For several years Buddy's Bolt Barn has specialized in supplying faste

Question

For several years Buddy's Bolt Barn has specialized in supplying fasteners - nuts, bolts, screws - to workshops and manufacturing firms in the region. Buddy's in fact now supplies virtually all of the fasteners that this segment of the region's industry uses. Recently, however, many of the region's workshops and manufacturing firms have closed down. Therefore, unless Buddy's can expand into a new market segment, it too is likely to go out of business.

Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument ?

A. Most of the fasteners that Buddy's carries in inventory are not specialized and can be used in a wide variety of industries.

B. Historically, period with a lot of closures of workshops and manufacturing firms have generally been followed by periods with many startups of such firms.

C. Even with the recent closures, there are more workshops and manufacturing firms operating in the region now than there were when Buddy's Bolt Barn first opened.

D. The workshops and manufacturing firms in the region that have remained in business have all laid off workers because of shortage of orders.

E. Some of Buddy's managers have prior retail experience in other market segments.

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Official Answer

D

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nishatfarhat87 · Accepted Answer

Conc: Therefore , unless Buddy's can expand into a new market segment , it too is likely to go out of business.

The argument gives us a causality in conclusion. If not A then B

PT: In order to strengthen this conc we need to give evidence to support the conclusion.

a. Most of the fasteners that Buddy's carries in inventory are not specialized and can be used in a wide variety of industries . -  Opposite. This gives us a reason why Buddy's will never close

b. Historically , period with a lot of closures of workshops and manufacturing firms have generally been followed by periods with many startups of such firms.

c. Even with the recent closures , there are more workshops and manufacturing firms operating in the region now than there were when Buddy's Bolt Barn first opened. -  Irrelevant. We don't know what do these firms supply. Are they in the same business as buddy if yes they weaken the conclusion and if not they strengthen.

d. The workshops and manufacturing firms in the region that have remained in business have all laid of workers because of shortage of orders. -  Correct. This proves that indeed there is no work in the workshops and manufacturing sector and hence increases our belief in the fact that if buddy doesn't take alternate measures, he will go out of business

e. Some of Buddy's managers have prior retail experience in other market segments.  -  OFS. Retail experience and buddy;s managers are both out of scope and has no bearance on buddy's business

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

When I read this it seems as though the Mandate is for Buddy to expand or die. So that is the focus im going to bring to the question. Does the answer say expand or die?

Given that they talk about workshops and Manufacturing firms, I will need to see that in the answer choice. This is kind of a trick that I use. The answer Choice needs to have those words in it to bridge the gap like 80% of the time.

B & C have that in the answer do not tell me expand or die. Rather, that he could find other outlets for his fasteners.

D strengthens the argument that he needs to expand or die, because those he is selling too are withering on the vine.

Farrell Dyan Hehn, MBA
Admissions Consultant & Verbal Strategist MBAPrepCoach.com

Alok322 · Answer

Hi,

Why is E wrong? Isn't it strengthening the belief that the managers have experience in other segments and if Buddy's enter into that segment, managers can drive the business easily and hence buddy's can survive..?
Can you please help me understand where I falter in my understanding?

abhimahna · Answer

No, you have not understood the conclusion correctly. It is saying unless you look for 2nd option, you are going to be penny less. E is saying they have experience of working outside. But that doesn't mean they will actually work outside. D clearly states that the leftover ones are not going to give them the required business. So, they are going to be at great loss. Hence, they should do something else. I hope that makes sense.

dcummins · Answer

Conclusion: Buddy's must expand into alternate segment otherwise they'll go out of business

Here's the logic I applied to POE
 a. Most of the fasteners that Buddy's carries in inventory are not specialized and can be used in a wide variety of industries .
 180 degree option - this actually weakens the conclusion. It states that Buddy's products are generic and that they don't need to expand into market segments, which are inherently more specialised.

b. Historically , period with a lot of closures of workshops and manufacturing firms have generally been followed by periods with many startups of such firms.
 180 degree option again - if new firms open up and presumably replace demand then there's no need to expand into a new market segment is there? Therefore why is the author concluding that Buddy's must expand otherwise go out of business? See how it weakens?

c. Even with the recent closures , there are more workshops and manufacturing firms operating in the region now than there were when Buddy's Bolt Barn first opened.
 We aren't comparing Buddy's between now and when it first opened. We are comparing it to present market conditions because the author is concluding that Buddy's will die out relative to the NOW, not the history. Irrelevant.

d. The workshops and manufacturing firms in the region that have remained in business have all laid  of  workers because of shortage of orders.
 Workshops and Mfg. firms are Buddy's clients, so if they have had to make cut backs then inherently they aren't doing as well and so aren't demanding as much supplies. Buddy's is dependent on this segment and it has been described as "specialised", so what happens if a business is dependent on 1 customer and that customer no longer exists or that customer slowly goes away? Your revenue slowly goes down/away.

p.s. its "laid OFF" not "laid of".  skywalker  please update.

This strengthens the conclusion.
 e. Some of Buddy's managers have prior retail experience in other market segments.
 okay? How is this even remotely relevant to the conclusion?

gmatimothy · Answer

Doesn't (A) support the conclusion that Buddy's can expand into a new market segment? Their inventory is not specialized and can be offered at different industries, other than workshops & mfg. firms.

GMATNinja · Answer

You're right that (A) would strengthen the argument that Buddy's  can  shift to a new market segment.

However,  that's not the exact argument that we're trying to strengthen . The actual conclusion is "unless Buddy's can expand into a new market segment, it too is likely to go out of business."

To reach this conclusion, the author doesn't particularly care whether Buddy's  can  shift to a new market -- he/she only cares about what will happen if Buddy's  DOESN'T  shift to a new market. (A) doesn't give us any insight into that scenario, so it doesn't strengthen the author's conclusion. Eliminate (A).

Compare that to (D):
 
We know from the passage that "many of the region's workshops and manufacturing firms have closed down." (D) tells us that the situation is even worse than that -- even the workshops and manufacturers that are still in business have a shortage of orders.

This means that if Buddy's  doesn't  shift to a new market, it is in even MORE trouble than we thought. So, (D) strengthens the conclusion that "unless Buddy's can expand into a new market segment, it too is likely to go out of business."

(D) is the correct answer.

I hope that helps!

vasu1104 · Answer

buddy bolt barn specialized in supplying fasteners to workshops and manufacturing firm in the region.
they supply virtually all of the fasteners the region's industry uses.
many of workshops and manufacturing firms have closed down.
conclusion- they are likely to go out of business unless they expand to other market.

they are assuming that they dont have any other customer outside this region where they can provide their services. also they are too narrow in their product so those stuff cant be used for other purposes in other businesses.

A then they have more reason to stay in business.
B then no need to worry bro. just relax and make more of your fasteners and sell it to new startups.
C then why did you make this conclusion? have you lost it or had drink while writing this one. 
D this make sense. so whatever firms are operating, they also have laid off workers. that means their businesses are also not doing good and on the verge of closure. so buddy is going to lose more customer now and probably its own business. keep.
E then give them more work and ask them to find the contract in those area. bullshit. out.

For several years Buddy's Bolt Barn has specialized in supplying faste

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For several years Buddy's Bolt Barn has specialized in supplying faste

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