Manager: This company's supply chain will develop significant weakness

Question

Manager: This company's supply chain will develop significant weaknesses unless we make changes to our vendor contracts now. Some will argue that this problem is so far in the future that there is no need to address it today. But that is an irresponsible approach. Just imagine if a financial planner offered the same counsel to a 30-year-old client: "Don't worry, Jane, retirement is 35 years away; you don't need to save anything now." That planner would be guilty of gross malpractice.

Which one of the following most accurately expresses the overall conclusion drawn in the manager's argument?

(A) Some people argue that the supply-chain problem is so far in the future that there is no need to address it now.
(B) It would be irresponsible to postpone changes to the vendor contracts just because the supply chain will not develop weaknesses for a long time.
(C) lf no changes are made to the vendor contracts, the supply chain will eventually develop significant weaknesses.
(D) In planning to meet its future obligations, a company should follow the same practices that are approptiate for an individual who is planning for retirement.
(E) Financial planners should advise their clients to save money for retirement only if retirement is many years away.

Source: LSAT

SonalSinha803 · Accepted Answer

Hi Gemelo90,

The answer cannot be C according to me. C completely changes the intended meaning of the argument.

It says if no changes are made to the vendor contracts, the supply chain will eventually develop significant weaknesses
, which implies that if changes are made the supply chain will not develop significant weakness and this is not the case. It is not conditional.

(B) It would be irresponsible to postpone changes to the vendor contracts just because the supply chain will not develop weaknesses for a long time. - yes there is no error in the word long time because it is actually the essential part of the argument that just because a problem might arise in the late future we do not try to deal with it today !!

IMO B.

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pkshankar · Answer

This is a main point question. The correct answer will be the one which the author is trying to convince you with.
The only debatable answer are 'B' and 'C'. The conclusion of the argument is 'But this is an irresponsible approach', now what is an irresponsible approach, the act of delaying. The author lays emphasis on this point by citing an example.
Even though option C is factually correct IMHO, but is not the main point.

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Leo8 · Answer

Safe Conclusion is B. Option C goes too extreme.

Gemelo90 · Answer

Hard choice between B and C. I would go with C, because the term "long time" is quite flexible. "Develop significant weaknesses" is already mentioned in the statement and reflects the overall conclusion accurately.

(B) It would be irresponsible to postpone changes to the vendor contracts just because the supply chain will not develop weaknesses for  a long time .
(C) lf no changes are made to the vendor contracts, the supply chain  will eventually develop significant weaknesses .

Abhishek009 · Answer

I second you for the explanation, answer must be (B)...

AshutoshB · Answer

B VS C

They're very similar ideas: the company is going to develop problems in the future unless we change things now, and the point that if we don't do this, it's irresponsible.

But the manager isn't just making the first point. The manager's point in making this whole argument is that if we DON'T do this, it's actually irresponsible. (See the whole last half where he talks about the reckless financial planner as an analogy.) If he just wanted to make the point in the first sentence, he wouldn't have gone into all of the detail about what reckless behavior is.

This supports (B)

Gauriii · Answer

daagh  @GmatNinjas- Can you please clarify? I feel that since C is just a restatement from the passage, it can't be the conclusion since a conclusion has to implicit and not explicit, therefore C can't be the answer.

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

Hi Gauri

Let me try to address your query.

A stimulus in a Critical Reasoning question (typically one that is assumption based) consists of two parts:

a)  Premises  or facts that are presented. These may be one or more in number.
b) A  conclusion  that is derived from the given premises. This is always exactly one.

In other words, the reasons for drawing the conclusion are the premises. The above two are always  explicitly mentioned  in the stimulus and are never to be questioned. There are other facets which  link  the premises to the conclusions - these are called  assumptions . These are never mentioned in the stimulus and are to be logically deduced.

Depending on the question, you may also be required to find an  inference  from the facts given in the stimulus. An inference is also never mentioned explicitly in the passage.

Hope this helps to clarify.

harsh61998 · Answer

Can someone explain the reasoning to eliminate choice D?

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Anshurana · Answer

Clever question
  Between B and C , we have to be careful with the words in both B and C.
Argument is talking about postponement of changes.
B also talks about postponement of changes in vendor contract   , but C is talking about "NO CHANGES in vendor contract"
this difference in wording changes our Answer choice ,  CORRECT Answer is B

JairajD · Answer

I chose B but couldn't understand why to eliminate D.
Just because "B" was more specific in a sense than "D" was my reason to choose "B".

abhishekmayank · Answer

I didn't choose option B because of inclusion of phrase "long time". In the stem, no where the time period have been mentioned for beginning the weakness.

unraveled · Answer

B and C are contenders.
C just does the typical LSAT/GMAT's trick - reversal.

Is A ----> B similar to Not B ----> Not A ??
Not necessarily.

Choosing C suggests one took only one point of view into consideration wherein there's also a possibility on the opposite side.
Yes, "long time" did look weird and odd, but isn't 35 years a long time.

Answer B.

AbhishekDhanraJ72 · Answer

Why B is preferred over C? Some experts please guide me here.

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Manager: This company's supply chain will develop significant weakness

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Manager: This company's supply chain will develop significant weakness

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