PrepTest 94+, Section 4, Question 16
Manager: I plan to put together a successful marketing team by choosing highly skilled, independent workers who prefer not to work as part of a tightly knit group. This strategy is bound to succeed because recent research shows that when a common purpose is shared, the flexibility of loosely bound groups enables them to function better than tightly knit ones.
Manager: I plan to put together a successful marketing team by choosing highly skilled, independent workers who prefer not to work as part of a tightly knit group. This strategy is bound to succeed because recent research shows that when a common purpose is shared, the flexibility of loosely bound groups enables them to function better than tightly knit ones.
Manager: I plan to put together a successful marketing team by choosing highly skilled, independent workers who prefer not to work as part of a tightly knit group. This strategy is bound to succeed because recent research shows that when a common purpose is shared, the flexibility of loosely bound groups enables them to function better than tightly knit ones.
Manager: I plan to put together a successful marketing team by choosing highly skilled, independent workers who prefer not to work as part of a tightly knit group. This strategy is bound to succeed because recent research shows that when a common purpose is shared, the flexibility of loosely bound groups enables them to function better than tightly knit ones.
The reasoning in the manager's argument is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that the argument
presumes that factors that are collectively sufficient for success are also individually necessary for success
relies on research that has no apparent relevance to the manager's proposed plan
takes for granted that flexible teams always function significantly better than inflexible teams
overlooks the possibility that people who prefer not to work in tightly knit groups may have difficulty committing to a common purpose
confuses the goals that the manager is seeking to achieve with the goals that must be held in common by the members of the marketing team
Explanations
This manager's making a classic manager's mistake. They argue that they'll have a successful marketing team if they bring together independent operators who don't like working in tight-knit groups. Why? Because research suggests loosely bound groups function better... when a common purpose is shared.
Good luck getting independent operators to share a common purpose.
Turns out it's a flaw question. So I need the answer choice to be present in the argument and to be the thing this argument does wrong.
Nah, no way. This answer choice describes confusing sufficient for necessary. This isn't part of the argument. If it had been, it would've stuck out like a sore thumb.
No, not this either. The evidence cited is relevant to the manager's plan. The manager just necessarily assumes their hires will share the requisite common purpose.
No, it doesn't take this for granted. It suggests a single context where this happens to be true, not that it's always true.
Perfect. And a near-match to our prediction. Yes, this author mistakenly assumes that their hires will share a common purpose—the critical piece of the puzzle in the evidence they cite.
Nah. This is word salad. First off, what goal does the manager hope to achieve? A functional team. What goals must the team members hold? I don't see any, really. The evidence cited doesn't address what shared vision teams must get behind, just that when they have one, they tend to function better than tight-knit teams. Moreover, why would teams need to share the goal of being a functioning team in order to be an effective marketing team? The whole premise here is that these independent operators work better than tight-knit teams.
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