Following several years of declining advertising sales, the Greenville

Responding to a pm:

The argument boils down to this:
Advertising sales were declining. The paper reorganized the advertising sales team two yrs back. Advertising sales increased after reorganization. Now you want to figure out whether the increase actually happened due to the reorganization. So you need to evaluate what else could have caused the increase in sales. Say, if the lead of the sales team had changed 2 yrs back, it is possible that he is responsible for the increase in revenue rather than the reorganization. 4 of the 5 options will raise some such questions and the leftover option (which will be our answer) will have nothing to do with the increase in advertising sales.

A. Two years ago, what proportion of the Greenville Times’ total revenue was generated by
advertising sales?
The proportion of advertising sales as a part of total revenue is immaterial to us. We only need to evaluate why the advertising sales increased. It is possible that the revenue from other sources has increased much more than the revenue from advertising sales and hence advertising sales could be smaller proportion of the overall revenue now but it doesn't matter at all. This option has nothing to do with the increase in advertising sales and hence, is the answer.
Let's take a look at all the other options too.


B. Has the circulation of the Greenville Times increased substantially in the last two years?
If the circulation increased substantially, that could have led to increase in advertising sales instead of the reorganization.

C. Has there been a substantial turnover in personnel in the advertising sales force over the last
two years?
If there has been a substantial personnel turnover, better people could have been hired which could have led to higher advertising sales instead of reorganization.

D. Before the reorganization, had sales representatives found it difficult to keep up with relevant
developments in all types of businesses to which they are assigned?
Did reorganization make keeping track of relevant developments easier? It can help us evaluate whether reorganization was responsible for the increase in sales.

E. Has the economy in Greenville and the surrounding regions been growing rapidly over the last
two years?
If the economy has grown rapidly in the past two yrs, it could have been responsible for the higher advertising sales instead of reorganization.

Answer (A)