The members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries usual

Hi jrk23, its can only refer to the Organization (of Petroleum Exporting Countries), since its can only refer to singular nouns and the Organization is the only singular noun present before its.

On the other hand, theirs can only refer to a plural noun and here, the intent is to refer to the plural noun members.

From an overall intended meaning perspective, here its is more appropriate, since the intent is to refer to organization.

Hi

I am assuming you are referring to the usage of "its" in option (B) and how it can refer to a plural noun. However, the sentence intends to state that the "members" of OPEC usually comply with the decisions of OPEC, the organization, which is a singular noun.

Hence, usage of "its" is appropriate. This is similar to stating, "The members of the jury comply with the decision of the jury", which would correctly be written as, "The members of the jury comply with its decision".

Hope this clarifies.

Can someone explain why would it not be that? Isn't that used for essential clauses? And isn't "which are designed to maximize the long term profits of member nations" an essential clause as it describes which decisions are being referred to here?

Hi MoonSharma, for one thing, I haven't really seen GMAT testing on this difference between which and that; at the very least, I have not come across any question where the only difference between the two options is which vs that.

Coming to this question, the usage of essential modifier that would mean:

i) OPEC takes many decisions, some of which are designed to maximize the long term profits of member nations while others are not designed to maximize the long term profits of member nations

ii) Out of all of those decisions that OPEC takes, the members comply only with those decisions that are designed to maximize the long term profits of member nations

This is clearly not the intent of the sentence.

The intent is to convey that:

i) OPEC takes many decisions

ii) All of those decisions that OPEC takes, are designed to maximize the long term profits of member nations

Hence, the non-essential modifier which works well.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses difference between "which" and "that", its application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.

Thank you. This is extremely helpful.

Dear experts,

I'm curious whether the official answer is correct.
This was my way of thinking when I approached the question:

The subject of the sentence is "The members of the OPEC" (which is plural because of "members"), not just "OPEC" (which is singular). Therefore, the pronoun before decisions should be plural as well. The verb "comply" is plural as well, so I don't understand why the plural pronoun "their" is incorrect. I understood it in that way that the members of this organization comply with their own decisions (and don't alter their behavior afterwards or something like that).

The only possibility that I could think of is when "the members" comply with the decision of "OPEC" in a way that the decisions of "the members" and "OPEC" are two different things. In that case, I could understand that "the members comply" (all plural) with "OPEC and its decisions" (all singular). Could that be possible?

And is there a rule for that?

Thank you in advance.