#9 - A manager cannot extract the best performance from

[tanushreebansal]

Hi! I had a little trouble understanding why C is correct. The stimulus didn't mention anything about the manager being effective at his role. I didn't see a link between a manager making the employees perform well and the manager performing well himself. I thought both B and E were appealing as answer choices because they addressed issues that the stimulus talks about. Can you explain those as well? Thank you!

[AthenaDalton]

Great question!

The stimulus implies that a manager's role is to "extract the best performance from employees." You have to read between the lines, but there's an implication that managers should try and "achieve" the "best possible performance" from their team -- in other words, an effective manager is a manager that has achieved the goal of maximizing his employees' performance.

Answer choice (C) describes a situation where a manager can be most effective in his role by relinquishing some control. This fits with the stimulus's statement that the best way for a manager to get top performance from his employees is to delegate responsibility to them.

Answer choice (B) isn't on point because it stretches the facts of the stimulus farther than we can reasonably take them. The stimulus tells us that employees perform best when they have responsibility for big decisions, not when they are chasing the promise of bonuses or job security. This increased responsibility is not the same as increased prestige -- it's described as "wanting to do a good job for its own sake." It's a bit of a stretch to equate the concepts of wanting to a good job for intrinsic reasons and wanting to achieve greater prestige. In any case, we don't have enough information from the stimulus to conclude that it's "often the case" that prestige is a bigger motivating factor than job security. We're given one example where employees may prefer responsibility to promises of job security. That's not enough to make a blanket statement about what's often the case.

Answer choice (E) isn't on point because it appears to conflict with the facts presented in the stimulus. Answer choice (E) says that businesses work best when they harness individuals' self-interest to benefit the company. However, the stimulus tells us that employees are most motivated not be bonuses or job security, but by responsibility over big decisions at work. An employee who seeks what's in their own best self-interest would be motivated by bonuses and promises of job security, but that's not what the stimulus describes. The stimulus says that employees should "want to do a good job for its own sake" -- not just for the financial rewards.

I hope this helps clarify things for you! Good luck studying.

[deck1134]

I chose answer choice E for this question because it seemed more precise. While C is true, it does not seem to link clearly to the stimulus. How should I think about this question? I feel like a fool for missing it.

[Malila Robinson]

Hi deck1134,
Ensuring that a manager achieves his/her/their goal is the focus of this question.
Answer C explains how the manager could reach the goal of extracting the best performance out of workers by giving up a bit of power to allow workers to take over jobs that has usually been relegated to management positions. This makes workers feel more responsible for management level outcomes and tends to encourage them to perform to higher standards.
Answer E seems to weaken the argument. Self interest would include threats of termination and financial reward, but the stimulus says those don't work.
Hope that helps!
-Malila

[SwanQueen]

Hello!

What question type would this be?

I thought this is a Principle question type for sure. However, would this be considered Principle - Parallel? If so, would the latter only encapsulate that the principle must be paralleled, but not the structure of the argument (which would otherwise be Parallel - M.O.R)?

Thank you in advance

[Adam Tyson]

We classified this one as a form of Must Be True—Principle, SwanQueen, because the answer choice is supported by (illustrated by) the stimulus. Parallel Principle is typically where the stimulus illustrates a principle, and the correct answer illustrates the same principle. The answer is not itself the principle, but it follows the same rules or structure as the stimulus. That also means the best approach to a Parallel Principle question is the Test of Abstraction, wherein you identify that underlying structure, devoid of details, and then find the answer that dresses up that same structure with different details.

[cacao825]

Someone help me... I understand that C is the answer and I chose answer C. But during the test I eliminated answer E because I thought that we can't assume that business "works best" just because of best performance by employees. But upon reading your explanations as to why E is incorrect, I don't quite understand the reasoning that "self-interest" includes threats of termination or financial reward. I thought the part in the stimulus that says "employees must come to do a good job for its own sake" implied self-interest in E. I guess I'm getting the definition of "self-interest" wrong in mind... Could someone help me clarify this point for me?

[Adam Tyson]

"Self-interest" in this case means doing what is best for yourself, cacao825. That can mean a lot of different things, whether it's about avoiding pain or punishment, improving your health or well-being, attaining greater wealth, or improving your social status or relationships.

The stimulus is not about employees doing what is best for themselves, but doing what is best for the company - best performance. It may be that some employees also get some personal benefits from doing better at work, like getting bonuses or feeling a greater sense of personal accomplishment, but perhaps not. My mental health might be improved if I slacked off at work sometimes. My relationships might be better if I left work early now and again, or didn't bring any work home with me. Self-interest is just not the issue here, and that is the biggest problem with answer E.

I think it's fair to say that business does work best only when employees are giving their best performance, so that part really didn't kill that answer for me very convincingly.