The most effective response is to chase the compliance check now with the deadline stated, write the summary while waiting, and escalate at five if nothing has come back: both pieces of work move, and the one thing that can stop Thursday gets attention while there is still a day to solve it. It beats writing the summary and coming back to the page on Thursday, because that stakes the launch on somebody else’s queue behaving as usual. It beats asking for the summary to be taken off you, because it is work only you can do and having more free time does not make a check arrive. The least effective response is publishing on Thursday without the check: the step that exists precisely because the wording might be wrong is dropped to protect a date, which is a different kind of wrong from planning badly or from shedding a task. The principle: work the item that can stop everything first, and never buy a deadline by skipping the check that stands in front of it.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a brand assistant at PepsiCo Online. Checking a set of artwork proofs that an agency has sent for approval, you notice the price shown on one of them is last season’s. Approvals are done by your manager, who is on a call, and the proofs go to print tomorrow morning. The agency has asked for sign-off by five o’clock today. It is half past three. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Send the agency the correction now with a note that sign-off itself still has to come from your manager, and put the proof in front of her the moment her call ends.
    2. Approve the proofs yourself before five so the print date holds, and tell your manager afterwards which price you corrected and why it could not wait.
    3. Reply to the agency that the proofs cannot be signed off today and ask them to resend the set tomorrow once the pricing has been checked properly at this end.
    4. Assume the agency has already spotted the old price and is working from a newer file, and pass the proofs on for approval as they stand.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: A. Send the agency the correction now with a note that sign-off itself still has to come from your manager, and put the proof in front of her the moment her call ends.

    Least effective: D. Assume the agency has already spotted the old price and is working from a newer file, and pass the proofs on for approval as they stand.

    B: Takes an approval that is not yours: the print date is protected by substituting your judgement for the person whose sign-off the process asks for.

    C: Buys certainty with the print date: a whole day is spent on a correction that takes a sentence, and the agency reworks a set that needs one figure changed.

    D: Assumes away the one thing you checked: the only person who has seen the error decides it has probably been seen by somebody else, and the proof goes to print with last season's price on it.

    The most effective response is to send the agency the correction now with a note that sign-off still has to come from your manager, and put the proof in front of her as soon as she is free: the error is fixed inside the ninety minutes available, the approval stays with the person who owns it, and nobody is waiting on a decision you cannot make. It beats approving the proofs yourself, because the print date does not transfer the sign-off to you. It beats telling the agency to resend tomorrow, because a whole day is spent on a one-figure correction. The least effective response is assuming the agency has spotted it and passing the proofs on as they stand: the one person who saw the error decides somebody else probably did too, which is a different kind of wrong from over-reaching or from being over-cautious, because it is the only response where the wrong price is printed. The principle: what you have actually seen is worth more than what you assume somebody else has seen.