Several internet-based companies that use open-source software for the

Question

Several internet-based companies that use open-source software for their day-to-day operations have been surprised at the degree to which volunteer contributions increase productivity. At the same time, the overall profits of most of these companies have increased, since a much smaller percentage of overall revenue per working hour must be directed toward salaries. Beginning internet companies should imitate this successful model by hiring only a small core staff and leaving the rest of the tasks to volunteers.

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument that a beginning internet company can best increase its profitability by relying on volunteer labor?

(A) Internet companies can also increase profitability by paying lower salaries to more full-time employees.

(B) Cash flow in internet companies is very different from cash flow in traditional companies, so that not all bookkeeping procedures apply.

(C) Internet companies often perform tasks that are highly specialized, and volunteers are not always able to complete necessary portions of projects.

(D) The average number of hours worked by a volunteer at an internet company is already greater than the average number worked by volunteers at traditional companies.

(E) Volunteers often hold other full-time jobs, making their actual financial contributions to internet companies difficult to calculate.

Situation:In order to increase profits, beginning internet companies should hire few staff and rely on volunteers for the bulk of tasks.

Reasoning:Which most clearly shows a problem with relying on volunteer labor? The advantages of volunteer labor come in terms of both productivity and profit. If, however, the presence of volunteers can be shown to actually damage one of these goals, then the soundness of the model proposed by the plan will be seriously undermined.

1. This option does not speak directly to the question of whether volunteers are best for a beginning company.
 2. Bookkeeping procedures are not mentioned in the passage; this statement is out of scope.
 3. This option directly undermines the suggestion that volunteers are good for all starting internet businesses by describing a situation in which volunteers could actually undermine productivity.
 4. The average number of hours worked by volunteers has no impact on the soundness of the plan. Also, traditional companies are not mentioned in the passage.
 5. The passage is concerned primarily with the productivity contributions of volunteers, which translate into financial contributions. The fact that volunteers hold other jobs would have more impact on the volunteers themselves than it would on the finances of the internet company.

My take: The article gives you as a fact that volunteers help improve productivity at these companies. Option (C) says basically that volunteers can't do everything - but the companies aren't asking them to. Even if C is true, and there are specialized tasks that volunteers can't do, wouldn't the increased productivity from the volunteers allow the rest of the paid staff to focus more on these specialized tasks? Seems to me like even if C were true, it wouldn't negate the argument.

I went with (E), because if it's true, then it means that volunteers will have to prioritize their time between their full-time jobs and the internet company, causing them to do less volunteer work, and also because if their financial contributions are difficult to calculate, then maybe the initial assumption about their financial impact is inaccurate. I'm not convinced that it's the best answer, but I don't like C either. I'd love to hear some discussion.

akshathbs · Answer

this is indeed a great question..
conclusion:: volunteers are the best bet for the internet companies to increase there profits...

a) gives an alternate way of increasing profit but it nowhere says that it is the best method , for all we know the method suggested may be better or worse than hiring more volunteers .
b)out of scope..
c)if volunteers cannot complete the work because of they lack skills then they certainly are not the best bet to increase profits. looks like an ans
d)start up's vs traditional companies ..does not hit the conclusion
e)valuation is diffcult for the work done by volunteer

so it comes down to a vs c
ans c looks like the winner..

USCTrojan2006 · Answer

I got C.

Conclusion is Beg. internet companies should use the open source model to increase profits by having a skeleton staff and having volunteers make up the gap for that skeleton staff.

C would shows internet companies have specialised tasks that volunteers wouldn't normally have the skills for. So it negates the premise that volunteer workers would lead to higher profitability, since internet companies have need a workforce that have a specialised skillset not possessed by volunteers.

amit2k9 · Answer

Between A and C.

A provides an alternate point.Negating it will not make the argument strong.

However, Negating C makes the argument strong. Hence it a better option.

Hence C prevails.

sumitjain · Answer

Need to consider options where comparison is between volunteers and skilled emp, and choosing volunteers may not be a good option, which may lead to loss to company.

Best option C.

mariyea · Answer

A - doesn't defeat the purpose of the conclusion, which says, "Beginning internet companies should imitate this successful model by hiring only a small core staff and leaving the rest of the tasks to volunteers.", making the option irrelevant.
B - We are talking about internet companies not traditional companies so this option is irrelevant.
 C - If the volunteers are not able to perform the tasks required completely and their performances on the job are not up to par then it defeats the purpose of start up internet comps to get volunteers (ie it attacks the conclusion). 
D - this supports the conclusion. 
E - The volunteer's financial contributions to I.C is not relevant to weakening the argument.

gettinit · Answer

Agree with C.

@amit2k9 Never have seen assumption negation technique used to eliminate answers for weaken questions!

agdimple333 · Answer

Several internet-based companies that use open-source software for their day-to-day operations have been surprised at the degree to which volunteer contributions increase productivity. At the same time, the overall profits of most of these companies have increased, since a much smaller percentage of overall revenue per working hour must be directed toward salaries. Beginning internet companies should imitate this successful model by hiring only a small core staff and leaving the rest of the tasks to volunteers.

The argument above that internet companies will increase profits by hiring fewer full-time employees is based on which of the following assumptions?

A) Internet companies that use open-source software are better suited to function efficiently with only a small core staff than traditional companies.
B) The amount of administrative work to be performed in internet companies is small enough that it can reasonably be completed by fewer full-time employees.
C) Full-time employees and volunteers will have different levels of access to most projects undertaken by the company.
D) Internet companies will hire more full-time employees as they become more profitable due to volunteer contributions.
E) Companies that rely on both full-time employees and volunteer labor increase their overall revenue per working hour.

Izvos · Answer

I shall go with E

Several internet-based companies that use open-source software for their day-to-day operations have been surprised at the degree to which volunteer contributions increase productivity. At the same time, the overall profits of most of these companies have increased, since a much smaller percentage of overall revenue per working hour must be directed toward salaries. Beginning internet companies should imitate this successful model by hiring only a small core staff and leaving the rest of the tasks to volunteers.

The argument above that internet companies will increase profits by hiring fewer full-time employees is based on which of the following assumptions?

sshivanis04 · Answer

1. If you negate E then it states : 
Companies that rely on both full-time employees and volunteer labor  may not  increase their overall revenue per working hour. 
Negating E makes the conclusion fall apart.
2. Where as negating B means :
The amount of administrative work to be performed in internet companies is  not  small enough that it can reasonably be completed by fewer full-time employees. This could mean that volunteer will perform the administrative task and this does not affect the conclusion.

Pl post the official answer.

TheMechanic · Answer

I think the correct answer is B.

Since assumptions are new information which are not mentioned or implied from the question stem, E cannot be the correct answer. E can be implied from "At the same time, the overall profits of most of these companies have increased, since a much smaller percentage of overall revenue per working hour must be directed toward salaries."

Coming back to B, negating B would mean the basic administrative tasks of internet companies will not be successfully or efficient completed by small group of employees. Hence the business model in the conclusion, which is deemed successful, would fail as company cannot run on small set of employees. This confirms B is correct answer.

countonhearts · Answer

Options: B for me

A) Internet companies that use open-source software are better suited to function efficiently with only a small core staff than traditional companies. ** comparison should be avoided.. comparing with traditional.. out of scope**
B) The amount of administrative work to be performed in internet companies is small enough that it can reasonably be completed by fewer full-time employees. **Correct, amout of work is small so fewer fulltime companies arre enough**
C) Full-time employees and volunteers will have different levels of access to most projects undertaken by the company.*** not helping with access**
D) Internet companies will hire more full-time employees as they become more profitable due to volunteer contributions. **Useless**
E) Companies that rely on both full-time employees and volunteer labor increase their overall revenue per working hour.
** focus is on lessnumber of full time employees**

egmat · Answer

Got a PM to respond to this one.

Frankly, there is no correct choice here. The question as well as the option statements are not of the highest quality. As is, no option statement qualifies as the correct choice.

Let me elaborate.

What is the conclusion of the passage?

Beginning internet companies should imitate this successful model by hiring only a   small   core staff and leaving the rest of the tasks to volunteers. ( we are talking about small staff i.e. we are talking in terms of absolute numbers, not in terms of comparative terms such as fewer or greater. This understanding is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL if you solve GMAT Assumption questions. These are the keywords which make or break an option statement)

What is the basis of the conclusion?

At the same time,  the overall profits of most of these companies have increased , since a much smaller percentage of overall revenue per working hour must be directed toward salaries - The first part i.e. the underlined part probably means that the profits of these internet companies have increased over time. What is the reason for this increase? The reason is that a smaller percentage of revenue must be given as salaries. It means that a lesser percentage of revenue now goes towards salaries now than before.

So, the argument is like this:

Since the profits of internet companies have increased because of lower outgo of salaries as proportion of revenues, the new starting internet companies should imitate this model and hire only a small staff.

Now, let's look at option B:

B)  The amount of administrative work to be performed in internet companies is small enough that it can reasonably be completed by   fewer   full-time employees.  - "Fewer" is a comparative term which means that the work can now be completed with less number of employees than before.

But is the conclusion about "Reducing" the number of employees? Or even is the conclusion a comparative statement?

The answer to both of these questions is NO. The conclusion only says that the new internet should hire a small staff, not fewer staff than someone else. So, option B is incorrect.

Option E:

E)  Companies that rely on both full-time employees and volunteer labor  increase  their overall revenue per working hour.

My first question is: "increase from what?". I have to assume that it is talking about general increase over time. Even if I assume that this option is incorrect because we are talking in terms of profits. Even if revenue per working hour does not increase, the profits may still increase if the costs go down. Rather, the basis of the conclusion is talking about decline in costs, not increase in revenues. So, this option statement is also incorrect.

Other options are also incorrect for different reasons.

Thanks,
Chiranjeev

nhattruong1302 · Answer

Explanation for choice C

Type weaken

Conclusion: Beginning internet companies imitate the successful model => more profitable.

Assumption: beginning internet companies is comparable to that of internet -based companies.

Break the assumption: tasks in begining internet company require more skillful working abilities from core staffs.

DLFC7A626 · Answer

Situation:In order to increase profits, beginning internet companies should hire few staff and rely on volunteers for the bulk of tasks.

Reasoning: Which is the assumption underlying the conclusion that fewer full-time employees will result in greater profits? The model presented in the passage imagines that all work necessary to success can be performed when it is divided between full-time staff and volunteers. However, the total amount of work must necessarily include administrative tasks to be performed by full-time employees. The passage assumes, therefore, that the amount of administrative work to be performed can reasonably be accomplished by a small number of core staff.

(A) Internet companies and traditional companies are not directly compared in the passage.

(B) Correct. The passage assumes that a small number of full-time employees can successfully perform all needed administrative tasks.

(C) Outside the scope. The passage does not mention levels of access.

(D) Plans for hiring more full-time employees are not discussed in the passage.

(E) This is not an assumption underlying the conclusion

The correct answer is B

D4498 · Answer

Regarding option C and E ,i chose C because volunteer will lack somewhere that will hamper the productivity of the company.
As of E,which says Volunteers often hold other full-time jobs, making their actual financial contributions to internet companies difficult to calculate.volunteers may not necessarily be a job holder ,it could be an old retired person with expertise and experience or someone who is unemployed,or a mother of small child who wishes to become a volunteer or who works part time.so we can't just assume that the volunteers will be full time job holders .Thatswhy E is incorrect.
Hope it helps.?

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