The first sentence of the passage gives us some background information: most employees in the computer industry move from company to company and change jobs several times in their careers. This implies that most computer companies do NOT retain their employees very well. Summit Computers, on the other hand, is known for retaining its employees, so we can infer that employees of Summit Computers do not follow the same general pattern exhibited by
most employees in the computer industry.
Why do employees of Summit Computers stay with their company while most computer industry employees tend to move from company to company? "Summit credits its success in retaining employees to its informal, nonhierarchical work environment." This is just one hypothesis, and we don't know for sure whether it is accurate. The question asks us to select a piece of evidence that, if true, most supports the hypothesis of Summit Computers.
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(A) Some people employed in the computer industry change jobs if they become bored with their current projects
Choice (A) does not tell us
why Summit employees tend to stay with their company. This statement simply provides one reason why employees in the computer industry might leave their jobs. If we were told that projects at Summit Computers were particularly exciting, that information might weaken Summit's explanation (by suggesting an alternative explanation), but it certainly would not strengthen Summit's explanation. Choice (A) can be eliminated.
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(B) A hierarchical work environment hinders the cooperative exchange of ideas that computer industry employees consider necessary for their work
Computer industry employees believe that a cooperative exchange of ideas is
necessary for their work and that a hierarchical work environment hinders the cooperate exchange of ideas. Thus, having a
nonhierarchical work environment is a
necessary (though not sufficient) requirement if the employees are to be able to do their work. Given the information in statement (B), computer industry employees would prefer a nonhierarchical work environment where their ability to do their work is not necessarily hindered. This supports the theory that a nonhierarchical work environment improves employee retention, so let's keep choice (B).
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(C) Many of Summit's senior employees had previously worked at only one other computer company
As with choice (A), choice (C) does not tell us
why employees of Summit Computers tend to stay with their company and certainly does not tell us whether Summit's success in retaining employees is due to its informal, nonhierarchical work environment. If anything, choice (C) might be taken as evidence that Summit manages to hire exceptionally loyal computer industry employees, perhaps explaining Summit's relatively high retention rates. But that would only serve to weaken the explanation presented in the passage because it provides an alternative explanation. Choice (C) can be eliminated.
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(D) In a nonhierarchical work environment, people avoid behavior that might threaten group harmony and thus avoid discussing with their colleagues any dissatisfaction they might have with their jobs
Choice (D) implies that employees in a hierarchical work environment would be reluctant to discuss their job dissatisfaction. This characteristic of a nonhierarchical work environment certainly does not explain why employees working in such an environment would be
less likely to leave their company. In fact, it suggests that such employees would quietly grow dissatisfied and then perhaps eventually leave to seek more satisfying jobs. Choice (D) can be eliminated.
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(E) The cost of living near Summit is relatively low compared to areas in which some other computer companies are located
This statement provides an
alternative explanation for why Summit has a relatively high retention rate compared to that of some other computer companies. This actually weakens the hypothesis presented by Summit by suggesting that its high retention rate is due to cost of living, not due to Summit's hierarchical work environment. Thus, choice (E) can be eliminated, and we are left with choice (B).