Economist: Every business strives to increase its productivity, for this increases profits for the owners and the likelihood that the business will survive. But Conclusion not all efforts to increase productivity are beneficial to the business as a whole. Support Often, attempts to increase productivity decrease the number of employees, which clearly harms the dismissed employees as well as the sense of security of the retained employees.
The economist starts by observing that every business strives to increase productivity, because doing so increases profits and the likelihood of survival. This opening sentence is context. It sets the stage by explaining why businesses pursue productivity gains, but it's not what the economist is trying to prove to us.
The economist's argument begins with the pivot word "But." After "But," the economist asserts that not all efforts to increase productivity are beneficial to the business as a whole. This is the economist's main conclusion.
How do we know? Because the next sentence supports it: attempts to increase productivity often decrease the number of employees, which harms both the dismissed employees and the remaining employees' sense of security. The last sentence supports the conclusion by giving us a concrete example of how productivity efforts can fail to benefit the business as a whole.
Here's how the full structure breaks down:
- Context: Every business strives to increase productivity because it increases profits and survival odds.
- Conclusion: Not all efforts to increase productivity benefit the business as a whole.
- Premise: Attempts to increase productivity often reduce the number of employees, which harms dismissed employees and undermines the sense of security of retained employees.
The main conclusion is the claim that not all efforts to increase productivity benefit the business as a whole. We should look for an answer that restates this idea.
Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main conclusion of the economist's argument?
If an action taken to secure the survival of a business fails to enhance the welfare of the business's employees, that action cannot be good for the business as a whole.
You might be drawn to (A) because it seems to articulate the reasoning behind the economist's conclusion. Even if we think (A) captures something the economist might believe, it's not the main point the economist is trying to establish. The economist's conclusion is narrower: some productivity measures aren't good for the business as a whole. (A) reads more like an underlying principle than a restatement of the conclusion.
Some measures taken by a business to increase productivity fail to be beneficial to the business as a whole.
This restates the economist's main conclusion. The economist says "not all efforts to increase productivity are beneficial to the business as a whole," which means the same thing as "some measures taken by a business to increase productivity fail to be beneficial to the business as a whole." Both are saying that at least some productivity efforts don't help the business overall.
Only if the employees of a business are also its owners will the interests of the employees and owners coincide, enabling measures that will be beneficial to the business as a whole.
The economist never discusses ownership structure or the idea of employees being owners. So this can't be the main conclusion.
There is no business that does not make efforts to increase its productivity.
This restates the first sentence of the stimulus, which is context. The author isn't trying to prove to us that every business makes efforts to increase its productivity.
Decreasing the number of employees in a business undermines the sense of security of retained employees.
(E) restates part of the last sentence of the stimulus, which functions as a premise supporting the conclusion. If you think (E) is the conclusion, ask yourself: what other line in the stimulus is offered to prove that decreasing employees undermines the sense of security of retained employees? There isn't one. The economist simply asserts this as a fact and uses it to support the broader point that not all productivity efforts benefit the business as a whole.
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