Decentralization enables divisions of a large institution to function

From the below link it appears that this is taken from Manhattan, LSAT questions. Do we get such questions in GMAT?

https://www.manhattanlsat.com/forums/q18 ... -t784.html

Decentralization enables divisions of a large institution to function autonomously.
This always permits more realistic planning and strongly encourages innovation,
since the people responsible for decision making are directly involved in implementing the policies they design.
Decentralization also permits the central administration to focus on institution-wide issues without being overwhelmed by the details of daily operations.

The statements above most strongly support which one of the following?

A. In large institutions whose divisions do not function autonomously, planning is not maximally realistic.

B. Innovation is not always encouraged in large centralized institutions..............out of scope since this is new and generalized info

C. For large institutions the advantages of decentralization outweigh its disadvantages............disadvantages are not mentioned in the argument.

D. The central administrations of large institutions are usually partially responsible for most of the details of daily operations............responsibility of central admin is not mentioned

E. The people directly involved in implementing policies are always able to make innovative and realistic policy decisions............always is extreme and this is an inference question.

Decentralization enables divisions of a large institution to function autonomously. This always permits more realistic planning and strongly encourages innovation, since the people responsible for decision making are directly involved in implementing the policies they design. Decentralization also permits the central administration to focus on institution-wide issues without being overwhelmed by the details of daily operations.

The statements above most strongly support which one of the following?

A. In large institutions whose divisions do not function autonomously, planning is not maximally realistic.

to function autonomously => you need decentralization in large institution =>
some realistic planning is there in centralised institution=> (do not function autonomously) => but that is not maximised as there is still scope of some by centralisation.


D. The central administrations of large institutions are usually partially responsible for most of the details of daily operations. :- We don't know how many large institutions are centralised and how many decentralised. We already know that in case of decentralisation, daily operation responsibility has been shifted. (most or less) we can't infer from the argument. They are not just overwhelming anymore. Also "details of daily operations" is very vague. who owns the responsibility not clear.

A. In large institutions whose divisions do not function autonomously, planning is not maximally realistic.
- As argument says that - " This(decentralization) always permits more realistic planning and strongly encourages innovation"
So if any large institution does not fution autonomously, then there is not maximally realistic planning.

B. Innovation is not always encouraged in large centralized institutions. - This cannot be proved from above argument.

C. For large institutions the advantages of decentralization outweigh its disadvantages. - Argument does not mention any disadvantages of decentralization.
D. The central administrations of large institutions are usually partially responsible for most of the details of daily operations. - partially responsible ???? duhhhhh Wrong!!!

E. The people directly involved in implementing policies are always able to make innovative and realistic policy decisions. - This cannot be proved from above argument, because there may be people who are part of implementing policies but does not make innovative and realistic policy decision.

Let's break it down:-

#1Decentralization -> Autonomous functioning -> Encourages realistic planning and innovation

#2Decision making folks -> Directly involved in implementing policies designed by them

#3Central administration -> (Due to Decentralization)Need not worry about the details of daily operations(Note: This does not imply that the central administration were a part of the daily operations before Decentralization. Maybe this department(daily operations) were taken care by some other administration.

With these points in mind let's jump straight into the answer choices

A. Yes. Definitely makes sense when you look at #1. HOLD ONTO THIS OPTION
B. We cannot support this statement for sure. What if they indeed are always encouraged ?
C. No. Not supported by the passage. The passage merely states the benefits of decentralization for large institutions. It makes no comparison between strengths and weaknesses of any sort.
D. Tricky !!. Read carefully. See what #3 says. Hence not true.
E. Not not true. This isn't supported by the passage. Moreover the word 'always' makes this an extreme claim. Also notice that the word 'realistic' is used for planning and not policy implementing. A lot of reasons to RULE this option OUT.

We are left with A which is the best choice.

Hope this helps.

MentorTutoring

Though I arrived at A as the answer but want to confirm something about E

As per stimulus,
Decentralization ----> always permits more realistic planning and strongly encourages innovation, since the people responsible for decision making are directly involved in implementing the policies they design.


E says The people directly involved in implementing policies are always able to make innovative and realistic policy decisions.---Had this option not included word "innovative" would it be correct? because Decentralisation always leads to more realistic decisions and encourages innovation- so whatever decision is taken would be realistic for sure but may or may not be innovative

Is my thinking correct here?

Thanks in advance!

Hello again, GDT, and thank you for tagging me. I think something that others seem not to be paying attention to is not the always, but the word that follows it in the passage, permits. In the context, permits and allows can be thought of as synonymous, and just because there is the potential, in this case, to realistically plan and encourage innovation, we cannot say that the result or outcome will always be something. So yes, always is important, but so, too, in my mind, is permits. Make every word count in a CR answer, or get rid of that answer choice.

- Andrew

From the first sentence in the stimulus we know that if a large institution does not have divisions that function autonomously then that large institution is not decentralized. From the second sentence we know that centralization always permits more realistic planning. So, if a large institution were decentralized, then its planning is not maximally realistic. It could always centralize and thus get more realistic planning then it currently has. So, answer choice (A) is inferable from the first two statements in the stimulus.

Really tricky! This question always comes up when I'm looking at this test... Does that clarify your question? It's the key word "usually" in answer choice (D) that kills it. Answer choice (A) is a conditional relationship, however, that's the product of the first two conditional relationships in the stimulus.

Bunuel this is an LSAT question from Manhattam kindly add the tag , link of the question https://www.manhattanprep.com/lsat/foru ... -t784.html

__________________
Done. Thank you.

(A) In large institutions whose divisions do not function autonomously, planning is not maximally realistic.
=> Correct. decentralised org permits better realistic planning capability and thereby centralised org still has room to improve. In other words, planning at centralized org is not maximally realistics

(B) Innovation is not always encouraged in large centralized institutions.
INCORRECT we know that decentralized ins encourage innovation but we don't know whether innovation is not encouraged at large centralized ins

(C) For large institutions the advantages of decentralization outweigh its disadvantages.
INCORRECT we have only heard about the advantages so far from the stimulus for large institutions

(D) The central administrations of large institutions are usually partially responsible for most of the details of daily operations.
INCORRECT 'partially' is far-fletching; we don't know whether partially, completely or none at all

(E) The people directly involved in implementing policies are always able to make innovative and realistic policy decisions.
INCORRECT we know that decentralized will enable the people to make innovative and realistics but we don't know whether the people can realize the enabling to always make innovative and realistics policy decisions

I agree that A is correct. From the first and second sentence, the passage highlights that autonomous functioning ALWAYS permit more realistic planning. This corresponds to A.

D may seem tempting but the passage does not really comment on how often it is the case that central administrations of large institutions are usually partially responsible for most of the details of daily operations.


Decentralization enables divisions of a large institution to function autonomously. This always permits more realistic planning and strongly encourages innovation, since the people responsible for decision making are directly involved in implementing the policies they design. Decentralization also permits the central administration to focus on institution-wide issues without being overwhelmed by the details of daily operations.

The statements above most strongly support which one of the following?


(A) In large institutions whose divisions do not function autonomously, planning is not maximally realistic.

(B) Innovation is not always encouraged in large centralized institutions.

(C) For large institutions the advantages of decentralization outweigh its disadvantages.

(D) The central administrations of large institutions are usually partially responsible for most of the details of daily operations.

(E) The people directly involved in implementing policies are always able to make innovative and realistic policy decisions.

I have a doubt regarding A.
though by POE, I choose A.
But A has IF A THEN B structure and the negation of this structure is IF NOT B THEN NOT A , not IF NOT A THEN NOT B
Need help with this one !!!