Welcome! Check out our free B-School Guides to learn how you compare with other applicants.
Login or Register
 

OG Verbal Review:Competitive advantage

This topic has 3 member replies
shubhamkumar Rising GMAT Star Default Avatar
Joined
11 Apr 2011
Posted:
72 messages
Thanked:
2 times
OG Verbal Review:Competitive advantage Post Sun Apr 22, 2012 12:20 am
Elapsed Time: 00:00
  • Lap #[LAPCOUNT] ([LAPTIME])
    Seeking a competitive advantage, some professional service firms (for example, firms providing advertising, accounting, or health care services) have considered offering unconditional guarantees of satisfaction. Such guarantees specify what clients can expect and what the firm will do if it fails to fulfill these expectations. Particularly with first-time clients, an unconditional guarantee can be an effective marketing tool if the client is very cautious, the firm’s fees are high, the negative consequences of bad service are grave, or business is difficult to obtain through referrals and word-of-mouth.

    However, an unconditional guarantee can sometimes hinder marketing efforts. With its implication that failure is possible, the guarantee may, paradoxically, cause clients to doubt the service firm’s ability to deliver the promised level of service. It may conflict with a firm’s desire to appear sophisticated, or may even suggest that a firm is begging for business. In legal and health care services, it may mislead clients by suggesting that lawsuits or medical procedures will have guaranteed outcomes. Indeed, professional service firms with outstanding reputations and performance to match have little to gain from offering unconditional guarantees. And any firm that implements an unconditional guarantee without undertaking a commensurate commitment to quality of service is merely employing a potentially costly marketing gimmick.

    4) The passage’s description of the issue raised by unconditional guarantees for health care or legal services most clearly implies that which of the following is true?
    (A) The legal and medical professions have standards of practice that would be violated by attempts to fulfill such unconditional guarantees.
    (B) The result of a lawsuit of medical procedure cannot necessarily be determined in advance by the professionals handling a client’s case.
    (C) The dignity of the legal and medical professions is undermined by any attempts at marketing of professional services, including unconditional guarantees.
    (D) Clients whose lawsuits or medical procedures have unsatisfactory outcomes cannot be adequately compensated by financial settlements alone.
    (E) Predicting the monetary cost of legal or health care services is more difficult than predicting the monetary cost of other types of professional services.

    OA:D

    The question that I have is that B and D are more or less the same analogies,since they cause the customer to doubt the business.What makes choice D score over choice B?

    Need free GMAT or MBA advice from an expert? Register for Beat The GMAT now and post your question in these forums!
    shantanu86 Rising GMAT Star Default Avatar
    Joined
    11 Mar 2012
    Posted:
    59 messages
    Followed by:
    1 members
    Thanked:
    15 times
    Test Date:
    7-August-2012
    Target GMAT Score:
    750
    Post Wed Apr 25, 2012 3:04 am
    Hi shubhamkumar,

    The correct answer for this question is [B].

    [B] says correctly says that since the outcome in these professions are inherently not predictable the 'unconditional guarantee" gimmick can not work.

    In [D] .. amount in financial settlement is orthogonal to the discussion!

    Which source told you that correct answer is [D]?

    This is question number 42 in 'The Official Guide for GMAT verbal review ed 2' and there [B] is mentioned as correct answer.

    Hope it helps!!

    Regards,
    Shantanu

    _________________
    If you feel like it, hit thanks Smile

    spartacus1412 Really wants to Beat The GMAT! Default Avatar
    Joined
    23 Feb 2012
    Posted:
    110 messages
    Followed by:
    1 members
    Thanked:
    13 times
    Test Date:
    30-jul-2012
    Target GMAT Score:
    750
    Post Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:51 pm
    shantanu86,
    how do you manage to remember the question numbers from your book?
    it looks like you sleep, eat, live with your books all day! Wink

    _________________
    Its do or die this time!
    Practise, practise and practise.

    vinodsundaram Rising GMAT Star Default Avatar
    Joined
    21 May 2012
    Posted:
    55 messages
    Thanked:
    1 times
    Test Date:
    08/16/2012
    Target GMAT Score:
    720
    Post Sun Jul 22, 2012 12:30 pm
    B clearly explains.. if outcomes can be predicted in these professions, then this guarantee is a prof gimmick.

    D talks abt financial compensations, if things dont go well. which is outside the scope of the passage.

    Hence B

    Best Conversation Starters

    1 varun289 31 topics
    2 sana.noor 23 topics
    3 killerdrummer 21 topics
    4 Rudy414 19 topics
    5 sanaa.rizwan 14 topics
    See More Top Beat The GMAT Members...

    Most Active Experts

    1 image description Brent@GMATPrepNow

    GMAT Prep Now Teacher

    199 posts
    2 image description GMATGuruNY

    The Princeton Review Teacher

    134 posts
    3 image description Jim@StratusPrep

    Stratus Prep

    106 posts
    4 image description Anju@Gurome

    Gurome

    47 posts
    5 image description Jon@Admissionado

    Admissionado

    39 posts
    See More Top Beat The GMAT Experts