1.
Please respond fully but concisely to the following essay. Although there are no
restrictions for the length of your response, most applicants use 1,000 words
for fewer. There is no right or wrong answer.)
You are head of sales at a medium-sized
manufacturing company. A little over one year ago, you
recruited John to join the company as a sales manager. Since
that time, he has been one of your star producers, and his
performance has earned rave reviews from senior management
and customers. He has generated an enormous amount of
business for the company, landing accounts with the four
largest retailers in the region. Last year, John was
responsible for bringing in an additional $10 million in
sales revenue. In that same year, full-year revenues
increased 15 percent to $62 million, significantly outpacing
all competitors. Gross margins for the year were 42.9
percent, compared with 38.0 percent last year, and the
selling and administrative expenses were 30.2 percent of full
year-revenues, compared with 29.5 percent last year.
The CEO credits John with turning around the business and is
one of his biggest supporters. Furthermore, the CEO praises
for bringing John to the company. John is viewed by his
co-workers and subordinates as intelligent, hard-working,
and creative, but they also find him to be arrogant,
confrontational, short-tempered, intolerant, and
self-promoting. Morale is not good within his group, and
earlier this week, two people on John's team complained to
you about how he has been treating them.
John is up for his review. At the time you hired him, you
implicitly promised that he would be promoted to national
sales manager within one and a half years, which would
quadruple the number of employees he supervises. You fear
that if he is not promoted, he will leave the company and go
to the competition, taking with him many of the company's
accounts. Likewise, you are concerned about the effect his
promotion would have on the rest of the team.
How would you handle the situation? What professional or
personal experiences would you draw upon to guide your
actions?
It is suggested that the essays for questions 2 through 6
be answered in 250 to 750 words.
2.
Why is an MBA a critical next step towards your short and
long-term career goals? Why is Tuck the best MBA program for
you? (If you are applying for a joint or dual degree, please
explain how the additional degree will contribute to those
goals.)
3.
Describe a situation in which you led a team to reach a
specific goal. Looking back, what characteristics helped you
to be effective as a leader? What areas do you feel you need
to develop in order to be a better leader?
4.
Describe a situation in which you stood up for something you
believed in, even though others did not agree with you. In
what ways were you pleased with how you handled the
situation? What do you wish you had done differently?5.
(Optional) Please provide any additional insight or
information that you have not addressed elsewhere that may
be helpful in reviewing your application. Complete this
section only if you feel your candidacy is not fully
represented by this application.
6. (To be completed by all reapplicants) How have
you strengthened your candidacy since you last applied?
Please reflect on how you have grown personally and
professionally.
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*
Essays are for the 2004 - 2005 application season
