Question

2
average number of committees involved in company long-term planning
operational committees ■strategic committees
examining a large group of corporations,
business management experts lourdes cifuentes,
tabitha burrows, and jaswant sodhi analyzed the
number of operational and strategic committees
engaged in company long-term planning. the
team says the results indicate that throughout
the years studied, there was an increasing trend
among companies to develop specific strategies in
long-term planning.
which choice best describes data from the graph
that support the experts conclusion?
a) the average numbers of operational and
strategic committees involved in long-term
planning remained consistent from the 2005-
2009 period to the 2015-2019 period.
b) the average number of operational
committees involved in long-term planning
was highest in the 2010-2014 period.
c) the average number of strategic committees
involved in long-term planning was higher
than the average number of operational
committees involved in long-term planning
throughout each period studied.
d) the average number of strategic committees
involved in long-term planning increased
over each period studied.

Explanation:

First, identify the experts' conclusion: there is an increasing trend among companies to develop specific strategies in long-term planning, which relates to strategic committees. Then analyze each option against the bar graph data:

• Option A: Incorrect, as numbers did not stay consistent (strategic committees rose).
• Option B: Incorrect, operational committees were highest in 2005-2009? No, 2010-2014 and 2015-2019 have same lower numbers, so this does not support the strategy-focused conclusion.
• Option C: Incorrect, while true for each period, it does not show an increasing trend in strategic focus.
• Option D: Correct, the average number of strategic committees goes from ~3.5 (2005-2009) to ~4.5 (2010-2014) to ~7 (2015-2019), which is a clear increasing trend matching the experts' conclusion about more focus on strategic long-term planning.

Answer:

D) The average number of strategic committees involved in long-term planning increased over each period studied.