Analyse the following passage and provide an appropriate answer for the…
2024
Analyse the following passage and provide an appropriate answer for the questions that follow.
Demography of organisations, also called population ecology is an interesting field. It proposes that organisational mortality processes depend upon the age and size of the organisation, as well as on characteristics of populations and environments. Moreover, there is evidence of an imprinting process -meaning that environmental conditions at certain early phases in an organisation's development have long-term consequences. In particular, organisations subject to intense competition have elevated mortality hazards at all ages. A central theme is structural inertia, the tendency for organisations to respond slowly relative to the speed of environmental change. A central argument holds that the inertia derives from the very characteristics that make organisations favoured actors in modern society in terms of reliability and (formal) accountability. It follows that changes in an organisation's core features are disruptive and increase mortality hazards, at least in the short-run. Research on this subject tends to support this view. The concept of niche provides a framework of relative environmental variations and competition to population dynamics and segmentation. Much empirical work examines the niches of organisational populations in terms of dimensions of social, political, and economic environments. Most research in this field builds on theories of resource partition and of density dependence. Resource-partitioning theory concerns the relationship between increasing market concentration and increasing proliferation of specialists in mature industries. The key implication of this theory concerns the effects of concentration on the viability of specialist organisations (those that seek to exploit a narrow range of resources). The theory of density-dependent organisational evolution synthesizes ecological and institutional processes. It holds that growth in the number of organisations in a population (density) drives processes of social legitimatization and competition that, in turn, shape the vital rates.
“Tata Steel, one of the biggest steel makers in the world, was born in Jamshedpur. The very success of Tata Steel could lead to its failure in the future and hence the challenge for Tata Steel is to recognise its strengths that make it successful in initial conditions and stick to them.”
1. This is a valid conclusion.
2. The conclusion is contrary to the ideas described in the passage.
3. The conclusion is internally contradictory.
- A.
1 only
- B.
2 only
- C.
3 only
- D.
1 and 2
Attempted by 1 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept: judging a statement against a passage
A conclusion drawn about a passage falls into one of three categories: it is a valid conclusion when it follows cleanly from the passage without adding anything unstated; it is contrary to the passage when it directly opposes what the passage argues; and it is internally contradictory when the statement itself asserts two things that cannot both hold, independent of what the passage says.
Applying it to the Tata Steel statement
The passage's core claim: an organisation's success rests on traits — reliability, formal accountability — that also make it slow to change (structural inertia); those same traits can turn into a liability once conditions shift, so past success can seed future failure.
The Tata Steel statement opens by admitting exactly this risk: “the very success of Tata Steel could lead to its failure in the future.”
In the very next clause of the same sentence, it advises Tata Steel to “recognise its strengths that make it successful ... and stick to them” — i.e., change nothing.
Admitting a risk that calls for change, and then recommending no change at all, are two halves of one sentence that cannot both be sound guidance — that is an internal contradiction inside the statement, not a disagreement with the passage.
Ruling out the other readings
“This is a valid conclusion” fails: a valid conclusion cannot contain a self-cancelling instruction, and the recommendation here clashes with the sentence's own opening admission.
“Contrary to the passage” fails: the statement's premise (success can seed future failure) restates the passage's inertia argument rather than opposing it — agreeing with the passage's idea and being sound advice are two separate questions.
“1 and 2” together fails for both of the reasons above at once — the statement cannot simultaneously be a clean conclusion and one that fights the passage's reasoning.
Answer: the conclusion is internally contradictory, which matches “3 only.”