SliceCo, a company that sells knives, is structured so that each of it

Question

Automated notice from GMAT Club BumpBot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

Bunuel · Answer

SliceCo, a company that sells knives, is structured so that each of its x regional sales directors has y salespeople working for that director. If, for the month of May, SliceCo sold exactly 2,200 knives, how many regional directors worked for SliceCo that month?

(1) Each regional director sold 150 knives, and each salesperson sold 80 knives.

(2) Each regional director had 5 salespeople.

(1) Each regional director sold 150 knives, and each salesperson sold 80 knives.

(2) Each regional director had 5 salespeople.

QuantMadeEasy · Answer

Let number of director be x and salesperson be y
To determine x.

(1) Each regional director sold 150 knives, and each salesperson sold 80 knives. 
150x + 8y = 2200
Simplifying:
x = (220 - 8y)/15
Possible values of x and y are:
when x = 12, then y = 5
When x = 4, then y = 20
Insufficient

(2) Each regional director had 5 salespeople 
x cannot be calculated
Insufficient

(1)+(2); 
y=5, x = 12
Sufficient

IMO C

thakrarsagar · Answer

Hi  Bunuel ,

I could see that the response by  QuantMadeEasy  is C for this question. Is it correct? If so, can you please help here on how to proceed once we get 2 pairs when x = 12, y = 5 and x = 4, y = 20.

poorvi125 · Answer

No correct explanation is given for the question.
Experts may please step in, the correct answer IMO should be C and not A.

Bunuel 
 chetan2u 
 KarishmaB

KarishmaB · Answer

There are x directors and each director has y salespeople so there are total xy salespeople. x and y both should be integers.

(1) Each regional director sold 150 knives, and each salesperson sold 80 knives.

150x + 80xy = 2200 = Total knives sold

x (15 + 8y) = 220

220 = 2 * 2 * 5 * 11
Since x and y both are integers, x should be a factor of 220 and in that case, y should be an integer too. 
If x = 1 or 2 or 5, y is not an integer.
But if x = 4, y is an integer
If x = 10 or greater, (15 + 8y) becomes 22 or less but even if y were 1, (15 + 8y) = 23. So x cannot be 10 or greater.

Hence the only value x can take is 4. Sufficient alone.

(2) Each regional director had 5 salespeople.

Not enough info. We don't know how many knives were sold by each person.

Answer (A)

kshv10 · Answer

thakrarsagar

Even I earlier figured the answer as C.

In retrospection, each director handles y employees. So if the number of directors is x, then the number of employees is xy.
Only x=4 & xy=20 (i.e. y=5) satisfies that condition. Hence the answer is A.

ChanSu · Answer

X=12 , y= 5 is ruled out. You can’t have more number of directors than salespeople working for them

Posted from my mobile device

bumpbot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club BumpBot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

SliceCo, a company that sells knives, is structured so that each of it

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Data Sufficiency (DS) Questions

SliceCo, a company that sells knives, is structured so that each of it

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards