#9 - Some managers think that the best way to maximize

[Administrator]

Please post below with any questions!

[Shaela L. Hayes]

Hi!

First, I took this on a paper test so I can't see what question type this is; is it a justify question? Second, I seriously considered D, but got rid of it because it talks about "overall performance" not "employee performance", as stated in the stimulus. I ended up choosing C, which is hypocritical because it also mentions "overall performance", but I'm not sure why it's wrong.

Thanks!

[Beatrice Brown]

Hi Shaela! Thanks so much for your great question.

Yes, this question is a Justify the Conclusion question. On Justify questions, we want to use the Justify Formula (Premises + Answer Choice = Conclusion) to figure out what piece of information, when added to the premises, will make the argument valid.

In other words, for this question, we want to identify what the gap is between the premises and the conclusion. The argument is structured as follows:
Premise 1: Some managers think competition among employees will maximize their performance
Premise 2: If there is one competitor who seems clearly superior, the others will become anxious and doubt their abilities
Conclusion: Stiff competition can undermine its goal of maximizing employee performance

In this argument, the gap is that we don't know that some employees becoming anxious and doubting their abilities will prevent maximizing employee performance. When looking through the answer choices, we can expect that one of them will fill this gap and connect becoming anxious/doubting one's abilities with poor employee performance.

Answer choice (D) fills this precise gap. To your question about the term "overall performance," it's not an issue that the answer choice discusses "overall performance" since "overall performance" would also encompass "employee performance."

Answer choice (C) does not fill the gap that we saw in the argument. First, it mentions competitors perceiving the competition as winnable, but nothing in the stimulus discusses this concept of winnable. Second, the answer choice discusses overall performance improving, but we want to connect the situation to decreasing overall performance since the conclusion is about undermining the goal of maximizing employee performance.

I hope this helps, and let me know if I can clarify further

[Shaela L. Hayes]

That makes sense! Thank you!

[ROMI92]

I am having trouble understanding why A is wrong.

[Robert Carroll]

ROMI92,

The conclusion of the argument is the last sentence. So the author is trying to prove that what some managers do, and which those managers intend to maximize employee performance, can actually have the opposite effect. Since this is a Justify question, we should evaluate the answers by asking: How does this answer choice prove the conclusion?

So take answer choice (A). The people who are perceived to be superior almost always win. So the kind of competition the managers would like to institute in the stimulus will almost always result in the person winning who is perceived superior. How does that affect the conclusion? I don't see how it does anything to it. There's no indication that the person perceived superior isn't superior, so there's no indication from this answer choice that the "wrong" person will win. And, besides that, the point is to prove the conclusion of the argument. Answer choice (A) simply doesn't give any indication that the competition will result in reduced employee performance, and therefore it doesn't prove the conclusion.

Robert Carroll