HBRI - Hogan Business Reasoning Inventory Tactical Problem Solving Questions and Answers

Question 1

A call center manager starts a shift to find that 3 of the 10 scheduled agents are out sick.
Simultaneously, a system alert indicates call volume is 50% higher than average due to a local service outage.
The primary goal is to minimize customer wait times.
Which of the following is the most effective tactical action for the manager to take first?

Accepted Answer

Re-route all non-urgent calls to an automated voicemail system and reassign the remaining agents to the critical outage queue.

Answer

Send an email to senior management detailing the staffing shortage and requesting guidance.

Answer

Immediately authorize overtime for the next shift to handle the anticipated backlog.

Answer

Begin the process of hiring temporary staff to cover the sick calls.

Question 2

A team must complete three critical tasks for a product launch: Task A, Task B, and Task C. The dependencies are as follows: 1) Task A must be completed before Task C can begin. 2) Task B must be completed before Task C can begin. 3) Task A and Task B can be worked on simultaneously. Task A takes 4 hours, Task B takes 6 hours, and Task C takes 3 hours. Assuming the team starts all possible tasks at 9:00 AM and works continuously, what is the earliest possible time the entire sequence of tasks can be completed?

Accepted Answer

6:00 PM

Answer

1:00 PM

Answer

3:00 PM

Answer

4:00 PM

Question 3

A software-as-a-service company notices from their real-time monitoring dashboard that the average API response time has suddenly increased from 200ms to over 1500ms in the last 15 minutes, causing timeouts for many customers. What is the most effective immediate troubleshooting step for the on-call engineering team?

Accepted Answer

Check the deployment logs to see if a recent code change or update coincides with the start of the slowdown.

Answer

Draft a message to customers apologizing for the service degradation.

Answer

Provision additional servers to handle what might be an increase in user traffic.

Answer

Begin a full-scale performance audit of the entire application architecture.

Question 4

A fast-food restaurant manager is reviewing the drive-thru performance dashboard for the lunch rush. The data shows that the 'Time at Window' is within the target of 90 seconds per car, but the 'Total Wait Time' from ordering to leaving is exceeding the 4-minute target. What is the most logical tactical problem to investigate immediately?

Accepted Answer

There is a bottleneck between the order station and the pickup window, likely in the kitchen.

Answer

The payment processing system at the window is too slow.

Answer

The employees staffing the window are not working fast enough.

Answer

The menu is too complicated, causing customers to order slowly.

Question 5

A warehouse uses a specific process for fulfilling high-priority orders: 1) Pick the item from the shelf, 2) Scan the item into the inventory system, 3) Place the item in the designated packing station bin, 4) Generate the shipping label. A manager discovers that several high-priority items are physically at the packing stations but do not have shipping labels and are not registered as ready-to-ship in the system. Based on this outcome, which step in the process was most likely skipped by the warehouse staff?

Accepted Answer

Step 2: Scan the item into the inventory system.

Answer

Step 1: Pick the item from the shelf.

Answer

Step 3: Place the item in the designated packing station bin.

Answer

Step 4: Generate the shipping label.

Question 6

A delivery service guarantees same-day delivery. A driver's truck breaks down at 2 PM with 10 packages remaining for delivery. The driver's shift ends at 5 PM, and the company's central warehouse is 30 minutes away. Which of the following options best balances the priorities of fulfilling the delivery guarantee and managing company resources efficiently?

Accepted Answer

Immediately call the dispatcher to send a replacement vehicle while arranging for the broken-down truck to be towed.

Answer

Wait for the company's standard roadside assistance, which has an estimated arrival time of 2 hours.

Answer

Use a ride-sharing service to take all 10 packages and complete the route, leaving the truck to be dealt with later.

Answer

Contact the nearest driver on a different route to come and pick up half the packages.