Setup and Rule Diagrams

[Paul Marsh]

For this setup, we know that there are only 2 possible numeric distributions in the game: 1 president, 2 managers, and 2 technicians; or 1 president, 1 manager, and 3 technicians. We'll refer to these distributions as 1-2-2 and 1-1-3. We know that in the 1-2-2 distribution, each manager supervises exactly one technician (since each manager has to supervise at least one technician and there are only two technicians to choose from). We also know that F must be a technician, and that G must be a manager or president (if we're in the 1-2-2 setup, G must be the president; if we're in the 1-1-3 setup G can be either the manager or the president).

Those inferences (especially the numeric distribution one) will help us a lot for all questions 1-6. I'll have posted a short explanation of all of those questions individually here: https://forum.powerscore.com/lsat/viewforum.php?f=385

[gabmarr]

How do we conclude each manager can only supervise one employee? The rules mention each manager supervises “at least” one employee, not “exactly one”.

[Paul Marsh]

Hey gabmarr! So I think you're asking about why, in the 1-2-2 distribution, each manager can only supervise one employee. (Because remember that in the 1-1-3 distribution, the manager can certainly supervise more than one employee! For example if G is the sole manager, she of course will supervise 2 technicians per our rules.)

Now, why is it that each manager in the 1-2-2 distribution only supervise one employee? Well, like you said, we know from Rule #3 that each manager has to supervise at least one employee. And we also know from the Setup that in this company, managers are only allowed to supervise technicians. And in this distribution we have 2 managers and only 2 technicians for them to supervise. So if the first manager supervised both technicians, there wouldn't be any technicians left for the second manager to supervise! That would violate Rule #3. Same thing if the second manager supervised both technicians, there wouldn't be anyone left for the first manager to supervise. (It's like this: if you and I both are going to eat at least one apple, and there's only two apples, then that means we both get exactly one apple!) So in this 1-2-2 distribution, each manager supervises exactly one technician.

Hope that helps!