Metro Research is moving into a new office space, configured as shown in the Floor Plan, with eight individual offices...
GMAT Multi Source Reasoning : (MSR) Questions
Metro Research is moving into a new office space, configured as shown in the Floor Plan, with eight individual offices (111, 112, 114, 115, 116, 117, 120, and 121) and four cubicles (119A through 119D). Each employee will be assigned exactly one workspace—an office or a cubicle—with no more than one employee per office or cubicle. Supervisors will not be assigned workspace in cubicles. If an employee has an immediate supervisor, the employee's office or cubicle must be adjacent to that supervisor's office.
Based on the information and workspace assignment rules provided, how many employees are there, each of whom could be assigned to office 112?
OWNING THE DATASET
Understanding Source A: Discussion - Office Relocation Planning Document
| Information from Dataset | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Metro Research is moving into a new office space, configured as shown in the Floor Plan, with eight individual offices (111, 112, 114, 115, 116, 117, 120, and 121) and four cubicles (119A through 119D)." |
|
| "Each employee will be assigned exactly one workspace—an office or a cubicle—with no more than one employee per office or cubicle." |
|
| "Supervisors will not be assigned workspace in cubicles." |
|
| "If an employee has an immediate supervisor, the employee's office or cubicle must be adjacent to that supervisor's office." |
|
Summary: This document establishes the rules for assigning Metro Research's employees to their new office space, with key constraints being that supervisors must have offices (not cubicles) and employees must sit adjacent to their immediate supervisors.
Understanding Source B: Table - Employee Organizational Structure
| Information from Dataset | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "The table lists the ten employees at Metro Research and shows each employee's immediate supervisor, if any." |
|
| "The supervisors are also employees, so each supervisor's name appears in both columns." |
|
| Kim, Leila, and Jamal have no supervisors listed |
|
| Ciaran supervises Salena and Elena; Jamal supervises Atticus and Mei; Kim supervises Richard; Leila supervises Pablo and Ciaran |
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Summary: This table reveals Metro Research's 10-person organizational structure where Kim, Leila, and Jamal are top-level employees, and shows that 7 employees must be placed adjacent to their supervisors, creating complex placement constraints when combined with the office assignment rules.
Understanding Source C: Floor Plan - Architectural Layout
- Floor Plan Analysis:
- The floor plan shows Metro Research's space in the northeast corner of a building floor
- Offices (111, 112, 114, 115, 116, 117, 120, 121) form a perimeter arrangement
- Four cubicles (119A-D) are centrally located
- Inference: Each office can be adjacent to multiple other offices depending on wall configuration
- Adjacency Definition for Offices:
- "Two offices are adjacent to each other if and only if they are separated by a common wall"
- Inference: Offices across hallways or diagonally positioned are not adjacent
- Linkage to Source A: This provides the specific definition needed for the adjacency requirement
- Linkage to Source B: This constraint affects placement of the 7 employees who need supervisor adjacency
- Adjacency Definition for Cubicles:
- "cubicles 119A and 119B are adjacent only to office 121, while 119C and 119D are adjacent only to office 120"
- Inference: Employees in cubicles can only have supervisors in offices 120 or 121
- Linkage to Source A: Only supervisors in offices 120 or 121 can have direct reports in cubicles
- Linkage to Source B: At most 2 of the 4 supervisors can have direct reports in cubicles
Summary: This floor plan provides the critical physical constraints for the office assignment puzzle, revealing that cubicle placement is severely limited (only adjacent to offices 120-121) and that Ciaran, who both supervises and is supervised, faces particularly complex placement requirements.
Overall Summary
The Metro Research office assignment puzzle involves placing 10 employees into 12 workspaces (8 offices and 4 cubicles) with three key constraints:
- Supervisors (Kim, Leila, Jamal, and Ciaran) must occupy offices, not cubicles
- Employees must be adjacent to their immediate supervisors, with "adjacent" meaning shared walls for offices
- Cubicles can only be adjacent to offices 120 or 121, severely limiting which supervisors can have direct reports in cubicles
- The most constrained placement is Ciaran, who must be in an office adjacent to both his supervisor (Leila) and his two direct reports (Salena and Elena)
Question Analysis
This problem involves determining which employees can be assigned to office 112 based on workspace assignment rules and floor plan constraints. The key constraint is that office 112 is only adjacent to office 111, creating strict supervisory relationship requirements.
Connecting to Our Analysis
The analysis focuses on the adjacency limitation between offices 112 and 111, and how this impacts the placement of supervisors and their subordinates according to the workspace assignment rules.
Extracting Relevant Findings
Office 112's adjacency to only office 111 creates a fundamental constraint: if a supervisor is placed in 112, all their subordinates must fit in 111, and vice versa. This severely limits placement options based on the number of subordinates each supervisor has. Analysis of each employee reveals that Kim supervises only Richard, making them a viable pair for the 112-111 arrangement. However, supervisors with multiple subordinates (Leila, Jamal, and Ciaran each supervise 2 people) cannot use office 112 because their subordinates cannot all fit in the single adjacent office 111.
Individual Statement Evaluations
Statement 1 Evaluation
- Adjacency Constraint Analysis: Office 112's limitation to only office 111 adjacency creates severe placement restrictions for supervisors with multiple subordinates
- Employee Assessment: Supervisors like Leila, Jamal, and Ciaran who each supervise 2 people cannot be accommodated in office 112 because their subordinates cannot all fit in the single adjacent office 111
- Conclusion: Not viable due to multi-subordinate supervisor constraints
Statement 2 Evaluation
- Kim-Richard Pair Analysis: Kim supervises only Richard, making them the only viable supervisor-subordinate pair for the 112-111 arrangement
- Placement Flexibility: Either Kim could be in 112 with Richard in 111, or Richard could be in 112 with Kim in 111
- Constraint Compatibility: This pair perfectly fits the adjacency limitation since only one subordinate needs accommodation
- Conclusion: Viable option that satisfies all workspace assignment rules
Statement 3 Evaluation
- Multi-Subordinate Constraint: If this involves a supervisor with multiple subordinates, they cannot use office 112 due to the single adjacent office limitation
- Subordinate Placement Issue: Subordinates of multi-subordinate supervisors cannot be in 112 because their supervisors need multiple adjacent spaces
- Conclusion: Not viable due to adjacency constraints
Statement 4 Evaluation
- Systematic Constraint Check: The fundamental limitation remains that office 112 can only accommodate employees whose supervisory relationships fit within the 112-111 adjacent pair
- Supervisory Relationship Analysis: Any arrangement must respect that supervisors need all subordinates in adjacent spaces
- Conclusion: Not viable unless part of the Kim-Richard pairing
Statement 5 Evaluation
- Final Constraint Assessment: Office 112's exclusive adjacency to office 111 eliminates most placement possibilities except for the single supervisor-subordinate pair scenario
- Workspace Rule Compliance: Any employee placed in 112 must have their supervisory relationships fully accommodated in the adjacent office 111
- Conclusion: Not viable due to the restrictive adjacency requirements
Systematic Checking
Examining each employee systematically: Kim (supervises only Richard) could be in 112 with Richard in 111, or Richard could be in 112 with Kim in 111. Supervisors with multiple subordinates cannot be in 112 because their subordinates cannot all fit in office 111. Similarly, subordinates of multi-subordinate supervisors cannot be in 112 because their supervisors need multiple adjacent spaces and cannot be confined to office 111.
Final Answer
2
1
2
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5