At Company F, fifteen members of upper management started their career

Official Explanation

Conclusion: Company F places more emphasis on promoting from within the company than does Company P.

Premises: At Company F, fifteen members of upper management started their careers in the mailroom of the Company F. At Company P, only three members of upper management began their careers in Company P's mailroom.

Assumption: X is similar to Y. Company F is similar to Company P, so the two companies can be compared.

The question stem asks about assessing the accuracy of the reasoning, so this is an evaluate question. The passage contains an analogy pattern, recognizable by the comparison of Company F with Company P followed by the conclusion based on that comparison. The passage begins by stating that fifteen members of upper management started their careers in the mailroom of Company F, and continues by stating that only three members of upper management began their careers in Company P's mailroom. Based on this comparison between Companies F and P, the passage concludes that Company F places more emphasis on promoting from within the company than does Company P.

The standard assumption of an analogy pattern is that X is similar to Y. In this case, that Company F is similar to Company P. A difference between the companies, relevant to the conclusion about promoting from within, would weaken the argument, whereas support for the similarity of the two companies would strengthen the argument. In this evaluate the argument question, the correct answer will be the one that addresses this assumption. Evaluate the answer choices.

Choice A: No. The number of middle managers is out of scope. The argument’s conclusion about the degree of emphasis placed on promoting from within is supported only by the relative numbers of upper managers, which leaves both the ratios of those managers and also the reasons for those promotions undetermined. Including another comparison of only numbers would not provide a significant amount of information to evaluate the argument’s conclusion.

Choice B: Correct. Expressing the number of upper managers at each company who started in the mailroom as a percentage of the total number of upper managers at each company addresses the assumption that the companies are similar. The percentage of upper managers that started out in the mailroom is determined by the number of upper managers in the company. Knowing the respective sizes of those percentages for Company F and Company P would allow a better evaluation of the passage's reasoning, as a greater percentage at Company P would weaken the argument, while a greater percentage at Company F would strengthen the argument.

Choice C: No. Standardized hiring practices of the respective industries is out of scope. The conclusion focuses on the emphasis placed by each company, not by their industries.

Choice D: No. Ages of promotion is out of scope. The basis of comparison between the companies is promotion from within the company. The age at promotion is irrelevant to the comparison.

Choice E: No. Having a personnel department is out of scope. The basis of comparison between the companies is promotion from within the company. The types of departments the companies might have is not relevant.

The correct answer is choice B.