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
First, Create an 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 for the company" |
|
| "many companies are now hiring famous CEOs who...have impeccable qualifications and experience running many different kinds of companies" |
|
Second, Identify Argument Structure
- Main decision: Should the company hire a famous CEO or promote from within?
- Supporting evidence for famous CEO: Industry trend, diverse experience of famous CEOs
- Supporting evidence for internal promotion: Historical success with this approach
- Key tension: Quick revenue generation vs. proven successful strategy
- Overall flow: Decision context → Two options → Evidence for each
Phase 2: Question Analysis & Prethinking
First, Understand What Each Part Asks
We need to select:
- Part 1 (Famous CEO): A principle that would most strongly support hiring a famous CEO
- Part 2 (Promote from within): A principle that would most strongly support internal promotion
These parts ask us to identify general rules that, when applied to this specific situation, would lead to each decision.
Second, Generate Prethinking Based on Question Type
This is asking for principles that strengthen each option:
- What general rule would make hiring a famous CEO the logical choice?
- What general rule would make promoting internally the logical choice?
Third, Develop Specific Prethinking for Each Part
For Famous CEO:
- A principle connecting diverse experience to quick revenue gains
- A principle valuing external perspectives for growth
For Promote from within:
- A principle about maintaining successful strategies
- A principle about the value of company-specific knowledge
Phase 3: Answer Choice Evaluation
Evaluating Each Choice
Choice 1: "CEOs have a responsibility to ensure that the companies they head remain profitable."
- Simple terms: CEOs must keep companies profitable
- For Famous CEO: Weak - doesn't specifically favor external hire
- For Promote from within: Weak - doesn't specifically favor internal promotion
Choice 2: "A company should not dispense with a current strategy unless that strategy has proven to be unsuccessful."
- Simple terms: Don't abandon what's working
- For Famous CEO: Contradicts - would argue against change
- For Promote from within: STRONG - Internal promotion has been successful, so stick with it
Choice 3: "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 - doesn't necessarily favor famous CEOs
- For Promote from within: Moderate - internal candidates likely have industry experience
Choice 4: "A company will often see a quick rise in revenue immediately after hiring a CEO with experience in various industries."
- Simple terms: Diverse experience leads to quick revenue
- For Famous CEO: STRONG - Famous CEOs have "experience running many different kinds of companies" and company wants "revenue quickly"
- For Promote from within: Contradicts - argues for external hire
Choice 5: "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 - might alienate employees
- For Promote from within: Moderate - internal promotion less likely to alienate
The Correct Answers
For Famous CEO: Choice 4
- Directly connects the diverse industry experience that famous CEOs have to the quick revenue generation the company seeks
- Creates a clear logical path: Famous CEO → Varied industry experience → Quick revenue rise
For Promote from within: Choice 2
- Establishes that successful strategies shouldn't be abandoned
- Since promoting from within has been successful, this principle strongly supports continuing that approach
Common Traps to Highlight
Choice 3 might seem attractive for promoting from within, but:
- It's about industry-specific experience, not company-specific experience
- A famous CEO might actually have more industry experience
- It's less definitive than Choice 2's clear support for maintaining successful strategies
Choice 5 might seem to support internal promotion, but:
- It's indirect and based on speculation about employee reactions
- It doesn't create as strong a logical argument as Choice 2
- It focuses on a potential negative rather than a proven positive