During the 1920s, most advocates of scientific management, Frederick

Question

During the 1920s, most advocates of scientific management, Frederick Taylor’s method for maximizing workers’ productivity by rigorously routinizing their jobs, opposed the five-day workweek. Although scientific managers conceded that reducing hours might provide an incentive to workers, in practice, they more often used pay diﬀerentials to encourage higher productivity. Those  reformers  who wished to embrace both scientific management and reduced hours had to make a largely negative case, portraying the latter as an antidote to the rigors of the former.

In contrast to the scientific managers, Henry Ford claimed that shorter hours led to greater productivity and profits. However, few employers matched either Ford’s vision or his specific interest in mass marketing a product— automobiles —that required leisure for its use, and few unions succeeded in securing shorter hours through bargaining. At its 1928 convention, the American Federation of Labor (AFL) boasted of approximately 165,000 members working five-day, 40-hour weeks. But although this represented an increase of about 75,000 since 1926, about 70 percent of the total came from five extremely well-organized building trades’ unions.    1 
 1. The passage is primarily concerned with discussing which of the following?

A. The relative merits of two points of view regarding a controversy
B. The potential benefits to workers in the 1920s of a change in employers’ policies
C. The reasons for a labor-management disagreement during the 1920s
D. The status of a contested labor issue during the 1920s
E. The role of labor unions in bringing about a reform

2 
 2. It can be inferred that the author of the passage mentions “automobiles” ( Highlighted ) primarily to suggest that

A. Ford’s business produced greater profits than did businesses requiring a workweek longer than five days
B. Ford, unlike most other employers, encouraged his employees to use the products they produced
C. Ford may have advocated shorter hours because of the particular nature of his business
D. unions were more likely to negotiate for shorter hours in some businesses than in others
E. automobile workers’ unions were more eﬀective than other unions in securing a five-day workweek

3 
 3. It can be inferred that the author of the passage would probably agree with which of the following claims about the boast referred to in lines 12–13 (At its 1928 convention.....)?

A. It is based on a mistaken estimation of the number of AFL workers who were allowed to work a five-day, 40-hour week in 1928.
B. It could create a mistaken impression regarding the number of unions obtaining a five-day, 40-hour week during the 1920s.
C. It exaggerates the extent of the increase between 1926 and 1928 in AFL members working a five-day, 40-hour week.
D. It overestimates the bargaining prowess of the AFL building trades’ unions during the 1920s.
E. It is based on an overestimation of the number of union members in the AFL in 1928.

4 
 4. According to the passage, the “reformers” ( Highlighted ) claimed that

A. neither scientific management nor reduced hours would result in an improvement in the working conditions of most workers
B. the impact that the routinization of work had on workers could be mitigated by a reduction in the length of their workweek
C. there was an inherent tension between the principles of scientific management and a commitment to reduced workweeks
D. scientific managers were more likely than other managers to use pay diﬀerentials to encourage higher productivity
E. reducing the length of the workweek would increase productivity more eﬀectively than would increase in pay

RC Butler 2022  -  Practice Two RC Passages Everyday.   
Passage # 287 Date: 19-Jul-2022
 This question is a part of RC Butler 2022 .  Click here for Details

thingjoo · Answer

I can't understand the very last sentence of the passage, which is related to the third question I guess. What does it mean by 70 percent of the total came from five extremely well-organized building trades’ unions? Does it means that 70 percent of 165,000 members are not working five-day workweek?

Ahi · Answer

Can Someone explain question no 4 and a little confusion in 3 also?

chetan2u · Answer

The question is

The answer has to in and around the highlighted portion - reformers.
Those reformers who wished to embrace both  scientific management  and  reduced hours  had to make a largely negative case, portraying the  latter  as an antidote to the rigors of the  former .

So, the reasoning of reformers had to paint a poor picture of  scientific management  (routinization of work), and showcase  reduced hours  as the savior.

B. the impact that the  routinization of work had on workers  could be  mitigated by a reduction in the length of their workweek 
Only the above option correctly touches upon the two methods under scrutiny in the desired format. Red is the savior to mitigate the effect of blue.

I hope it helps.

aajinkya1203 · Answer

Any helpers for Q1? Can you debunk why not C?

Avnishrana · Answer

Can someone explain 1st question please?

Posted from my mobile device

StenAnsiktet · Answer

The Question 
 
A. This answer is too narrow in scope. It does more than weigh benefits and drawbacks and discusses many circumstances.

B. This answer is much too narrow in scope. According to choice B the passage would only look at the benefits of workers, but it discusses several viewpoints and pieces of context regarding new employer policies in the 1920s.

C. This is also too narrow. The passage doesn't only focus on the reasons for a disagreement. It introduces a theory, its' champion, reformers trying to make an argument for applying the theory with a seemingly paradoxical counterpart. It then moves on to mention a champion of the other side of the argument and ends with societal context of labour unions situation in dealing with the employer policies.

D.  This answer is wide enough to include the whole scope of the passage . As stated in debunking of C the passage brings up various aspects of the issue, from introducing the theory and presenting other viewpoints at the time to giving an example of one side and then discussing the societal/historical context of the union's success in making reality of the policies.

E. This answer is too narrow in scope and only takes into account the second half of the second paragraph.

After choice A and B being too narrow but not completely missing the point of the passage I realized that the question will give me answers that are correct about parts of the passage but not as a whole and used this to guide my POE.

Got a little bit wordy, but I hope you can see my point. Feel free to ask questions to bring about more clarity!

ShuchiTrivedi · Answer

Can someone explain Q3 please?

During the 1920s, most advocates of scientific management, Frederick

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GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

During the 1920s, most advocates of scientific management, Frederick

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