Plan: Last year, to improve sales, a software company decided to make

Plan: Last year, to improve sales, a software company decided to make its flagship product - a professional bookkeeping program - compatible with all types of computers, instead of with only those that were running a particular operating system.

Result: Last year, the sales of the product increased by 5%.

Additional Information: For the previous 9 years the sales of the product increased 5% for every year, a natural increase that occurs without fail as more companies annually learn about the product and its incontestable merits.

In light of the additional information, which of the following, if true, best explains the result that followed the implementation of the plan?


(A) Because bookkeeping programs are used by professionals, they are required to be highly efficient and trustworthy applications, a demand leading to a competitive market and the failure of many mediocre software products.

(B) Marketing for the product is handled by one of the most successful firms in its field, and one that chose to highlight the company's brand name in general, not wishing to distract potential customers with details of added features.

(C) Three years ago, due to an embarrassing internal fraud scandal, the managing director of the software company was fired and replaced by a business manager who, though talented, was somewhat inexperienced.

(D) Constant inflation during the past few years has had a noticeable effect causing prices to rise, salaries to rise, and an overall growth and stabilization of the economy.

(E) To maintain a positive corporate image as the provider of competent and up-to-date software, companies need to constantly sharpen, restructure, and enhance their programs, offering solutions to previous limitations.