The chief executive officer of one of the country's most successful

Question

The chief executive officer of one of the country's most successful steel manufacturing firms is amused at the publicity her management practices have attracted. She thinks managers get too much of the credit for upswings in their business. "A fickle public assumes too easily that managers are brilliant when demand is strong and idiotic when it is weak." she asserts.

It can be inferred from the statement made by the chief executive officer that she believes which of the following?

(A) a successful manager should attempt to control public opinion.

(B) There are no managers who can justifiably be said to be brilliant.

(C) Her own management practices are likely to be of little value to other business.

(D) The role of managers becomes less important during economic downturns than it is in relatively prosperous times.

(E) The level of demand for the products of manufacturing firms cannot be completely controlled by the managers of the firm.

rustypolymath · Accepted Answer

The CEO's thoughts are thus:

If demand is strong, the public sees managers as brilliant.
If demand is weak, the public sees managers as idiotic.
Demand is strong for our steel manufacturing firm (this we infer because it is so successful).
The managers at our steel manufacturing firm are getting too much credit for our strong demand.

From the last sentence alone we can infer that there is something else apart from the managers going on to lift up demand. Therefore, the level of demand for the products of manufacturing firms cannot be completely controlled by the managers of the firm.

A little tautological, but deductively valid!

kys123 · Answer

Cause and EFfect to me. Strong Demand cause managers to be "good". However good managers does not always cause strong demand.

metallicafan · Answer

+1 E

This is a must be true question. This means that new information is not allowed in the choices. The correct choice is limited by the information in the question stem.
Let's analyze each choice:

arps · Answer

I was confused between B and E and finally chose B, why is B incorrect, as she does mention people give to much credit to managers when they are not entirely responsible for the upswing, hence none of them are as brilliant?

karun0109 · Answer

^B takes it a step too far.. The CEO mentions how too much credit can given to managers during upswings in demand. This would not preclude them from being brilliant, however. Her assertion is unrelated to the intelligence of managers. It reflects on the public rather than on managers themselves..

Another vote for E here..

Another vote for E here..

saikarthikreddy · Answer

+1 for E. She says that the managers get too much attention.This one is the catch .She says that they were overly praised for the things which are not controlled by them .

aaba · Answer

I never expect an inference question in CR will have such question stem.
D is about the role of management but not the demand -> I fell to the trap. How stupid I am.

ShikhaTomar · Answer

(E) The level of demand for the products of manufacturing firms cannot be completely controlled by the managers of the firm.
We haven't spoken about level of demand in entire argument wherein yes arguments talks about brilliance of managers when demand shoot up.
 so why not B

krittapat · Answer

VeritasKarishma   egmat   GMATNinja   mikemcgarry 
Could you please help explain why option B is incorrect?

roch1991 · Answer

Let us look at what Option B says

Now there is nothing in the passage to suggest that "Of All Companies In All The Towns In All The World, There is not a single manager who is brilliant." !! :p

The usage of 'no' in option B is pretty strong. It is saying there are literally 0 managers who can be brilliant. There is no clear justification given in the passage for any such conclusion.

TBT · Answer

Can someones explain: " She thinks managers get too much of the credit for upswings in their business. " Is this why the answer is E? Because this shows something else is also responsible for success?

Raman109 · Answer

Complete the passage - 
The chief executive officer of one of the country's most successful steel manufacturing firms is amused at the publicity her management practices have attracted. - Fact 
She thinks managers get too much of the credit for upswings in their business. - Fact 
"A fickle public assumes too easily that managers are brilliant when demand is strong and idiotic when it is weak." she asserts. - Her opinion

Option Elimination - Inference

(A) a successful manager should attempt to control public opinion. - Out of scope.

(B) There are no managers who can justifiably be said to be brilliant. - "No" is hyperbolic.

(C) Her own management practices are likely to be of little value to other business. - May be or may not be. We can't predict with 100% certainty from the argument.

(D) The role of managers becomes less important during economic downturns than it is in relatively prosperous times. - this comparison is out of scope.

(E) The level of demand for the products of manufacturing firms cannot be completely controlled by the managers of the firm. - ok

VerbalBot · Answer

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The chief executive officer of one of the country's most successful

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The chief executive officer of one of the country's most successful

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