A growing company seeks a new CEO. The company—which has always been led by members of one family—wants to make...
GMAT Two Part Analysis : (TPA) Questions
A growing company seeks a new CEO. The company—which has always been led by members of one family—wants to make a change in order to generate revenue quickly, possibly by hiring a famous CEO. Promoting from within has been a successful strategy for the company, yielding many of its most effective high-level managers. However, many companies are now hiring famous CEOs who are famous because they have impeccable qualifications and experience running many different kinds of companies.
On the basis of the information provided, select Famous CEO for the principle that, if accepted, would most strongly imply that the company should hire a famous CEO, and select Promote from within for the principle that, if accepted, would most strongly imply that the company should promote someone within the company to the position of CEO. Make only two selections, one in each column.
Phase 1: Owning the Dataset
Argument Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "A growing company seeks a new CEO" |
|
| "The company—which has always been led by members of one family—wants to make a change" |
|
| "in order to generate revenue quickly, possibly by hiring a famous CEO" |
|
| "Promoting from within has been a successful strategy...yielding many of its most effective high-level managers" |
|
| "many companies are now hiring famous CEOs who...have impeccable qualifications and experience running many different kinds of companies" |
|
Argument Structure
- Main decision: Should the company hire a famous CEO or promote from within?
- Supporting evidence for famous CEO: Industry trend, diverse experience, potential for quick revenue
- Supporting evidence for internal promotion: Proven successful track record
- Key tension: Successful past strategy vs. desire for quick revenue growth
- Unstated assumption: The two strategies might lead to different outcomes
Phase 2: Question Analysis & Prethinking
Understanding What Each Part Asks
- Part 1 (Famous CEO): We need a principle that, if accepted, would most strongly support hiring a famous CEO
- Part 2 (Promote from within): We need a principle that, if accepted, would most strongly support promoting internally
- Relationship: These are competing approaches, so we're looking for principles that would tip the decision in either direction
Question Type Analysis
This is asking for principles that strengthen each position. We need general rules that, when applied to this specific situation, would support each hiring approach.
Specific Prethinking for Each Part
For Famous CEO:- A principle about the value of diverse industry experience for quick results
- A principle about the need for change when seeking different outcomes
- Something connecting external expertise to revenue generation
- A principle about maintaining successful strategies
- A principle about the value of company-specific knowledge
- Something about employee morale or cultural continuity
Phase 3: Answer Choice Evaluation
Evaluating Each Choice
- "CEOs have a responsibility to ensure that the companies they head remain profitable."
- Simple terms: All CEOs must keep companies profitable
- For Famous CEO?: Neutral - applies to any CEO
- For Promote from within?: Neutral - applies to any CEO
- Verdict: Doesn't favor either option
- "A company should not dispense with a current strategy unless that strategy has proven to be unsuccessful."
- Simple terms: Don't change what's working
- For Famous CEO?: Weak - argues against change
- For Promote from within?: STRONG - internal promotion has been successful, so keep doing it
- Verdict: Strong support for promoting from within
- "A company should choose as CEO the candidate who has the most experience in that company's specific industry."
- Simple terms: Industry-specific experience matters most
- For Famous CEO?: Weak - famous CEOs have diverse, not specific experience
- For Promote from within?: Moderate - internal candidates know the company/industry
- Verdict: Somewhat supports internal promotion
- "A company will often see a quick rise in revenue immediately after hiring a CEO with experience in various industries."
- Simple terms: CEOs with diverse experience generate quick revenue
- For Famous CEO?: STRONG - directly connects famous CEO traits (various industries) to desired outcome (quick revenue)
- For Promote from within?: Weak - argues against internal candidates
- Verdict: Strong support for famous CEO
- "When hiring a new CEO, a company needs to ensure that it does not alienate its employees in the process."
- Simple terms: Don't upset employees when choosing CEO
- For Famous CEO?: Weak - outsiders might alienate employees
- For Promote from within?: Moderate - internal promotion less likely to alienate
- Verdict: Somewhat supports internal promotion
The Correct Answers
For Famous CEO: Choice D - This principle directly links the defining characteristic of famous CEOs (experience in various industries) with the company's primary goal (quick revenue generation). It provides the strongest justification for choosing this path.
For Promote from Within: Choice B - This principle powerfully supports maintaining the internal promotion strategy because it has been explicitly described as successful. Since the strategy hasn't proven unsuccessful, this principle argues strongly against changing it.
Common Traps to Highlight
Choice C might seem attractive for the "Promote from within" column because internal candidates have company-specific experience. However, it's weaker than Choice B because:
- It focuses on industry experience rather than the proven success of the strategy
- Choice B directly addresses the track record mentioned in the passage
Choice E could also tempt students for "Promote from within," but:
- It's about avoiding negative consequences rather than pursuing positive outcomes
- It's more defensive than Choice B's affirmative support for maintaining success
- The passage doesn't explicitly mention employee morale concerns