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# Following several years of declining advertising sales, the

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Manager
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Following several years of declining advertising sales, the [#permalink]  23 Jul 2012, 18:48
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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 concentrating 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?

[Reveal] Spoiler:
hovv is A the right ansvver hovv does it help to evaluate
vvhat is the reasoning behind it

Experts pls help
[Reveal] Spoiler: OA
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Re: Following several years of declining advertising sales, the [#permalink]  23 Jul 2012, 22:46
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Hi again,

We just need to know to verify : "After the reorganization, advertising sales increased."

The proportion of sales tells you nothing: it could be 100% of a very small amount or 0% of a huge amount. What we care is to know if the amount of sales from advertising has increased.

PS: I don't think the two questions you've posted are really at 700+ level...
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Re: Following several years of declining advertising sales, the [#permalink]  24 Jul 2012, 03:39
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venmic 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 concentrating 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
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?

hovv is A the right ansvver hovv does it help to evaluate
vvhat is the reasoning behind it

Experts pls help

Responding to a pm:

The argument boils down to this:
Advertising sales were declining. The paper reorganized the advertising sales team two yrs back. Advertising sales increased after reorganization. Now you want to figure out whether the increase actually happened due to the reorganization. So you need to evaluate what else could have caused the increase in sales. Say, if the lead of the sales team had changed 2 yrs back, it is possible that he is responsible for the increase in revenue rather than the reorganization. 4 of the 5 options will raise some such questions and the leftover option (which will be our answer) will have nothing to do with the increase in advertising sales.

A. Two years ago, what proportion of the Greenville Times’ total revenue was generated by
The proportion of advertising sales as a part of total revenue is immaterial to us. We only need to evaluate why the advertising sales increased. It is possible that the revenue from other sources has increased much more than the revenue from advertising sales and hence advertising sales could be smaller proportion of the overall revenue now but it doesn't matter at all. This option has nothing to do with the increase in advertising sales and hence, is the answer.
Let's take a look at all the other options too.

B. Has the circulation of the Greenville Times increased substantially in the last two years?
If the circulation increased substantially, that could have led to increase in advertising sales instead of the reorganization.

C. Has there been a substantial turnover in personnel in the advertising sales force over the last
two years?
If there has been a substantial personnel turnover, better people could have been hired which could have led to higher advertising sales instead of reorganization.

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?
Did reorganization make keeping track of relevant developments easier? It can help us evaluate whether reorganization was responsible for the increase in sales.

E. Has the economy in Greenville and the surrounding regions been growing rapidly over the last
two years?
If the economy has grown rapidly in the past two yrs, it could have been responsible for the higher advertising sales instead of reorganization.

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Get started with Veritas Prep GMAT On Demand for $199 Veritas Prep Reviews Manager Joined: 10 May 2012 Posts: 69 Followers: 0 Kudos [?]: 13 [0], given: 3 Re: Following several years of declining advertising sales, the [#permalink] 28 Jul 2012, 14:46 A. Two years ago, what proportion of the Greenville Times’ total revenue was generated by advertising sales? - We are concerned with the increase in sales. We are not concerned about the Propotion of revenue, B. Has the circulation of the Greenville Times increased substantially in the last two years? Yes More circulation more revenue. C. Has there been a substantial turnover in personnel in the advertising sales force over the last two years? Same as Point B 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? This is a tempting option. However we can assume that if the economy is growing then there growth in sales can not only be attributed to the Re org. Manager Joined: 24 Sep 2008 Posts: 191 Schools: MIT / INSEAD / IIM - ABC Followers: 1 Kudos [?]: 55 [0], given: 7 Re: Following several years of declining advertising sales, the [#permalink] 30 Jul 2012, 03:02 Question Stem: 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 It means all help EXCEPT means, which does not help "assess" - any option which is irrelevant to "assessment" will be the CORRECT choice A: seems irrelevant - Contender for CORRECT choice B: Substantial increase in last 2yrs help in evaluating the validity of argument C: Has the workforce changed? So, again it is relevant D: Before reorganization, was lack of knowledge was a challenge, relevant to evaluate E: Has external factors changed - very relevant So, A be it Cheers GODSPEED Manager Joined: 02 Jan 2011 Posts: 201 Followers: 1 Kudos [?]: 41 [0], given: 22 Re: Following several years of declining advertising sales, the [#permalink] 31 Jul 2012, 03:16 A. Two years ago, what proportion of the Greenville Times’ total revenue was generated by advertising sales? - Does not matter what percentage was the advertising sales in total revenue - Correct B. Has the circulation of the Greenville Times increased substantially in the last two years? - This would help in knowing the impact of reorganization - Incorrect C. Has there been a substantial turnover in personnel in the advertising sales force over the last two years? - Answer to this question would help if the increased sales can be attributed to workforce assigned to advertising sales - Incorrect 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? - Answer to this question would help understand the impact of reorganization of the sales force to individual business - Incorrect E. Has the economy in Greenville and the surrounding regions been growing rapidly over the last two years? - This would help in the way business think about their product in the renewed economy - Incorrect Senior Manager Status: Now or never Joined: 07 Aug 2010 Posts: 328 Location: India Concentration: Strategy, Technology GPA: 3.5 WE: Consulting (Consulting) Followers: 7 Kudos [?]: 199 [1] , given: 27 Re: Following several years of declining advertising sales, the [#permalink] 11 Aug 2012, 23:48 1 This post received KUDOS venmic 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 concentrating 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? hovv is A the right ansvver hovv does it help to evaluate vvhat is the reasoning behind it Experts pls help 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 concentrating 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? For evaluation questions the answer to question in correct choice should either strengthen or weaken the argument, here its an except question so 4 choices to check for. A) Keep on hold B)If the circulation has increased then the increased sales could be attributed to circulation and not necessarily reorg. Weakens C)If there is substantial turnover in person in Ad sales that means more people in sales have joined and as a result sales has shot up , reorg is not the necessary reason. Weakens D)If sales rep found it difficult to grasp business concept that means reorg has actually benefited the sales , cause now representatives will work on their core areas. Strengthens E)If economy has grown rapidly then one could attribute the increased sales to economic factors and not reorg. Weakens _________________ Please press KUDOS if you like my post Verbal Forum Moderator Status: Getting strong now, I'm so strong now!!! Affiliations: National Institute of Technology, Durgapur Joined: 04 Jun 2013 Posts: 622 Location: India GPA: 3.32 WE: Information Technology (Computer Software) Followers: 85 Kudos [?]: 384 [0], given: 77 Re: Following several years of declining advertising sales, the [#permalink] 21 Nov 2013, 11:01 Expert's post New Gmat club project Click here _________________ Regards, S Consider +1 KUDOS if you find this post useful Last edited by dentobizz on 22 Nov 2013, 10:30, edited 1 time in total. updated theory articles Senior Manager Joined: 15 Sep 2011 Posts: 310 Location: United States WE: Corporate Finance (Manufacturing) Followers: 4 Kudos [?]: 216 [1] , given: 42 Re: Following several years of declining advertising sales, the [#permalink] 11 Feb 2014, 05:17 1 This post received KUDOS Reasoning: re-organization -> advertising sales increased. Thus, The sales reorganization would NOT be likely the cause of the increased advertising revenue, if....(any answer choice that hurts the conclusion whether or not negated A. Two years ago, what proportion of the Greenville Times’ total revenue was generated by advertising sales? Correct. If the proportion of advertising sales to total revenue were low, the only the absolute value of sales would count. Even if the proportion of advertising sales to total revenue were high, like 99%, still only the absolute value of advertising sales would count. Thus, this would not be helpful. I've noticed that GMAT frequently interchanges absolute value and percents. B. Has the circulation of the Greenville Times increased substantially in the last two years? The sales reorganization would NOT be likely the cause of the increased advertising revenue, if the circulation has increased substantially. C. Has there been a substantial turnover in personnel in the advertising sales force over the last two years? The sales reorganization would NOT be likely the cause of the increased advertising revenue, if there has been increased turnover in the sales force. The reorganization is already committed to the fact that a sales force designated to an industry would have more expertise. Thus, they would eventually bring in greater advertising sales. 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? Wrong - The sales reorganization would NOT be likely the cause of the increased advertising revenue, if the sales force did NOT have a difficult time to keep up with relevant developments. E. Has the economy in Greenville and the surrounding regions been growing rapidly over the last two years? The sales reorganization would NOT be likely the cause of the increased advertising revenue, if the economy in Greenville has been growing rapidly. It's important to use negation techniques so as to understand the answer choice with the least amount of impact. IMO A. Senior Manager Joined: 15 Sep 2011 Posts: 310 Location: United States WE: Corporate Finance (Manufacturing) Followers: 4 Kudos [?]: 216 [0], given: 42 Re: Following several years of declining advertising sales, the [#permalink] 11 Feb 2014, 05:28 VeritasPrepKarishma wrote: venmic 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 concentrating 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? hovv is A the right ansvver hovv does it help to evaluate vvhat is the reasoning behind it Experts pls help Responding to a pm: The argument boils down to this: Advertising sales were declining. The paper reorganized the advertising sales team two yrs back. Advertising sales increased after reorganization. Now you want to figure out whether the increase actually happened due to the reorganization. So you need to evaluate what else could have caused the increase in sales. Say, if the lead of the sales team had changed 2 yrs back, it is possible that he is responsible for the increase in revenue rather than the reorganization. 4 of the 5 options will raise some such questions and the leftover option (which will be our answer) will have nothing to do with the increase in advertising sales. A. Two years ago, what proportion of the Greenville Times’ total revenue was generated by advertising sales? The proportion of advertising sales as a part of total revenue is immaterial to us. We only need to evaluate why the advertising sales increased. It is possible that the revenue from other sources has increased much more than the revenue from advertising sales and hence advertising sales could be smaller proportion of the overall revenue now but it doesn't matter at all. This option has nothing to do with the increase in advertising sales and hence, is the answer. Let's take a look at all the other options too. B. Has the circulation of the Greenville Times increased substantially in the last two years? If the circulation increased substantially, that could have led to increase in advertising sales instead of the reorganization. C. Has there been a substantial turnover in personnel in the advertising sales force over the last two years? If there has been a substantial personnel turnover, better people could have been hired which could have led to higher advertising sales instead of reorganization. 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? Did reorganization make keeping track of relevant developments easier? It can help us evaluate whether reorganization was responsible for the increase in sales. E. Has the economy in Greenville and the surrounding regions been growing rapidly over the last two years? If the economy has grown rapidly in the past two yrs, it could have been responsible for the higher advertising sales instead of reorganization. Answer (A) Hi, I think you could have expanded C. The trap with C is that the answer choice and conclusion do not have a 1:1 relationship, the relationship requires some reasoning (i.e. a supporting assumption). The assumption is that the reorganized sales force has more knowledge in each industry. If the sales force has more knowledge of each industry, they are likely to attract more sales. Intern Joined: 25 Jan 2014 Posts: 19 Concentration: Technology, General Management Followers: 0 Kudos [?]: 0 [0], given: 75 Re: Following several years of declining advertising sales, the [#permalink] 15 Feb 2015, 07:51 VeritasPrepKarishma wrote: venmic 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 concentrating 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? hovv is A the right ansvver hovv does it help to evaluate vvhat is the reasoning behind it Experts pls help Responding to a pm: The argument boils down to this: Advertising sales were declining. The paper reorganized the advertising sales team two yrs back. Advertising sales increased after reorganization. Now you want to figure out whether the increase actually happened due to the reorganization. So you need to evaluate what else could have caused the increase in sales. Say, if the lead of the sales team had changed 2 yrs back, it is possible that he is responsible for the increase in revenue rather than the reorganization. 4 of the 5 options will raise some such questions and the leftover option (which will be our answer) will have nothing to do with the increase in advertising sales. A. Two years ago, what proportion of the Greenville Times’ total revenue was generated by advertising sales? The proportion of advertising sales as a part of total revenue is immaterial to us. We only need to evaluate why the advertising sales increased. It is possible that the revenue from other sources has increased much more than the revenue from advertising sales and hence advertising sales could be smaller proportion of the overall revenue now but it doesn't matter at all. This option has nothing to do with the increase in advertising sales and hence, is the answer. Let's take a look at all the other options too. B. Has the circulation of the Greenville Times increased substantially in the last two years? If the circulation increased substantially, that could have led to increase in advertising sales instead of the reorganization. C. Has there been a substantial turnover in personnel in the advertising sales force over the last two years? If there has been a substantial personnel turnover, better people could have been hired which could have led to higher advertising sales instead of reorganization. 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? Did reorganization make keeping track of relevant developments easier? It can help us evaluate whether reorganization was responsible for the increase in sales. E. Has the economy in Greenville and the surrounding regions been growing rapidly over the last two years? If the economy has grown rapidly in the past two yrs, it could have been responsible for the higher advertising sales instead of reorganization. Answer (A) Hi, GOing by the Official guide 12 the correct answer to this question is B not A. Veritas Prep GMAT Instructor Joined: 16 Oct 2010 Posts: 6216 Location: Pune, India Followers: 1674 Kudos [?]: 9583 [0], given: 196 Re: Following several years of declining advertising sales, the [#permalink] 15 Feb 2015, 21:42 Expert's post arshu27 wrote: Hi, GOing by the Official guide 12 the correct answer to this question is B not A. As far as I know, this is a GMAT prep test question and the answer given is (A). If it is in OG12 too, kindly put up a snapshot with the solution. _________________ Karishma Veritas Prep | GMAT Instructor My Blog Get started with Veritas Prep GMAT On Demand for$199

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Re: Following several years of declining advertising sales, the [#permalink]  15 Feb 2015, 22:44
Option A tells us about the proportion of total revenue which is clearly out of question what is important is that what might have caused the increase of sales.. hence option A is the correct choice..hope this helps
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Re: Following several years of declining advertising sales, the [#permalink]  25 Jan 2016, 13:01
VeritasPrepKarishma wrote:
arshu27 wrote:

Hi,

GOing by the Official guide 12 the correct answer to this question is B not A.

As far as I know, this is a GMAT prep test question and the answer given is (A). If it is in OG12 too, kindly put up a snapshot with the solution.

I am also seeing an OG answer of B. The answer explanation from the OG says: (B) This statement provides another possible explanation for increased revenue of advertising sales, and so the answer to this question would help to clarify the reason for the increased revenue.

For A (incorrect) the OG says: this question concerns only increased revenue from advertising sales; the proportion of advertising revenue to total revenue is outside the scope of the question

I also picked A and I'm a bit confused as to why the answer is B... could you please explain?
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Re: Following several years of declining advertising sales, the [#permalink]  26 Jan 2016, 22:11
Expert's post
nycgirl212 wrote:
VeritasPrepKarishma wrote:
arshu27 wrote:

Hi,

GOing by the Official guide 12 the correct answer to this question is B not A.

As far as I know, this is a GMAT prep test question and the answer given is (A). If it is in OG12 too, kindly put up a snapshot with the solution.

I am also seeing an OG answer of B. The answer explanation from the OG says: (B) This statement provides another possible explanation for increased revenue of advertising sales, and so the answer to this question would help to clarify the reason for the increased revenue.

For A (incorrect) the OG says: this question concerns only increased revenue from advertising sales; the proportion of advertising revenue to total revenue is outside the scope of the question

I also picked A and I'm a bit confused as to why the answer is B... could you please explain?

As I suggested, please put up snapshot of the problem in OG. Does it have the word "EXCEPT" at the end? Is the question slightly different? Are the options exactly the same?
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Re: Following several years of declining advertising sales, the   [#permalink] 26 Jan 2016, 22:11
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