Division manager: I want to replace the Microton computers in my divis

Hi CARK,

Let me paste the question here for easy reference:

Division manager: I want to replace the Microton computers in my division with Vitech computers.
General manager: Why?
Division manager: It costs 28 percent less to train new staff on the Vitech.
General manager: But that is not a good enough reason. We can simply hire only people who already know how to use the Microton computer.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the general manager's objection to the replacement of Microton computers with Vitechs?

(A) Currently all employees in the company are required to attend workshops on how to use Microton computers in new applications.
(B) Once employees learn how to use a computer, they tend to change employers more readily than before.
(C) Experienced users of Microton computers command much higher salaries than do prospective employees who have no experience in the use of computers.
(D) The average productivity of employees in the general managerтАЩs company is below the average productivity of the employees of its competitors.
(E) The high costs of replacement parts make Vitech computers more expensive to maintain than Microton computers.



You are correct till here in your understanding of the argument.



Please remember whenever you read an option statement, you need to read that within the context of the argument. What is the given context? The given context is that currently the company trains its employees for Microton computers. Right?

Now, tell me what is so new thing that you find in option A? If the company currently trains its employees to use Microton computers, then currently employees should be supposed to attend some training programs. Isn't it? We can't say whether GM or DM can change the training process, but using common sense, we can say that if the company starts hiring trained people, then it may not need to have these workshops. Right? So, these workshops might not be fixed costs.

Also, if you read this option clearly, it explicitly says "Currently"; it is something which happens currently and probably may not happen in the future. So, this option statement only tells us about the present when we need to train employees for Microton computers.

Even if you ignore what I said so far and just say that workshop is a cost to the company and hence, option A weakens the claim of GM, in that case too, option A is too mild a weakener as compared to option C. Think about it. Here, we are just considering the cost of a workshop whereas option C talks about "much higher salaries". Definitely, option C much more strongly indicates that the cost of hiring trained people will be higher.



If you say that the argument is only concerned about training costs and no other costs, then you are not looking at it from a real life perspective; probably, you are applying the lens of formal logic, which is too myopic and generally doesn't work well in GMAT argument, where real life logic is tested.

If DM is talking about saving training costs, it does not mean that he is not at all concerned about other costs at all. Common sense wise, he wants to reduce the costs by reducing training costs. Try to apply your real life reasoning here. Would you meet a manager who says that I just want to reduce my hiring costs by 30% even though my operational costs may increase 3 times? Not really. Right?

Therefore, even though the argument only talks about training costs, it is essentially talking about costs to the division. Therefore, option C is relevant and correct as explained previously.

Does it help?

Thanks,
Chiranjeev