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Re: Metro Ballet Company presents high-quality productions of traditional, [#permalink]
sameerm22 wrote:
Please explain why "Obtain public funding to double the spending on stage productions without increasing ticket prices" is not the right choice for "Decrease Expenses".

I understand that although the company has been spending money since past decade in stage productions (evident from the last statement), it is still not making profits (first two lines). However, it is not clear whether the company has concluded this investment as a bad strategy or good strategy. It feels like that correct answer choice given assumes that the company has already assumed that this investment over past decade is a bad strategy and thus obtaining public funding would still increase expenses. However, we do not that... the company has decided this to be a bad strategy. It could still be a good strategy, and the company may still want to that out... in doing so, obtaining public funding would be effective to reduce expenses.


Hello, the reason why I reckon the option you are speaking about to be an incorrect answer is because raising funding has inherent costs attached to it. I may be bringing my investment banking knowledge into this but if you were to raise equity funding, the cost of the capital raise itself needs to be considered. If you were to raise debt funding then the cost of the capital raise plus the interest expense on the debt also needs to be considered.

Beyond this, I think it is cheaper to return spending to previous levels than it is to raise funding especially because the argument has clearly told us that the new stage productions have done little to increase attendance at the concerts and thus has contributed little to revenues.
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Re: Metro Ballet Company presents high-quality productions of traditional, [#permalink]
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Official Explanation

This requires consideration of all the strategy options to determine which one would lead most directly to decreasing expenses for Metro Ballet’s classical ballet productions. Obtaining public funding to double the spending on stage productions without increasing ticket prices would lead to an increase in expenses for ballet productions, although those expenses should be offset by public funding. If expanding productions to include modern, folk, and tap dance traditions had the effect of decreasing expenses associated with ballet, that effect would be indirect. Offering discounts to reward people who have attended the greatest number of performances would likely reduce revenue and therefore increase expenses associated with ballet productions. Mounting an advertising campaign emphasizing the affordability and excitement of the ballet’s spectacular productions should increase expenses in the short term, although it may lead to increased revenue in the long term. Only the strategy of returning spending on productions to the level of several years ago has the immediate effect of decreasing expenses associated with classical ballet productions.

The correct answer is Return spending on productions to levels of several years ago.

It is again necessary to consider all the options. It is unclear how the strategy of doubling spending on stage productions without raising ticket prices would address the problem of attracting a larger audience, unless the process of obtaining public funding entailed an advertising campaign. Since the current audience has become accustomed to lavish productions, a reduction in spending on ballet productions might have the effect of actually reducing that audience. Expanding productions to include different dance traditions might attract a larger audience, but only if these traditions appeal to people not currently attending Metro Ballet, and only if they are made aware of the new productions. Since most people in the current audience have already been attending Metro Ballet productions for a number of years, offering discounts to those who have already attended a great number of performances may reinforce their loyalty, but is unlikely to attract people who haven’t previously attended. An advertising campaign aimed at addressing the reasons why area residents surveyed don’t currently attend, however, would constitute the most direct attempt to increase audience size among the options listed.

The correct answer is Mount a local advertising campaign emphasizing the affordability and excitement of Metro Ballet’s spectacular stage productions.
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Re: Metro Ballet Company presents high-quality productions of traditional, [#permalink]
I got this correct but I do not like the first column. It says that going back to spending at levels several years ago would most help reduce expenses but then in the passage it says for the past DECADE has spent increasing amounts of money to bolster the program. Not a fan of that.
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Re: Metro Ballet Company presents high-quality productions of traditional, [#permalink]
 
sameerm22 wrote:
Please explain why "Obtain public funding to double the spending on stage productions without increasing ticket prices" is not the right choice for "Decrease Expenses".

I understand that although the company has been spending money since past decade in stage productions (evident from the last statement), it is still not making profits (first two lines). However, it is not clear whether the company has concluded this investment as a bad strategy or good strategy. It feels like that correct answer choice given assumes that the company has already assumed that this investment over past decade is a bad strategy and thus obtaining public funding would still increase expenses. However, we do not that... the company has decided this to be a bad strategy. It could still be a good strategy, and the company may still want to that out... in doing so, obtaining public funding would be effective to reduce expenses.

­
According to the Official GMAT answer explanation, "Obtaining public funding to double the spending on stage productions without increasing ticket prices (option A) would lead to an increase in expenses for ballet productions, although those expenses should be offset by public funding." 

Hope this help.  
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Re: Metro Ballet Company presents high-quality productions of traditional, [#permalink]
I thinks in answers choices columns are interchanged
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Re: Metro Ballet Company presents high-quality productions of traditional, [#permalink]
manavsaraf001 wrote:
I thinks in answers choices columns are interchanged

­Yeah exactly that's what I was wondering. The stem stems "first column" while in answer choices it is second column. I do not know if I am the only one who noticed that
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Re: Metro Ballet Company presents high-quality productions of traditional, [#permalink]
Sajjad1994 wrote:
Metro Ballet Company presents high-quality productions of traditional, classical ballet. For the past several years, however, the company's overall profits have been declining, and ticket sales have been flat. Annual auidence surveys indicate that a majority of those who attend Metro Ballet productions consistently enjoy the performances and prefer classical ballet to other forms of dance; almost all of them have been attending Metro Ballet for several years. General surveys of area residents indicate, however, that very few are aware of Metro Ballet productions, and most imagine that the performances are boring and tickets too expensive. In an effort to appeal to a wider audience, over the past decade the company has spent increasing amounts of money on spectacular stage prodcutions, while lowering ticket prices.

In the first column of the table, select the strategy that, in the absence of the other alternatives listed, would lead most directly to decreasing Metro Ballet's expenses for its classical ballet productions. In the second column, select the strategy that, in the absence of the other alternatives listed, would constitute the most direct approach to solving the problem of increasing audience size for Metro Ballet's classical ballet productions. Make only two selections, one in each column.

­Hi sajjad, I got this one right but it took me around 3 mins to do it. Any tips?
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Re: Metro Ballet Company presents high-quality productions of traditional, [#permalink]
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