PrepTest 105, Section 2, Question 3
Manager: Our new computer network, the purpose of(42 more words not shown)
The manager's argument assumes which(4 more words not shown)
- AThe monetary value(16 more words not shown)
- BThe monetary value(20 more words not shown)
- CA daytime installation(21 more words not shown)
- DOnce the network(19 more words not shown)
- EMost of the(15 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
The installation bill isn't the only cost. If putting in the network during the day interrupts employees, the company may lose valuable work. Saving on the installer could cost more elsewhere.
My first thought is to use a time when nobody is working—perhaps a weekend. But the manager gives us a comparison between daytime disruption and higher nighttime charges. Within that comparison, how much is the lost work worth?
Suppose daytime installation costs $2,000 and nighttime installation costs $5,000. Choosing daytime saves $3,000 on installation. If the disruption costs $10,000 in lost productivity, daytime is the expensive choice overall. If it costs only $500, daytime saves money overall.
What we’re looking for
The assumption question asks what the manager needs for this money-saving recommendation. The value of the lost productivity must be less than the extra charge for nighttime installation. We need to compare the loss with the difference between the two bills, not just with the entire nighttime bill.
Working the answers
- A
This compares the equipment's value with the nighttime installation charge. That's the wrong pair of amounts. Whether the network equipment is worth a little or a lot, the decision still turns on the cost of daytime disruption compared with the extra nighttime charge. A leaves the lost work out entirely.
- BCorrect
This makes the total-cost comparison the manager needs. Any productivity lost during daytime installation is worth less than the additional amount charged for nighttime installation. So avoiding the nighttime premium saves more than the daytime disruption costs. If the productivity loss instead exceeded that premium, the recommendation would undermine its own stated purpose of saving money.
- C
Crew size and duration could affect a job's cost, but we already have the relevant fact about the installation charges: nighttime costs more. The manager doesn't need the crews to be the same size or the daytime work to take no longer. A larger daytime crew could still charge less. What remains missing is the value of the disrupted employees' work.
- D
The network need not improve most employees' productivity immediately for daytime installation to be the cheaper option. It might take time to learn the system under either installation schedule. This doesn't supply the comparison between the two options' costs, and immediate gains aren't required for the manager's particular recommendation.
- E
This could help make daytime disruption less costly, but it isn't necessary. Even if most employees couldn't work during installation, the value of that lost work could still be smaller than the nighttime premium. Conversely, a few employees being disrupted could be very expensive. The number who keep working doesn't settle the financial comparison.
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