Behavior science courses should be gaining prominence in business scho

Question

Behavior science courses should be gaining prominence in business school curricula. Recent theoretical work convincingly shows why behavioral factors such as organizational culture and employee relations are among the few remaining sources of sustainable competitive advantage in modern organizations. Furthermore, empirical evidence demonstrates clear linkages between human resource (HR) practices based in the behavioral sciences and various aspects of a firm’s financial success. Additionally, some of the world’s most successful organizations have made unique HR practices a core element of their overall business strategies.

Yet the behavior sciences are struggling for credibility in many business schools. Surveys show that business students often regard behavioral studies as peripheral to the mainstream business curriculum. This perception can be explained by the fact that business students, hoping to increase their attractiveness to prospective employers, are highly sensitive to business norms and practices, and current business practices have generally been moving away from an emphasis on understanding human behavior and toward more mechanistic organizational models. Furthermore, the status of HR professionals within organizations tends to be lower than that of other executives.

Students’ perceptions would matter less if business schools were not increasingly dependent on external funding—form legislatures, businesses, and private foundations—for survival. Concerned with their institutions’ ability to attract funding, administrators are increasingly targeting low-enrollment courses and degree programs for elimination.   1 
1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) propose a particular change to business school curricula 
(B) characterize students’ perceptions of business school curricula 
(C) predict the consequences of a particular change in business school curricula 
(D) challenge one explanation for the failure to adopt a particular change in business school curricula 
(E) identify factors that have affected the prestige of a particular field in business school curricula

2 
2. The author of the passage mentions "empirical evidence" (line 2) primarily in order to

(A) question the value of certain commonly used HR practices
(B) illustrate a point about the methodology behind recent theoretical work in the behavioral sciences
(C) support a claim about the importance that business schools should place on courses in the behavioral sciences
(D) draw a distinction between two different factors that affect the financial success of a business
(E) explain how the behavioral sciences have shaped HR practices in some business organizations

3 
3. The author of the passage suggests which of the following about HR professionals in business organizations?

(A) They are generally skeptical about the value of mechanistic organizational models.
(B) Their work increasingly relies on an understanding of human behavior.
(C) Their work generally has little effect on the financial performance of those organizations.
(D) Their status relative to other business executives affects the attitude of business school students toward the behavioral sciences.
(E) Their practices are unaffected by the relative prominence of the behavioral sciences within business schools.

4 
4. The author of the passage considers each of the following to be a factor that has contributed to the prevailing attitude in business schools toward the behavioral sciences EXCEPT

(A) business students' sensitivity to current business norms and practices
(B) the relative status of HR professionals among business executives
(C) business schools' reliance on legislatures, businesses, and private foundations for funding
(D) businesses' tendency to value mechanistic organizational models over an understanding of human behavior
(E) theoretical work on the relationship between behavioral factors and a firm's financial performance

Why not A for 1st question?
Isn't this "Behavior science courses  should be gaining  prominence in business school curricula" proposal?

anairamitch1804 · Accepted Answer

I actually think note-taking is ESSENTIAL to RC, BUT the kind of notes you should be taking have NOTHING to do with the details in the passage. You might read a passage with 4 dense paragraphs and only see 1 "Detail" question accompany that passage, so why waste your time trying to understand the dozens of details present in the passage?

Knowing the "Details" will not help you answer most of the questions!!

The major RC question-types are:

-Main Idea 
-Inference 
-Detail 
-Function

This is what is required by these questions:

-knowing the purpose of the entire passage 
-knowing the author's point of view 
-knowing the function of every paragraph and how the parts add up to the whole 
-knowing what the passage literally says about 1-2 details

The last thing is something we can DEFINITELY go back for, so don't worry about the details as you read!

Read for STRUCTURE and what is underneath the words. Summarization is "surface-level" reading, NOT active reading.

For example, here's a short passage and how my notes would look on it:

Behavior science courses should be gaining prominence in business 
school curricula. Recent theoretical work convincingly shows why behav- 
ioral factors such as organizational culture and employee relations are 
among the few remaining sources of sustainable competitive advantage in 
modern organizations. Furthermore, (10) empirical evidence demonstrates 
clear linkages between human resource (HR) practices based in 
the behavioral sciences and various aspects of a firm’s financial success.

Additionally, some of the world’s most successful organizations have made 
unique HR practices a core element of their overall business strategies.

Yet the behavior sciences are struggling for credibility in many 
business schools. Surveys show that business students often regard 
behavioral studies as peripheral to the mainstream business curriculum. 
This perception can be explained by the fact that business students, hoping 
to increase their attractiveness to prospective employers, are highly 
sensitive to business norms and practices, and current business 
practices have generally been moving away from an emphasis on 
understanding human behavior and toward more mechanistic organiza- 
tional models. Furthermore, the status of HR professionals within 
organizations tends to be lower than that of other executives.

Students’ perceptions would matter less if business schools 
were not increasingly dependent on external funding-form legislatures, 
businesses, and private foundations- for survival. Concerned with their 
institutions’ ability to attract funding, administrators are increasingly tar- 
getting low-enrollment courses and degree programs for elimination.

Topic: Behavior science 
Scope: challenges facing B.s. 
Author’s Pov: It should be gaining prominence. + 
Paragraph 1: to state that B.s. should be gaining prominence and give 2 reasons 
Paragraph 2: to add a 3rd reason 
Paragraph 3 : to give 2 reasons why B.s. is struggling 
Paragraph 4: to add a 3rd reason why B.s. is struggling 
Purpose: to explain why B.s. should be prominent & explain challenges it faces

---

Here's how it would help us answer these two questions:

Question #1: The primary purpose of the passage is to

A. propose a particular change to business school curricula 
B. characterize students’ perceptions of business school curricula 
C. predict the consequences of a particular change in business school curricula 
D. challenge one explanation for the failure to adopt a particular change in business school curricula 
E. identify factors that have affected the prestige of a particular field in business school curricular

Question #2: The author of the passage mentions “empirical evidence” primarily in order to

A. question the value of certain commonly used HR practices 
B. illustrate a point about the methodology behind recent theoretical work in the behavioral sciences 
C. support a claim about the importance that business schools should place on courses in the behavioral sciences 
D. draw a distinction between two different factors that affect the financial success of a business 
E. explain how the behavioral sciences have shaped HR practices in some business organizations

--

EXPLANATIONS

Since the first question is a “primary purpose” question, we must especially make sure to eliminate answer choices that ARE in the passage, but are not “primary” as well as choices that are outside the scope of the author’s focus.

A. Out of Scope. The curricula itself is not the focus. 
B. Misused Detail. While this is mentioned in the passage, it isn’t the overall purpose. 
C. Incorrect. The “consequences” are not specifically mentioned, nor are particular changes described. 
D. Incorrect. The author does not challenge one explanation - he offers a variety of reasons why B.s is not getting its due, but does not “challenge” any of them, or suggest one carries more weight than the others and even if you interpreted it to refer to the 2nd paragraph, this would not be the focus of the ENTIRE passage. 
E. CORRECT! The passage focuses on why B.s. is being challenged.

For the second question, this is a Function question. When a question asks WHY the author uses one aspect of the paragraph, go back and review the function of the ENTIRE paragraph. After all, don’t details all serve to support the main goal of their containing paragraphs?

We could re-word the question as, “WHY does the author use “empirical evidence?” To make a prediction, all we need to do is return to our notes. We said that he used it as an example of why B.s SHOULD be gaining prominence. Now that we have our prediction, the answer is clearly (C).

harshavmrg · Answer

The reason ANSWER is E is because that the passage does not propose a change, but it is merely telling us the importance of Behavioral Sciences, reasons for BS not being so famous and why the colleges/students not preferring it. Hence it is clearly E

gmatfighter12 · Answer

The paragraph has the followng structure
1. Mentioned the importance of behavior science course in business
2. Mentioned the unpopularity of the course in business school
3. Provided reasons for such unpopularity

Thus the entire paragraph did not suggest any particular change. hence it is E.

aragonn · Answer

P3 - Why administrators are increasingly targeting low-enrollment courses and degree programs for elimination?
P2 - Yet the behavior sciences are struggling for credibility in many business schools. why
P1 - Behavior science courses should be gaining prominence in business school curricula. why how

Main point - Behavior science courses should be gaining prominence in business school curricula yet not they way it should be.

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) propose a particular change to business school curricula - P1 only
(B) characterize students’ perceptions of business school curricula - only p3
(C) predict the consequences of a particular change in business school curricula - P2 Also it is not prediction.
(D) challenge one explanation for the failure to adopt a particular change in business school curricula - not a challenge.
(E) identify factors that have affected the prestige of a particular field in business school curricula - Ok, P2+p3 for sure. P1 is just introduction. Only choice that is covering most of the part.

E is best of the lot.
------------------------------------------------------------------

2. The author of the passage mentions "empirical evidence" (line 2) primarily in order to
Well this word is to prove a linkage b/w HR and BS
(C) support a claim about the importance that business schools should place on courses in the behavioral sciences -

-----------------------------------------------------------
3. The author of the passage suggests which of the following about HR professionals in business organizations?
lines to read - the status of HR professionals within organizations tends to be lower than that of other executives.

(D) Their status relative to other business executives affects the attitude of business school students toward the behavioral sciences. 
-------------------------------------------------------------------

4. The author of the passage considers each of the following to be a factor that has contributed to the prevailing attitude in business schools toward the behavioral sciences EXCEPT

Theoretical work has nothing to do with it.

(E) theoretical work on the relationship between behavioral factors and a firm's financial performance

LadyJedi · Answer

EXPLANATION FOR QUESTION 1 
 
Took 4 min 30 sec .

Notes:

P1: Talks about a particular type of courses among the whole curricula and provides the reasons for this thought.. - Author's opinion 
P2: Factor 1 for why BS is underestimated.
P3: States another Factor for why BS is underestimated + Author's view on ideally what should have been done..

All in all, the passage talks about BS and the factors affecting its desired status..

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) propose a particular change to business school curricula
 No 'Particular change' has been proposed.. BS courses are already there. They just need to be given importance. No change to curricula has been suggested.
ELIMINATE

(B) characterize students’ perceptions of business school curricula
 Only one segment (P2) mentions about the student''s perception. Not the primary purpose. 
ELIMINATE

(C) predict the consequences of a particular change in business school curricula
 No prediction has been done. and nothing regarding the change in BSC has been discussed

(D) challenge one explanation for the failure to adopt a particular change in business school curricula
 The author has just stated the factor but has not challenged any. Though he doesn't seem happy with them.

(E) identify factors that have affected the prestige of a particular field in business school curricula
 Point On..! The author has provided the factors responsible for the current underestimation of the BS courses

jabhatta2 · Answer

Hi  GMATNinja   GMATNinja 2  EducationAisle   AndrewN   zhanbo  for Question 4 - isnt (E) mentioned in the passage, specifically bellow

Is (E) still wrong because the passage talks about a relationship between 
  human resource (HR) practices   and various aspects of a firm’s financial success.

WHEREAS the (E) is tlaking about

behavioral factors   and firm's financial performance

The red and the blue are NOT the same

Is that why (e) is wrong ?

vv65 · Answer

No , that is not the reason.

The question is asking about factors that contributed to the  'prevailing attitude in business schools toward the behavioral sciences' .

What is the 'prevailing attitude'?  
Please answer. Quote the lines from the text that tell us the attitude.

Posted from my mobile device

jabhatta2 · Answer

Hi  vv65  -- hmm hard to say

i thought para 1 talked about  factors contributing to the prevailing attitude in business schools toward the behavioral sciences

Why ?

Beacuse of the yellow highlight from para 1

Per the  yellow highlight  - the author is recommending Behavior science BE INCLUDED in the curricula.

If the author is recommending something --> wouldnt that impact the  factors contributing to the prevailing attitude in business schools toward the behavioral sciences  ?

vv65 · Answer

How does the first sentence or the first para tell us about the attitude to behavioral sciences in business schools?

"Behavior science courses  should  be gaining prominence in business school curricula." 
The first sentence 👆 is a recommendation from the author. Paragraph 1 starts with this recommendation, followed by three reasons for the recommendation. The paragraph does not tell us about the attitude to behavioral sciences in business schools.

Posted from my mobile device

gchandana · Answer

For Q2, "empirical evidence" is not highlighted in the passage.

Can anyone edit it?

Bunuel · Answer

_________________
Done. Thank you!

Behavior science courses should be gaining prominence in business scho

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GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

Behavior science courses should be gaining prominence in business scho

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