Reading Comprehension

Behavior science courses should
be gaining prominence in business
school curricula. Recent theoretical
work convincingly shows why behav-
(5) ioral factors such as organizational
culture and employee relations are
among the few remaining sources of
sustainable competitive advantage in
modern organizations. Furthermore,
(10) empirical evidence demonstrates
clear linkages between human
resource (HR) practices based in
the behavioral sciences and various
aspects of a firm's financial success.
(15) Additionally, some of the world's most
successful organizations have made
unique HR practices a core element
of their overall business strategies.
Yet the behavior sciences
(20) are struggling for credibility in many
business schools. Surveys show
that business students often regard
behavioral studies as peripheral to
the mainstream business curriculum.
(25) This perception can be explained by
the fact that business students, hoping
to increase their attractiveness to
prospective employers, are highly
sensitive to business norms and
(30) practices, and current business
practices have generally been
moving away from an emphasis on
understanding human behavior and
toward more mechanistic organiza-
(35) tional models. Furthermore, the
status of HR professionals within
organizations tends to be lower
than that of other executives.
Students' perceptions would
(40) matter less if business schools
were not increasingly dependent on
external funding-form legislatures,
businesses, and private foundations-
for survival. Concerned with their
(45) institutions' ability to attract funding,
administrators are increasingly tar-
geting low-enrollment courses and
degree programs for elimination.


The primary purpose of the passage is to

A. propose a particular change to business school curricula
B. characterize students' perceptions of business school curricula
C. predict the consequences of a particular change in business school curricula
D. challenge one explanation for the failure to adopt a particular change in business school curricula
E. identify factors that have affected the prestige of a particular field in business school curricula

[spoiler]OA: E[/spoiler]

Please let me know whether my consideration /analysis for reaching the final answer is correct.

A. Author never tried to propose a change to business school curricula. He/She just try to give analysis of a change .
-- A is out
B. This is very specify to paragraph 2 doesn't quite flare out the purpose of passage. -- B is out
C. Author provide a analysis of change ,but doesn't mention any consequences of change. -- C is out

Confused with D and E

D. This is specific to paragraph 2.
E. Factors -- Again specific to paragraph 2 ..

So why can E be the best amongst B and D


The author of the passage mentions "empirical evidence" (line 10) primarily in order to

A. question the value of certain commonly used HR practices
B. illustrate a point about the methodology behind recent theoretical work in the behavioral sciences
C. support a claim about the importance that business schools should place on courses in the behavioral sciences
D. draw a distinction between two different factors that affect the financial success of a business
E. explain how the behavioral sciences have shaped HR practices in some business organizations

[spoiler]OA: C; IMO : B[/spoiler]

B and C were the strong contenders.
When I was scanning the passage ,I found that the 'empirical evidence' provided is used to claim the point or make a stand on the Recent theoretical work in the behavioral sciences.

Is it so that Recent theoretical work describes about the importance of change in business school? Or there are different reasons for my wrong held assumption.
Can anyone guide me in justifying the correct answer?

Hi Gaurav,

Here's how I broke down the passage. I couldn't see any paragraphing (if there was any originally) so I broke it into sections by line number.

Topic: Behavior science
Scope: challenges facing B.s.
Author's pov: It should be gaining prominence. +

lines 1- 14: to state that B.s. should be gaining prominence and give 2 reasons:
(1. organization culture + employee relations are important)
(2. HR based in B.s = $$$)

lines 15 - 18: to add a 3rd reason
(3. successful orgs use that HR)

lines 19 - 38 : to give 2 reasons why B.s. is struggling
(1. students seem B.s as peripheral b/c they focus on the norms)
(2. HR professionals are low status).

lines 39 - 48: to add a 3rd reason why B.s. is struggling
(3. $$ comes from external sources; courses get cut if not popular)

OVERALL PURPOSE: to explain why B.s. should be prominent & explain challenges it faces

Since this is a "primary purpose" question, we must especially make sure to eliminate answer choices that ARE in the passage, but are not "primary" as well as choices that are outside the scope of the author's focus.

A. Out of Scope. The curricula itself is not the focus.
B. Misused Detail. While this is mentioned in the passage, it isn't the overall purpose.
C. Incorrect. The "consequences" are not specifically mentioned, nor are particular changes described.
D. Incorrect. The author does not challenge one explanation - he offers a variety of reasons why B.s is not getting its due, but does not "challenge" any of them, or suggest one carries more weight than the others and even if you interpreted it to refer to the 2nd paragraph, this would not be the focus of the ENTIRE passage.
E. CORRECT! The passage focuses on why B.s. is being challenged.

For your second question, this is a Function question. When a question asks WHY the author uses one aspect of the paragraph, go back and review the function of the ENTIRE paragraph. After all, don't details all serve to support the main goal of their containing paragraphs?

We could re-word the question as, "WHY does the author use "empirical evidence?" To make a prediction, all we need to do is return to our notes. We said that he used it as an example of why B.s SHOULD be gaining prominence. Now that we have our prediction, the answer is clearly (C).

I hope this helps!
-Vivian

gauravgundal wrote:Behavior science courses should
be gaining prominence in business
school curricula. Recent theoretical
work convincingly shows why behav-
(5) ioral factors such as organizational
culture and employee relations are
among the few remaining sources of
sustainable competitive advantage in
modern organizations. Furthermore,
(10) empirical evidence demonstrates
clear linkages between human
resource (HR) practices based in
the behavioral sciences and various
aspects of a firm's financial success.
(15) Additionally, some of the world's most
successful organizations have made
unique HR practices a core element
of their overall business strategies.
Yet the behavior sciences
(20) are struggling for credibility in many
business schools. Surveys show
that business students often regard
behavioral studies as peripheral to
the mainstream business curriculum.
(25) This perception can be explained by
the fact that business students, hoping
to increase their attractiveness to
prospective employers, are highly
sensitive to business norms and
(30) practices, and current business
practices have generally been
moving away from an emphasis on
understanding human behavior and
toward more mechanistic organiza-
(35) tional models. Furthermore, the
status of HR professionals within
organizations tends to be lower
than that of other executives.
Students' perceptions would
(40) matter less if business schools
were not increasingly dependent on
external funding-form legislatures,
businesses, and private foundations-
for survival. Concerned with their
(45) institutions' ability to attract funding,
administrators are increasingly tar-
geting low-enrollment courses and
degree programs for elimination.


The primary purpose of the passage is to

A. propose a particular change to business school curricula
B. characterize students' perceptions of business school curricula
C. predict the consequences of a particular change in business school curricula
D. challenge one explanation for the failure to adopt a particular change in business school curricula
E. identify factors that have affected the prestige of a particular field in business school curricula

[spoiler]OA: E[/spoiler]

Please let me know whether my consideration /analysis for reaching the final answer is correct.

A. Author never tried to propose a change to business school curricula. He/She just try to give analysis of a change .
-- A is out
B. This is very specify to paragraph 2 doesn't quite flare out the purpose of passage. -- B is out
C. Author provide a analysis of change ,but doesn't mention any consequences of change. -- C is out

Confused with D and E

D. This is specific to paragraph 2.
E. Factors -- Again specific to paragraph 2 ..

So why can E be the best amongst B and D


The author of the passage mentions "empirical evidence" (line 10) primarily in order to

A. question the value of certain commonly used HR practices
B. illustrate a point about the methodology behind recent theoretical work in the behavioral sciences
C. support a claim about the importance that business schools should place on courses in the behavioral sciences
D. draw a distinction between two different factors that affect the financial success of a business
E. explain how the behavioral sciences have shaped HR practices in some business organizations

[spoiler]OA: C; IMO : B[/spoiler]

B and C were the strong contenders.
When I was scanning the passage ,I found that the 'empirical evidence' provided is used to claim the point or make a stand on the Recent theoretical work in the behavioral sciences.

Is it so that Recent theoretical work describes about the importance of change in business school? Or there are different reasons for my wrong held assumption.
Can anyone guide me in justifying the correct answer?

Hi Gaurav...
as per ur first q's analysis: 'D ' should be wrong as the statement sin the paragraph are not posing any challenges...they are just explaining the factors and the affect

For the second question:The mention of empirical evidence - is just to show how it strengthens the author's claim.By using the language as "Recent theoretical work" we may try to be very specific(which one should not do in GMAT)

VivianKerr wrote:Hi Gaurav,

Here's how I broke down the passage. I couldn't see any paragraphing (if there was any originally) so I broke it into sections by line number.

Topic: Behavior science
Scope: challenges facing B.s.
Author's pov: It should be gaining prominence. +

lines 1- 14: to state that B.s. should be gaining prominence and give 2 reasons:
(1. organization culture + employee relations are important)
(2. HR based in B.s = $$$)

lines 15 - 18: to add a 3rd reason
(3. successful orgs use that HR)

lines 19 - 38 : to give 2 reasons why B.s. is struggling
(1. students seem B.s as peripheral b/c they focus on the norms)
(2. HR professionals are low status).

lines 39 - 48: to add a 3rd reason why B.s. is struggling
(3. $$ comes from external sources; courses get cut if not popular)

OVERALL PURPOSE: to explain why B.s. should be prominent & explain challenges it faces

Since this is a "primary purpose" question, we must especially make sure to eliminate answer choices that ARE in the passage, but are not "primary" as well as choices that are outside the scope of the author's focus.

A. Out of Scope. The curricula itself is not the focus.
B. Misused Detail. While this is mentioned in the passage, it isn't the overall purpose.
C. Incorrect. The "consequences" are not specifically mentioned, nor are particular changes described.
D. Incorrect. The author does not challenge one explanation - he offers a variety of reasons why B.s is not getting its due, but does not "challenge" any of them, or suggest one carries more weight than the others and even if you interpreted it to refer to the 2nd paragraph, this would not be the focus of the ENTIRE passage.
E. CORRECT! The passage focuses on why B.s. is being challenged.

For your second question, this is a Function question. When a question asks WHY the author uses one aspect of the paragraph, go back and review the function of the ENTIRE paragraph. After all, don't details all serve to support the main goal of their containing paragraphs?

We could re-word the question as, "WHY does the author use "empirical evidence?" To make a prediction, all we need to do is return to our notes. We said that he used it as an example of why B.s SHOULD be gaining prominence. Now that we have our prediction, the answer is clearly (C).

I hope this helps!
-Vivian

Vivian - quick question; would you always set out your first three criteria like that - topic / scope / pov, when attacking a question like this?
I've never seen that approach used before, but quite like it.
Thanks

1 (E) is the generalization hence answer, but it was really a difficult task to identify.
2 (C) QED

It Jus points out the factors. It is neither challenging nor proposing anything !

Answer should be E

Line 10 question. It should be C. Obvious reason ! It is brought up to support the claim !

ji took almost seven minutes solving this question..

is this a long one or short??

Ans to 1st question is E.

Ans to 2nd question is C.

Q1:
I chose the elimination strategy
The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) propose a particular change to business school curricula (no particular change is mentioned)
(B) characterize students' perceptions of business school curricula (Passage has some other info in addition to students perceptions)
(C) predict the consequences of a particular change in business school curricula (I don't see any prediction in the passage)
(D) challenge one explanation for the failure to adopt a particular change in business school curricula (no mentioned)
(E) identify factors that have affected the prestige of a particular field in business school curricula (Right Choice)
Recent theoretical
work convincingly shows why behav-
(5) ioral factors such as organizational
culture and employee relations are
among the few remaining sources of
sustainable competitive advantage in
modern organizations.

Q2:
Ans: C
Reason:
Furthermore,
(10) empirical evidence demonstrates
clear linkages between human
resource (HR) practices based in
the behavioral sciences and various
aspects of a firm's financial success.