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O.G.12 (Q.100) - Need expert help!

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O.G.12 (Q.100) - Need expert help!

by yvonne0923 » Wed Jun 08, 2011 8:59 am
One way to judge the performance of a company is to compare it with other companies. This technique, commonly called "benchmarking", permits the manager of a company to discover better industrial practices and can provide a justification for the adoption of good practices.

Any of the following, if true, is a valid reason for benchmarking the performance of a company against companies with which it is not in competition rather that against competitors EXCEPT:

(A) Comparisons with competitors are most likely to focus on practices that the manager making the comparisons already employs
(B) Getting "inside" information about the unique practices of competitors is particularly difficult
(C) Since companies that compete with each other are likely to have comparable levels of efficiency, only benchmarking against non competitors is likely to reveal practices that would aid in beating competitors
(D) Managers are generally more receptive to new ideas that they find outside their own industry
(E) Much of the success of good companies is due to their adoption of practices that take advantage of the special circumstances of their products of markets








____________________________________________________________________________________________________

I don't get what the question really ask for. Can anyone simplify the question stem for me?
Also, why E is right? Thanks.

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by cans » Wed Jun 08, 2011 9:10 am
IMO E
all of the options prefer benchmarking performance against not in competition companies
except??
question: which option prefers benchmarking against competitor?
a)comparisons with competitors doesn't provide any new practice, thus benchmarking won't be useful.
b)as we can't get inside information, it is difficult to compare against competitors
c)supports benchmarking against non-competitors
d)managers recpetive to new ideas outside their industry i.e. non competitors
e)correct (special circumstances can be competitive market)
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by yvonne0923 » Wed Jun 08, 2011 9:53 am
cans wrote:IMO E
all of the options prefer benchmarking performance against not in competition companies
except??
question: which option prefers benchmarking against competitor?
a)comparisons with competitors doesn't provide any new practice, thus benchmarking won't be useful.
b)as we can't get inside information, it is difficult to compare against competitors
c)supports benchmarking against non-competitors
d)managers recpetive to new ideas outside their industry i.e. non competitors
e)correct (special circumstances can be competitive market)
Thanks for simplifying the question stem. I am clear now.
Meanwhile, I just have one more question about this problem. Is it okay to simplify the question "all of the options prefer benchmarking performance against not in competition companies except?" to "which option prefers benchmarking against competitor"? Normally, in a CR weakening problem with the word"except", we don't translate the question into strengthening problem. Hope I didn't confuse you about my question, please point this out for me, thanks.
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by Ozlemg » Wed Jun 08, 2011 9:59 am
my answer is E But I spend nearly 5 mins to get what the Q is asking.

The q says, benchmarking is beneficial tool for a company.
A company can benchmark
1. its competitors (like Cola benchmarks Pepsi, vice versa) or
2. a company that is out of the industry-not a competitior ( Cola benchmarks Citibank, vice versa)

The q asks us to find such a valid reason/option for benchmarking performance that the reason will include the 1st option. In other words we will look for a valid option which prefer 1st option.


(E) Much of the success of good companies is due to their adoption of practices that take advantage of the special circumstances of their products of markets

success+circumstances of their products of markets are indicating the 1st option.
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by yvonne0923 » Wed Jun 08, 2011 10:23 am
Ozlemg wrote:my answer is E But I spend nearly 5 mins to get what the Q is asking.

The q says, benchmarking is beneficial tool for a company.
A company can benchmark
1. its competitors (like Cola benchmarks Pepsi, vice versa) or
2. a company that is out of the industry-not a competitior ( Cola benchmarks Citibank, vice versa)

The q asks us to find such a valid reason/option for benchmarking performance that the reason will include the 1st option. In other words we will look for a valid option which prefer 1st option.


(E) Much of the success of good companies is due to their adoption of practices that take advantage of the special circumstances of their products of markets

success+circumstances of their products of markets are indicating the 1st option.
Thanks for your detailed explain of the argument by showing some examples, they are very helpful for me.
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by cans » Wed Jun 08, 2011 10:12 pm
yvonne0923 wrote:
cans wrote:IMO E
all of the options prefer benchmarking performance against not in competition companies
except??
question: which option prefers benchmarking against competitor?
a)comparisons with competitors doesn't provide any new practice, thus benchmarking won't be useful.
b)as we can't get inside information, it is difficult to compare against competitors
c)supports benchmarking against non-competitors
d)managers recpetive to new ideas outside their industry i.e. non competitors
e)correct (special circumstances can be competitive market)
Thanks for simplifying the question stem. I am clear now.
Meanwhile, I just have one more question about this problem. Is it okay to simplify the question "all of the options prefer benchmarking performance against not in competition companies except?" to "which option prefers benchmarking against competitor"? Normally, in a CR weakening problem with the word"except", we don't translate the question into strengthening problem. Hope I didn't confuse you about my question, please point this out for me, thanks.
companies are either competitors or non-competitors. I think its okay to simplify the question like I did.
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by LIL » Thu Jun 09, 2011 4:47 am
yvonne0923 wrote:
cans wrote:IMO E
all of the options prefer benchmarking performance against not in competition companies
except??
question: which option prefers benchmarking against competitor?
a)comparisons with competitors doesn't provide any new practice, thus benchmarking won't be useful.
b)as we can't get inside information, it is difficult to compare against competitors
c)supports benchmarking against non-competitors
d)managers recpetive to new ideas outside their industry i.e. non competitors
e)correct (special circumstances can be competitive market)
Thanks for simplifying the question stem. I am clear now.
Meanwhile, I just have one more question about this problem. Is it okay to simplify the question "all of the options prefer benchmarking performance against not in competition companies except?" to "which option prefers benchmarking against competitor"? Normally, in a CR weakening problem with the word"except", we don't translate the question into strengthening problem. Hope I didn't confuse you about my question, please point this out for me, thanks.
it's fine to simplify the question stem this way.

basically the question is this: which of the following answer choices makes an argument for benchmarking against competitors, rather than against non-competitors?

(e) is correct, because if there are "special circumstances" in a market, then comparing your company to non-competitors will be useless (since the non-competitors will not have the same "special circumstances"). thus, it makes sense to compare your company with competitors.
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