Statement — The company chairman urged employees to refrain from making long personal calls during working hours in order to boost productivity.\n\nAssumptions —\nI. A majority of employees will respond positively to the chairman’s appeal.\nII. Most employees will continue to make long personal calls during working hours despite the appeal.

Difficulty: Medium

Correct Answer: if only Assumption I is implicit

Explanation:


Introduction / Context:
Management advisories are issued with the belief that employees will modify behavior sufficiently to realize the intended benefit (here, better productivity). An assumption that most will ignore the appeal contradicts the purpose of making it.



Given Data / Assumptions:


  • Appeal: avoid long personal calls during work.
  • Goal: boost productivity.
  • I: many employees will comply, at least partially.
  • II: most will not comply (negates the rationale).


Concept / Approach:
For an appeal to be instrumentally rational, the issuer must expect a meaningful compliance rate. Expecting widespread noncompliance would undercut the appeal’s utility, making II an implausible presupposition of the statement.



Step-by-Step Solution:


1) Link appeal to intended productivity gains.2) Gains require significant compliance (I).3) Assuming the opposite (II) would render the appeal ineffective and purposeless.


Verification / Alternative check:
Even partial compliance among a majority can yield noticeable productivity improvement, aligning with the chairman’s objective.



Why Other Options Are Wrong:


Only II: contradicts the very reason to appeal.Either: cannot be; the two assumptions are mutually inconsistent.Neither: wrong because some expected compliance must exist.Both: logically inconsistent.


Common Pitfalls:
Equating “majority will respond” with “everyone will comply.” The necessary assumption is not perfection, but meaningful response.



Final Answer:
Only Assumption I is implicit.

More Questions from Statement and Assumption

Discussion & Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment!
Join Discussion