Shiraki: Overtime work is a bad response to situations where orders from clients exceed normal production capacity: overtime is expensive,...
GMAT Critical Reasoning : (CR) Questions
Shiraki: Overtime work is a bad response to situations where orders from clients exceed normal production capacity: overtime is expensive, and the quality of work declines as the proportion of overtime work increases. Jackson: The alternative-increasing basic capacity-has the same disadvantages, because inexperienced staff must be hired and experienced production staff must be reassigned to train newly hired workers.
Assuming that both of the positions above are correct, clarification of which of the following issues would be most important in deciding which of the two alternatives to choose?
Passage Analysis:
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| Overtime work is a bad response to situations where orders from clients exceed normal production capacity: overtime is expensive, and the quality of work declines as the proportion of overtime work increases. |
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| The alternative-increasing basic capacity-has the same disadvantages, because inexperienced staff must be hired and experienced production staff must be reassigned to train newly hired workers. |
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Argument Flow:
This passage presents a classic debate between two alternatives for handling excess client orders. Shiraki argues against overtime (expensive + quality drops), while Jackson argues that increasing basic capacity has the same problems (hiring costs + training reduces experienced worker productivity + new worker inefficiency).
Main Conclusion:
There is no main conclusion in this passage - it's a setup presenting two opposing viewpoints that both identify problems with each approach to handling excess orders.
Logical Structure:
This isn't a traditional argument with premises supporting a conclusion. Instead, it's a balanced presentation of two positions: Position A (Shiraki) identifies problems with overtime, and Position B (Jackson) identifies equivalent problems with the alternative solution. Both use the same logical structure: 'This approach is problematic because it leads to higher costs and quality issues.'
Prethinking:
Question type:
Evaluate - We need to find what additional information would help us decide between overtime vs. increasing capacity when both have similar disadvantages
Precision of Claims
Both speakers agree their respective solutions have cost and quality problems, but we don't know the magnitude, duration, or specific nature of these problems
Strategy
Since both alternatives have similar disadvantages (cost and quality issues), we need to identify what factors would help us compare them meaningfully. We should look for scenarios that would reveal important differences between the two approaches - like timing, severity, duration, or reversibility of the problems
This directly addresses the core decision factor between the two alternatives. If the elevated orders are temporary, then overtime (despite its costs and quality issues) might be preferable because you avoid the long-term commitment of hiring new staff. If the orders are chronic (ongoing), then increasing basic capacity makes more sense because the initial investment in training pays off over time. This information would be most important in deciding between the two approaches since it determines which set of disadvantages is more acceptable given the timeframe.
This asks about past usage of overtime when orders exceeded capacity. While this might provide some historical context, it doesn't help us decide between the current alternatives. Knowing what was done before doesn't address whether overtime or increased capacity is better for the current situation. The question asks what would help us decide which alternative to choose, not what was chosen previously.
This focuses on supplier capacity for raw materials and fuels. While suppliers need to support increased production, this is a logistical consideration that applies to both alternatives (overtime and increased capacity). Whether we use overtime or hire new workers, we still need adequate supplies. Since this doesn't help differentiate between the two approaches, it's not the most important decision factor.
This introduces a third alternative - subcontracting work off-site. The question specifically asks us to choose between overtime and increasing capacity, assuming both positions about these alternatives are correct. Bringing in subcontracting doesn't help us evaluate the given alternatives but rather suggests avoiding the choice altogether.
This asks about optimizing labor-saving machinery in production phases. Like choice D, this introduces a different approach to the problem rather than helping us choose between overtime and increased capacity. It's about improving efficiency rather than deciding between the two alternatives that both speakers have identified as having disadvantages.