Ecoefficiency (measures to minimize environmental impact through the r

Question 1

First, let’s consider the author’s purpose throughout the course of the passage:

• Initially, the author introduces ecoefficiency and the view of two individuals that it could actually harm the environment.
• Then, the author explains how ecoefficiency could harm the environment.
• Finally, the author recommends an alternative approach that, while including ecoefficiency, would preserve the environment.

The question asks that we identify the author’s primary purpose. With that in mind, here’s (D):


The particular business strategy discussed in the passage is ecoefficiency. The problem with (D) is that the author does not contend that ecoefficiency should be practiced on a larger scale. Rather, the author points out the potential harmful effects of ecoefficiency, and then he/she recommends additional factors that must be taken into account (total material use and accumulated waster). But these two factors are not addressed by ecoefficiency, and the author does not argue that ecoefficiency should be applied on a larger scale. Eliminate (D).

And here’s (C):


As we said above, the particular business strategy discussed is ecoefficiency. The author begins by introducing the strategy and goes on to discuss the possible harmful effects of that strategy. This is precisely what (C) describes, so it is the best answer choice.

I hope that helps!

"Senge and Carstedt argue that to preserve the global environment and sustain economic growth, businesses must develop a new systemic approach that reduces total material use and total accumulated waste. Focusing exclusively on ecoefficiency, which offers a compelling business case according to established thinking, may distract companies from pursuing radically different products and business models."

The last 3 sentences(above) talk about Senge and Carstedt making a point that businesses MUST develop...blah blah.. approach... which offers BUSINESS CASE...

Thats why I chose D.

I have a question on #7.. Majority is going for answer B. But I am not understanding why that is a viable answer because. The passage suggests that the reduction in costs will not alter the total number of products being manufactured.

The last sentence says that Focusing
exclusively on ecoefficiency,
(50) which offers a compelling
business case according
to established thinking, may
distract companies from
pursuing radically different
(55) products and business
models.

That is the case unless the authors suggestions is adopted, correct. So I am getting the answer as E.

they will stops innovations.

I don't understand why the answer in Q7 cannot be choice A.

The text says:
"Moreover, there is no guarantee that increased economic growth from ecoefficiency will come in similarly ecoefficient ways, since in today’s global markets, greater profits may be turned into investment capital that could easily be reinvested in old-style eco-inefficient industries".

And that's what choice A says!. Check it out:
"Company profits resulting from such innovations may be reinvested in that
company with no guarantee that the company will continue to make further
improvements in ecoefficiency."

IMO, they both say the same. Please, your help. :s

I had exactly the same doubt metallicafan.
The explanation for this question suck in OG.



This is how I convinced myself that B is better than A.

Text : No guarantee of future effeciency. profits --> old style INEFFICIENT companies
Answer choice : Profits --> ECOFFICIENT companies. No guarantee of future effeciency.

I think the difference lies in the companies where the profits are invested.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Ecoefficiency (measures to minimize environmental impact through the reduction or elimination of waste from production processes) has become a goal for companies worldwide, with many realizing significant cost savings from such innovations. Peter Senge and Goran Carstedt see this development as laudable but suggest that simply adopting ecoefficiency innovations could actually worsen environmental stresses in the future. Such innovations reduce production waste but do not alter the number of products manufactured nor the waste generated from their use and discard; indeed, most companies invest in ecoefficiency improvements in order to increase profits and growth. Moreover, there is no guarantee that increased economic growth from ecoefficiency will come in similarly ecoefficient ways, since in today's global markets, greater profits may be turned into investment capital that could easily be reinvested in old-style eco-inefficient industries. Even a vastly more ecoefficient industrial system could, were it to grow much larger, generate more total waste and destroy more habitat and species than would a smaller, less ecoefficient economy. Senge and Carstedt argue that to preserve the global environment and sustain economic growth, businesses must develop a new systemic approach that reduces total material use and total accumulated waste. Focusing exclusively on ecoefficiency, which offers a compelling business case according to established thinking, may distract companies from pursuing radically different products and business models.


The passage implies that which of the following is a possible consequence of a company's adoption of innovations that increase its ecoefficiency?

A) Company profits resulting from such innovations may be reinvested in that company with no guarantee that the company will continue to make further improvements in ecoefficiency. Wrong: author does not tell if they r going to improve further or not ..but he tells they might invest in eco in-efficient industries

B) Company growth fostered by cost savings from such innovations may allow that company to manufacture a greater number of products that will be used and discarded, thus worsening environmental stress.
Correct : Clearly mentioned in the passage


C) A company that fails to realize significant cost savings from such innovations may have little incentive to continue to minimize the environmental impact of its production processes.
Wrong: we are not discussing about losses the company will bear if not adopting these innvoations

D) A company that comes to depend on such innovations to increase its profits and growth may be vulnerable in the global market to competition from old-style eco-inefficient industries.
Wrong: Shell game ...few words make the whole sentence wrong...no where written they will be vulnerable to old style industries


E) A company that meets its ecoefficiency goals is unlikely to invest its increased profits in the development of new and innovative ecoefficiency measures.
Nothing is said about further development, only written they are likely to invest in in-efficient indutsies

Complete discussion is given at the below mentioned link
ecoefficiency-measures-to-minimize-environmental-impact-67255.html

Ecoefficiency (measures to minimize environmental impact through the reduction or elimination of waste from production processes) has become a goal for companies worldwide, with many realizing significant cost savings from such innovations. Peter Senge and Goran Carstedt see this development as laudable but suggest that simply adopting ecoefficiency innovations could actually worsen environmental stresses in the future. Such innovations reduce production waste but do not alter the number of products manufactured nor the waste generated from their use and discard; indeed, most companies invest in ecoefficiency improvements in order to increase profits and growth. Moreover, there is no guarantee that increased economic growth from ecoefficiency will come in similarly ecoefficient ways, since in today’s global markets, greater profits may be turned into investment capital that could easily be reinvested in old-style eco-inefficient industries. Even a vastly more ecoefficient industrial system could, were it to grow much larger, generate more total waste and destroy more habitat and species than would a smaller, less ecoefficient economy. Senge and Carstedt argue that to preserve the global environment and sustain economic growth, businesses must develop a new systemic approach that reduces total material use and total accumulated waste. Focusing exclusively on ecoefficiency, which offers a compelling business case according to established thinking, may distract companies from pursuing radically different products and business models.
The primary purpose of the passage is to
A. explain why a particular business strategy has been less successful than was once anticipated
B. propose an alternative to a particular business strategy that has inadvertently caused ecological damage
C. present a concern about the possible consequences of pursuing a particular business strategy
D. make a case for applying a particular business strategy on a larger scale than is currently practiced
E. suggest several possible outcomes of companies’ failure to understand the economic impact of a particular business strategy

Need to know any approach(POE/OCTAVE) to get the answer.

Ecoefficiency (measures to minimize environmental impact through the reduction or elimination of waste from production processes) has become a goal for companies worldwide, with many realizing significant cost savings from such innovations. Peter Senge and Goran Carstedt see this development as laudable but suggest that simply adopting ecoefficiency innovations could actually worsen environmental stresses in the future. Such innovations reduce production waste but do not alter the number of products manufactured nor the waste generated from their use and discard; indeed, most companies invest in ecoefficiency improvements in order to increase profits and growth. Moreover, there is no guarantee that increased economic growth from ecoefficiency will come in similarly ecoefficient ways, since in today’s global markets, greater profits may be turned into investment capital that could easily be reinvested in old-style eco-inefficient industries. Even a vastly more ecoefficient industrial system could, were it to grow much larger, generate more total waste and destroy more habitat and species than would a smaller, less ecoefficient economy. Senge and Carstedt argue that to preserve the global environment and sustain economic growth, businesses must develop a new systemic approach that reduces total material use and total accumulated waste. Focusing exclusively on ecoefficiency, which offers a compelling business case according to established thinking, may distract companies from pursuing radically different products and business models.

Highlighted text is the key point for this passage.
So in short "Senge says an issue in companies for which he didnt even state solution"

Lets go to POE

The primary purpose of the passage is to
A. explain why a particular business strategy has been less successful than was once anticipated
--- Author does not explain any business strategy -- Incorrect
B. propose an alternative to a particular business strategy that has inadvertently caused ecological damage
--- He does not provide alternative even. Just stated a proble -- Incorrect
C. present a concern about the possible consequences of pursuing a particular business strategy
--- Yes he presents a concern caused by simply implemeting Ecoefficiency -- Correct
D. make a case for applying a particular business strategy on a larger scale than is currently practiced
--- No he does not make any case -- Incorrect
E. suggest several possible outcomes of companies’ failure to understand the economic impact of a particular business strategy
--- No suggestion here -- Incorrect

Tip:
Primary purpose of passage/ Main idea are simple question moreover you just want to understand the gist of passage.
For POE use initial words for each choice such as in this case "explain , purpose an alternative , present a concern, make a case, suggest "
Simply on the fly u can eliminate A,C,E because author does any.
You just really wanna do POE for B and C.
Finally C will be winner

Thanks, C is indeed winner. Though, I am slightly confused why did you say we can eliminate C just for having "present a concern". Also, A also seems to have same "business strategy" as it is in C. I think author is trying to present a case against "Ecoefficiency" as "business strategy".

Q5:According to the passage, an exclusive pursuit of ecoefficiency may cause companies to

Upon a quick scan of the passage, or recalling from our first reading, we can see that the answer is given in the last sentence of the passage:

"Focusing exclusively on ecoefficiency, which offers... thinking, may distract companies from pursuing radically different products and business models"

A. neglect the development of alternative business models and products
- this is essentially an exact rephrasing of our desired answer

B. keep the number of products that they manufacture unchanged
- this refers to the NUMBER of products, as opposed to the type
- we are concerned that companies will not pursue different products; we don't care about the number of them

I am confused with Q 4. Why not the answer is option B. Senge and Carstedt propose an alternative.

Ecoefficiency (measures to minimize environmental ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Senge and Carstedt argue that to preserve the global environment and sustain economic growth, businesses must develop a new systemic approach that reduces total material use and total accumulated waste. Focusing exclusively on ecoefficiency, which offers a compelling business case according to established thinking, may distract companies from pursuing radically different products and business models.

Hi,

The question 4 asks "what is the primary purpose"?
if you notice carefully there are 2 questions which are based on the Main Line of the passage.
and that line is" but suggest that simply adopting ecoefficiency innovations could actually worsen environmental stresses in the future."

The passage further explains this line in detail.
It explains the concerns of the particular "ecoefficiency" strategy.

Thus the passage does not primarily suggest any alternative strategy.


Thanks,
Aniket

hi,

Q5:According to the passage, an exclusive pursuit of ecoefficiency may cause companies to
A. neglect the development of alternative business models and products
B. keep the number of products that they manufacture unchanged
C. invest capital from increased profits primarily in inefficient and outmoded industries that may prove unprofitable
D. overemphasize the production process as the key to increasing profits and growth
E. focus more on reducing costs than on reducing the environmental impact of production processes

see passage last line:
Focusing exclusively on ecoefficiency, which offers a compelling business case according to established thinking, may distract companies from pursuing radically different products and business models.

clearly this is what A says.

B is nowhere written.

hope it helps

Well you need to shorten your notes because if you are making too detailed notes you are wasting precious time.
Your notes should give you an idea where the answer is , so that you can always go back for 5 seconds and answer the question

(1) Ecoefficient: reduce waste, companies: cost savings.
(2) P and G see: Eco worsen enviroment in future.
(3) Eco reduce waste in process but not reduce waste from using and discarding; Company invest Eco to increase profits and growth.
(4) Greater profit, greater invest in eco-inefficiency industries.
(5) More ecoefficient economy, more waste, more danger.
(6) P and G see: to protect environment, develop a new systemic approach.
(7) Focus on eco, may distract from pursuing new business models.

Summarizing main ideas make us answer more correctly. Because, we can figure out the flow of argument/ article, and know exactly where we can get right information.

I think there is quite strong difference in text:
A) "Moreover, there is no guarantee that increased economic growth from ecoefficiency will come in similarly ecoefficient ways, since in today’s global markets, greater profits may be turned into investment capital that could easily be reinvested in old-style eco-inefficient industries".
No guarantee - this is just little possibility that some companies make such bad thing. And this is definitely not common scenario for most of ecoefficient companies.

B) " Such innovations reduce production waste but do not alter the number of products manufactured nor the waste generated from their use and discard;"
So passage sure about this consequence, and this is common scenario for most of ecoefficient companies.

~6 mins all correct.

In Q4 I was between B and C, which IMO can easily trap in test condition, if you don't pay close attention.

Q4: The primary purpose of the passage is to
B. propose an alternative to a particular business strategy that has inadvertently caused ecological damage
>>
Senge and Carstedt argue that to preserve the global environment and sustain economic growth, businesses must develop a new systemic approach that reduces total material use and total accumulated waste..

They are just saying that an alternative approach must be developed to fix the current drawbacks but that approach is not mentioned.

[[Because if that is not done then...]]
Focusing exclusively on ecoefficiency, which offers a compelling business case according to established thinking, may distract companies from pursuing radically different
products and business models.

C. present a concern about the possible consequences of pursuing a particular business strategy
>> Correct.