Critical Reasoning

Following several years of declining advertising sales, the Greenville Times reorganized its advertising sales force two years ago. Before the reorganization, the sales force was organized geographically, with some sales representatives concentrating on city-center businesses and others, on different outlying regions. The reorganization attempted to increase the sales representatives' knowledge of clients' businesses by having each sales representative deal with only one type of industry or of retailing. After the reorganization, advertising sales increased.

In assessing whether the improvement in advertising sales can properly be attributed to the reorganization, it would be helpful to find out each of the following EXCEPT:

A.Two years ago, what proportion of the Greenville Times' total revenue was generated by advertising sales?

B.Has the circulation of the Greenville Times increased substantially in the last two years?

C.Has there been a substantial turnover in personnel in the advertising sales force over the last two years?

D.Before the reorganization, had sales representatives found it difficult to keep up with relevant developments in all types of businesses to which they are assigned?

E.Has the economy in Greenville and the surrounding regions been growing rapidly over the last two years?


I am unable to choose b/w B and E.....please help!!!!!!!!!!!!

IMO A

A- sales have increased , it does not matter what proportion of revenue was generated by sales advertising.
B- it may be that revenue increased because of more circulation rather than reorganization
C- if there substantial person turnover than revenue might increase due to that.
D- this targets the issue whether reorganization actually helped to alleviate employees
E- it might be rise in economy and nit reorganization that increased revenue[/spoiler]

IMO A

A.Two years ago, what proportion of the Greenville Times' total revenue was generated by advertising sales? (we are concerned about how advertising sales increased,so portion of total revenue generated by advertising sales is irrelevant.)

B.Has the circulation of the Greenville Times increased substantially in the last two years? (if yes , the reorganization helped . if No reorganization din't help) -relevant

C.Has there been a substantial turnover in personnel in the advertising sales force over the last two years? (substantial turnover in personnel in the advertising sales force could strengthen the argument- could be result of reorganization )-relevant

D.Before the reorganization, had sales representatives found it difficult to keep up with relevant developments in all types of businesses to which they are assigned? ( after reorganization sales rep could keep up with relevant developments in all types of businesses to which they are assigned)-relevant

E.Has the economy in Greenville and the surrounding regions been growing rapidly over the last two years? (could be result of reorganization )- relevant

OA pls...

IMO A

IMO A
argument: advertising sales increased because of reorganization or not?
a)we are not concerned about total revenue

HI,

Can someone provide the answer with proper explanation.

Regards,
Badresh

I assumed that since the poster of this question only wants between B and E, all other options are eliminated. In that case, I would pick B.

Anyways ... looking forward for OA and OE.

The OA is A.But since your explanation is sufficient i am convinced with A.Thanks a ton.

bubbliiiiiiii wrote:I assumed that since the poster of this question only wants between B and E, all other options are eliminated. In that case, I would pick B.

Anyways ... looking forward for OA and OE.

well...the OP was wrong in eliminating the other options. the correct answer is A.

let's break it down:

two years ago, the greenville times reorganized its ad sales. blah blah blah info on the reorg. after the reorganization, sales increased.

now, we want to know if the increased sales were due to the reorganization. all of the following questions will help us determine this except:

a) this answer is irrelevant. we don't care about any revenue except ad revenue. also, the proportion of ad revenue wouldn't tell us anything about how much actual sales have increased. ironically, we are looking for the irrelevant answer, so this answer is in fact correct.

b) if the circulation has increased, ad sales may have increased as a result -- no thanks to the internal reorganization at all. this is relevant, and therefore incorrect.

c) if there's been turnover in the company, the increased ad sales may be due to this -- for example, maybe a new manager came on board and turned things around -- and not due to the internal reorganization. this is relevant, and therefore incorrect.

d) if sales representatives found it difficult to keep up with various developments before the reorganization, then the reorganization may have affected sales. this is relevant, and therefore incorrect.

e) if the economy has grown in the last two years, perhaps increased sales are a result of the economy -- and not of the internal reorganization. this is relevant, and therefore incorrect.

ceeka9388 wrote:Following several years of declining advertising sales, the Greenville Times reorganized its advertising sales force two years ago. Before the reorganization, the sales force was organized geographically, with some sales representatives concentrating on city-center businesses and others, on different outlying regions. The reorganization attempted to increase the sales representatives' knowledge of clients' businesses by having each sales representative deal with only one type of industry or of retailing. After the reorganization, advertising sales increased.

In assessing whether the improvement in advertising sales can properly be attributed to the reorganization, it would be helpful to find out each of the following EXCEPT:

A.Two years ago, what proportion of the Greenville Times' total revenue was generated by advertising sales?

B.Has the circulation of the Greenville Times increased substantially in the last two years?

C.Has there been a substantial turnover in personnel in the advertising sales force over the last two years?

D.Before the reorganization, had sales representatives found it difficult to keep up with relevant developments in all types of businesses to which they are assigned?

E.Has the economy in Greenville and the surrounding regions been growing rapidly over the last two years?


I am unable to choose b/w B and E.....please help!!!!!!!!!!!!

A

Posts: 15
I am trying to understand why choice C is not correct.

What does substantial turnover have to do with reorganization. I see the explanation given is that the turnover could be because of reorganization; however, we are trying to focus on the conclusion which is the sales are up because of the reorg, so turnover does NOT have anything to do with the sales. Now, if I assume that Turnover is something that is a result of the reorg, even then no relation to revenue.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. thank you!

ceeka9388,

' Turnover' means change in the no. of employees. It is important to know C because if there is a change in no. of employees, then that can be the reason of increased revenue (no. of sales executive go up, revenue can go up) and not the reorganization.

Hope that helps.