A prominent investor who holds a large stake in the Burton Tool compan

Question

A prominent investor who holds a large stake in the Burton Tool company has recently claimed that the company is mismanaged, citing as evidence the company's failure to slow production in response to a recent rise in its inventory of finished products. It is doubtful whether an investor's sniping at management can ever be anything other than counterproductive,  but in this case it is clearly not justified.  It is true that an increased inventory of finished products often indicates that production is outstripping demand, but  in Burton's case it indicates no such thing . Rather, the increase in inventory is entirely attributable to products that have already been assigned to orders received from customers.

In the argument given, the two boldfaced portions play which of the following roles?

A. The first provides evidence to support the conclusion of the argument as a whole; the second states the conclusion.

B. The first states the conclusion of the argument as a whole; the second states an intermediate conclusion that is drawn in order to support that conclusion

C. The first is the position that the argument as a whole opposes; the second provides evidence against the position being opposed.

D. The first states an intermediate conclusion that is drawn in order to support the conclusion of the argument as a whole; the second states the conclusion of the argument as a whole

E. The first & second both state intermediate conclusions that are drawn in order to support jointly the conclusions of the argument as a whole

1.  https://gmatclub.com/forum/a-prominent-investor-who-holds-a-large-stake-in-the-burton-tool-compan-10451.html

2.  https://gmatclub.com/forum/a-prominent-investor-who-holds-a-large-stake-in-the-burton-tool-compan-268927.html

anothermillenial · Accepted Answer

(Counter-conclusion)   A prominent investor who holds a large stake in the Burton Tool company has recently claimed that the company is mismanaged,

(Counter-premise)   ...citing as evidence the company's failure to slow production in response to a recent rise in its inventory of finished products.

(Main Conclusion)   It is doubtful whether an investor's sniping at management can ever be anything other than counterproductive, but  in this case it is clearly not justified.

(Premise)   It is true that an increased inventory of finished products often indicates that production is outstripping demand,

(Intermediate Conclusion)    but   in Burton's case it indicates no such thing.

(Premise)   Rather, the increase in inventory is entirely attributable to products that have already been assigned to orders received from customers.

In the argument given, the two boldfaced portions play which of the following roles?

A. The first provides  evidenc e to support the conclusion of the argument as a whole; the second states the conclusion.  
The first is the main conclusion, not evidence. The second is an intermediate conclusion.

B. The first  states the conclusion  of the argument as a whole; the second states  an intermediate conclusion  that is drawn in order to support that conclusion. 
The first half is true. Is the second an intermediate conclusion? Yes. How can we tell? We say say that “Because Burton’s case indicates no such thing, therefore, the investor’s claim is clearly not justified.”

C. The first is the position that  the argument as a whole opposes ; the second provides  evidence against the position being opposed .  
No, the first is for the argument and the second is also for the argument. This answer choice says the first is an opposing position, which it isn’t.

D. The first states  an intermediate conclusion  that is drawn in order to support the conclusion of the argument as a whole; the second states the conclusion of the argument as a whole. 
No, the first is the main conclusion.

E. The first & second  both state intermediate conclusions  that are drawn in order to support jointly the conclusions of the argument as a whole 
Where is the joint conclusion? The first is the MAIN conclusion.

Probus · Answer

Hi,

Statement 1:A prominent investor who holds a large stake in the Burton Tool company has recently claimed that the company is mismanaged, citing as evidence the company's failure to slow production in response to a recent rise in its inventory of finished products. { A claim + evidence}

Statement 2: It is doubtful whether an investor's sniping at management can ever be anything other than counterproductive, { Authors's opinion}

Statement 3: but in this case it is clearly not justified. { Authors's opinion}

Statement 4: It is true that an increased inventory of finished products often indicates that production is outstripping demand, { General Principle / fact}

Statement 5: but in Burton's case it indicates no such thing. { Authors's opinion}

Statement 6: Rather, the increase in inventory is entirely attributable to products that have already been assigned to orders received from customers. {Fact}

What is the main point of the argument.

let's see

Statement 1: A investor has claimed something based on certain evidence .   ( Claim +evidence Sets the context of the argument)

Then the author responds by saying

Statement 2:hey, its true that increase inventory indicates production is more than demand  (  Author presents a fact about investors claim +evidence}

Statement 3:but in the this case increase in inventory is because of the orders that have been assigned to certain customers  (  Author Presents evidence against the claim made by investor - This is Fact ) 
 
Statement 4:hence in this case it does not indicate that increase in inventory means production is more than demand.   ( Author make a conclusion from the above evidence)

Statement 5:Author then says it doubtful weather investors criticism of management can be counterproductive   ( Author then presents general opinion about investors criticism )

Statement 6:but in this case investor is clearly not justified to doubt the company .   (  Author finally concludes this on the basis of Statement 2,3,4, - Main Conclusion )

Statement 4 is our BF-2 and Statement 6 is our BF-1 
 
So we can say that BF-2 is a conclusion that author has used to support the main the conclusion , BF-1 is the main conclusion of the argument.

Looking at answer choices we see B fits the bill.

Probus

DavidTutorexamPAL · Answer

The answer is B.

We can solve this question using the  PRECISE  method - i.e.  analysing the given information to get to the answer on our own. 
The first boldfaced section is clearly phrased as a conclusion ("justified" being a judgemental word), and it is a refutation of the argument which has just been put forward - thus,  it is the argument's main conclusion .
The second boldfaced section is also, clearly, a conclusion ("indicates" being our main clue), but what is its relation to the first one? well, the structure (" it is true... but") and context (coming right ofter the previous boldface) of the sentence tells us this is a detailing of the precious conclusion - that is,  it is a supporting conclusion .
 Quickly skimming the answer, we see B is our answer.

sayan640 · Answer

Please note the flow of the information in the question stem...

It is true that an increased inventory of finished products often indicates that production is outstripping demand, but  in Burton's case it indicates no such thing .

It is true that an increased inventory of finished products often indicates that production is outstripping demand" --> provides a context

but  in Burton's case it indicates no such thing  ---> intermediate conclusion...

Since it does not indicate any such thing (that an increased inventory of finished products often indicates that production is outstripping demand)

the main conclusion follows...i.e 
in this case it is clearly not justified.

Option B states the same and is correct.

Please give me kudo s if you liked my explanation....

waytowharton · Answer

GMATNinja   KarishmaB  @

Doubt - I am unable to understand the sentence, "It is doubtful whether an investor's sniping at management can ever be anything other than counterproductive, but in this case it is clearly not justified." I am unable to figure out contrast in this sentence. The sentence structure is IC1+but+IC2.
IC1 - means it is doubtful that investor's sniping could ever be productive
IC2(main conclusion of passage) - means investor's sniping is not justified in this case.
Where is the contrast? Aren't both IC's talking in same direction and we should have and conjunction instead of but. Please do let me know flaw in my understanding.

KarishmaB · Answer

Argument:

Investor's claim: Company is mismanaged
Investor's supporting data: company failed to slow production even when inventory rose

Author concedes a point to Investor: It is true that an increased inventory of finished products often indicates that production is outstripping demand, 
Author's supporting data: In case of Burton, increase in inventory is entirely attributable to products that have already been assigned to orders received from customers.
Author's intermediate conclusion : In Burton's case, increase in inventory does not indicate production is outstripping demand

Main point of the author: Investor's claims of mismanagement are not justified.

Hence option (B) is correct.

KarishmaB · Answer

The sentence tells us that it is doubtful that an investor's sniping can ever lead to anything good (there is a small doubt though), but here it is CLEARLY not justified (so here there is no doubt even ... it is very clear that it is not justified, let alone whether it will be productive). So there is an element of contrast here.

The first part (highlighted) of this sentence is an aside - just a comment. It doesn't add any meaningful information to the argument.

The first part (highlighted) of this sentence is an aside - just a comment. It doesn't add any meaningful information to the argument.

AditiDeokar · Answer

KarishmaB , why can't the first BF be the intermediate conclusion

guddo · Answer

B

First boldface (“but in this case it is clearly not justified”) is the main conclusion: the investor’s criticism is not justified.

Second boldface (“in Burton’s case it indicates no such thing”) is an intermediate conclusion used to support the main conclusion: Burton’s inventory increase does not indicate production is outstripping demand, because the inventory is tied to existing customer orders.

guddo · Answer

Because nothing in the passage is supported by that first boldface. It is asserted, and then the author spends the rest of the argument giving reasons for it.

Structure:
 
Claim: “In this case it is clearly not justified.”
 Support: “It is true inventories often indicate oversupply, but in Burton’s case they do not.”
 Further support: “The inventory increase is entirely attributable to products already assigned to customer orders.”

An intermediate conclusion is something derived from evidence and then used to support a further claim. Here, the first boldface is the “further claim” being supported, so it is the main conclusion, not an intermediate one.

KarishmaB · Answer

To be an intermediate conclusion, it must be derived from the premises and needs to support the main conclusion.
BF1 supports no other statement. If BF1 were to be intermediate conclusion, what is the main conclusion of the argument?

It cannot be BF2 because, BF2 supports BF1.

Look at the argument:

An increased inventory of finished products often indicates that production is outstripping demand, 
But in Burton's case, the increase in inventory is entirely attributable to products that have already been assigned to orders received from customers.
Hence  in Burton's case increased inventory does not indicate production outstripping demand . (BF2)  
 So  the investor's complaint about mismanagment at Burton is not justified. (BF1)

This is the logical flow of the argument.

celialem · Answer

Investor claims: company is mismanaged because it didn't slow production even though inventory of finished products was high.
Author concludes that the claim is "clearly unjustified," cites as evidence that "the increase in inventory is entirely attributable to products that have already been assigned to orders received from customers." --> nothing indicates that investor claim is true

therefore, the correct answer seems to be "B"

A prominent investor who holds a large stake in the Burton Tool compan

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A prominent investor who holds a large stake in the Burton Tool compan

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