Human beings, born with a drive to explore and experiment, thrive on l

Here is explanation of 2.

1. Carefully defining one's job description and taking care to avoid deviation from it - Not discussed in passage - Eliminate

2. Designing mentoring programs that train new employees OKto follow procedures that have been used for many yearsThis is not discussed whether to learn old procedures or new. Eliminate

3. Concentrating one`s efforts on mastering one aspect of a complicated task - Not discussed eliminate

4. Studying an organizational problem, preparing a report, and submitting it to a corporate leader for approval This sounds like traditional leadership

5. Analyzing a problem related to productivity , making a decision about a solution , and implementing that solution Para 2nd, In learning organizations, thinking and acting are integrated at all job levels. Correct.­

the passage is easy to read and understand but answering questions is not easy.
to asnwer questions, we need ability to infer. this can be acquired in a few weeks by practicing .

in each wrong answer choices, there is only one or two word wrong. focus on finding one wrong word in each answer choice is good strategy.

2) Which of the following best describes employees behavior encouraged within learning organizations, as such organizations are described in the passage?

A) Carefully defining one's job description and taking care to avoid deviation from it
B) Designing mentoring programs that train new employees to follow procedures that have been used fro many years
C) Concentrating one`s efforts on mastering one aspect of a complicated task
D) Studying an organizational problem, preparing a report, and submitting it to a corporate leader for approval
E) Analyzing a problem related to productivity , making a decision about a solution , and implementing that solution
Question 2

OA is E and as it is difficult to infer from passage best way to come to this choice is to eliminate other choices ... elimination of other ans option in this question is really very easy if you understand and in grossed with the passage, while infer option E which is OA is much more time consuming and confusing...

Got all correct in 9 mins. Is it okay considering difficulty of the passage.

Hello,

I am not sure, but I will consider you asked a question.

To be straight: 9 minutes is not a great time for answering the questions of this passage. But, do not freak out! Reading and Comprehension is a matter of training and, because of its level, this text is a good one to begin with.

Here are the reasons I believe you could enhance your answering time:

1) There are 41 questions to solve in Verbal Section of GMAT and 75 minutes to answer all of them. It is less than 2 minutes per question, so you have a maximum of 8 minutes to solve the 4 questions of this passage;
2) As others already said, this is an easy passage. Then, if you plan to have more time for the difficult ones, you have to do this one in less than 8 minutes. Trained GMAT takers can answer all these 4 questions correctly in 4 to 5 minutes (including reading the entire text).

Tips:
1) Solve this passage again looking for what makes you spend more time;
2) Find ways to 'fix' what is making you spending time: if it is vocabulary (especially common words), study them to accelerate your comprehension of a sentence;
3) Find another passages similar to this one and train until you can get all the questions correctly in 4 - 5 minutes.
4) Level up: look for more complex passages and begin to solve them.

I hope it helps.

Best,

VeritasKarishma chetan2u
can anybody explain what ironically is meant here.
Ironically, this orientation creates the very conditions that predestine employees to mediocre performances.

Ironically means in a way that is different or opposite from the result you would expect, and it sometimes connotes that something is interesting, strange, or funny.

Here in the reading passage, the companies are controlling their employees. This strategy is ironic because it is the opposite of what we normally expect. By doing so, the companies are leading to their employees' mediocre performances. Huh??? Which company would do that? Employees' mediocre performances normally are expected to harm the company itself.

I hope it helps.

Kudos if you liked the post.

P1 – People thrive on learning, but corps oriented towards controlling (not learning). Controlling is bad for long-term survival.
P2 – Survival = learning organizations; Corporations need to move away from one leader to shared leadership and continual learning.
1.
A. Opposite answer. “Unfortunately, corporations are oriented predominantly toward controlling employees, not fostering their learning.”
B. Opposite answer. “In learning organizations…leaders become designers, teachers, and stewards, roles requiring new skills: …to reveal and challenge prevailing mental models.” – this is the new (proposed) organization, not the traditional one.
C. Bingo – “The traditional view that a single charismatic leader should set the corporation’s direction and make key decisions is rooted in an individualistic worldview”
D. Out of scope/opposite – Likely neither, but if anything, this would be the new organization (but unlikely it seems).
E. Out of scope – Nothing about advice and/or career guidance is mentioned. But if anything, this could be the new organization. Advice could be seen as helping employees learn, making this the new (learning) organization.

2
A. Opposite answer. This is controlling an employee. “Carefully defining one’s job description” and making sure there’s no/minimal deviation from that? Sounds like a perfect way to stifle learning and an optimal environment to encourage leadership control.
B. Opposite answer, if anything. Mentoring programs so employees follow the norm? Optimal way to control employees and force them into some traditional model that’s been around “for many years.”
C. Out of scope/irrelevant.
D. Story trap/half right and half wrong. Sounds pretty good up until the very end – “submitting it to a corporate leader for approval.” This sounds like the traditional model. And it also draws on information for someone outside the scope of this argument; namely, it draws on the element of submission to a higher up. This isn’t discussed. One could say, yeah we need to study this problem, prepare the report, but definitely has to still be submitted to a leader, regardless of the organization. This is speculation.
E. Bingo.

3
A. Out of scope. Nothing about profits is discussed within the confines of this argument. We want to know if controlling vs. learning within a corporate environment is good/bad/what the implications are.
B. Opposite, if anything. “To survive in the future, corporations must become “learning organizations…” The argument makes a distinction between learning and controlling. The answer says “should exercise more control over employees.” Thus, opposite.
C. Out of scope. Nothing about incentives is directly/indirectly implicated within the argument.
D. Bingo.
E. Story trap. The argument is about becoming a learning organization.

4
A. Opposite. The whole argument talks about learning and all the good stuff and how it should be the future to survive.
B. Not necessarily evaluating criticisms of the new approach. Maybe we could evaluate the criticisms of the traditional approach.
C. We’re not reconciling here.
D. Is it “typical” organizational structures? No where in the passage does it say the new organizational structure is “typical” or alludes to this definition. It just provides definitions that it should do these things (i.e., foster a learning environment)
E. Bingo. The common = traditional. And the new organizational structure could definitely be an alternative. It shows that learning (i.e., the alternative) is a crucial element for long term survival as compared to controlling.

Human beings, born with a drive to explore and experiment, thrive on learning. Unfortunately, corporations are oriented predominantly toward controlling employees, not fostering their learning. Ironically, this orientation creates the very conditions that predestine employees to mediocre performances. Over time, superior performance requires superior learning, because long-term corporate survival depends on continually exploring new business and organizational opportunities that can create new sources of growth.

Author describes that Corporations do not foster learning in employees but learning is necessary for growth of corporation.

To survive in the future, corporations must become “learning organizations,” enterprises that are constantly able to adapt and expand their capabilities. To accomplish this, corporations must change how they view employees. The traditional view that a single charismatic leader should set the corporation’s direction and make key decisions is rooted in an individualistic worldview. In an increasingly interdependent world, such a view is no longer viable. In learning organizations, thinking and acting are integrated at all job levels. Corporate leadership is shared, and leaders become designers, teachers, and stewards, roles requiring new skills: the ability to build shared vision, to reveal and challenge prevailing mental models, and to foster broader, more integrated patterns of thinking. In short, leaders in learning organizations are responsible for building organizations in which employees are continually learning new skills and expanding their capabilities to shape their future.

Author proposes that corporates must become “learning organizations”. Traditional view of single leader is no longer viable. Author describes his view of learning organizations. In short, leaders are responsible for continuous learning.

I discuss the Main Idea question for this passage starting at the 4:40 mark here:



Hope it helps!

Hi experts,

For question "which of the following best describes employee behavior encouraged within learning organizations..."?

I just want to make sure that I accurately found the support to undermine Choice C.
--> "challenge prevailing mental models"

In the traditional corporate structure, people focus on specific tasks. However, in learning organizations, people can work on various different things.

Is this the exact support that you would use to disprove this answer choice?

I would say it's more directly and forcefully contradicted by the last sentence, which specifically talks about the function of employees in these organizations:
employees are continually learning new skills and expanding their capabilities to shape their future

Staying focused on one micro-aspect of one larger activity is the exact opposite of "continually learning new skills".

for Q4,
Why D cant be answer?

Hi experts KarishmaB GMATNinja DmitryFarber

In question-2,

(C) Concentrating one`s efforts on mastering one aspect of a complicated task

Why option C is wrong? Is it due to the word "complicated" which is an exaggeration and not mentioned in the passage?


(E) Analyzing a problem related to productivity , making a decision about a solution , and implementing that solution

I had rejected option E due to the word "productivity" as it is not a focus of the passage, focus is on learning only.

Can you please explain why C is wrong and E is correct?

The traditional view that a single charismatic leader should set the corporation’s direction and make key decisions is rooted in an individualistic worldview. In an increasingly interdependent world, such a view is no longer viable. In learning organizations, thinking and acting are integrated at all job levels.

The above sentences from the passage and the shaded portion give us reasons to choose option E. It tells us that thinking and acting have to be done at all levels, be it an employee or manager or CEO.

Now why C is wrong?
In short, leaders in learning organizations are responsible for building organizations in which employees are continually learning new skills and expanding their capabilities to shape their future.

Thus, the employees do not have to restrict themselves to just one task but adapt themselves to the changes by learning new skills.

[header3[Question 2[/header3]

"Learning organizations" are ones "in which employees are continually learning new skills and expanding their capabilities to shape their future." Learning and mastering only one thing is the opposite of that, so (C) is out.

In traditional organizations, employees are told what to do (by a single charismatic leader, for example) and are thus controlled. (E) is the opposite of that because it's an example of the employees analyzing the problem and deciding what to do (instead of being told what to do). That's something we would expect of employees at a learning organization, not a traditional one, so (E) works.

All correct in 5 minutes!