GMAT Focus EditionVerbal ReasoningMedium
A company is considering whether to invest in a new automated customer service system. Proponents argue that the system will reduce costs by replacing human agents and improve service efficiency. Opponents, however, claim that customers prefer interacting with human agents and that the automated system will lead to decreased customer satisfaction. Which of the following is an assumption on which the opponents' argument relies?
- AThe automated system will be able to handle a wider range of customer inquiries than human agents.
- BA decrease in customer satisfaction will negatively impact the company's profitability.
- CThe company's current customer satisfaction levels are already very high.
- DThe cost savings from the automated system will not be sufficient to offset potential losses from decreased customer satisfaction.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. A decrease in customer satisfaction will negatively impact the company's profitability.
The opponents argue that the automated system will lead to 'decreased customer satisfaction'. For this decrease to be a *valid argument against* the system, it must be assumed that decreased customer satisfaction is a negative outcome for the company, typically by impacting profitability. If customer satisfaction doesn't matter to profitability, then their argument loses its weight.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. This is a potential advantage of the automated system, which would weaken, not support, the opponents' argument.
- C. Current satisfaction levels are irrelevant to the claim that a *new system* will *decrease* satisfaction and that this decrease is problematic.
- D. This is a conclusion drawn from the assumption in B, not the assumption itself. The opponents assume that satisfaction *matters* before they can weigh its loss against cost savings.
Unstated Assumption
An unstated belief or premise that must be true for an argument's conclusion to logically follow from its stated premises.
- Often links premise to conclusion.
- If false, the argument crumbles.
- Implicit, not explicitly stated.
Memory trick: An assumption is the hidden bridge, if it falls, the argument's on a ledge!