Question:hard

Directions: Read the following caselet and answer the question that follows.

According to recent reports, CEOs of large organisations are paid more than CEOs of small organisations. It does not seem fair that just because a CEO is heading a big organisation, he or she should be paid more. A CEO's salary should be tied to performance, especially growth in sales and profits. Big organisations are of course more complex to run than small ones, but every CEO puts in a large amount of energy and time managing the organisation. There is no proof that CEOs of big organisations face more stress than CEOs of small organisations. All CEOs should be paid according to their performance.

Which of the following, if true, would strengthen the speaker's argument?

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Look for the option that explains the pay gap through something other than the size of the company, such as scarcity of the right candidate.
Updated On: Jul 10, 2026
  • CEOs of small organisations come from good educational backgrounds.
  • CEOs of big organisations are very difficult to hire.
  • A few big family businesses have CEOs from within the family.
  • Big organisations contribute more towards the moral development of society.
Show Solution

The Correct Option is B

Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
The speaker's conclusion is that CEO salary should be linked to performance, not organisation size. A strengthening statement must add a reason that supports paying by merit rather than by size.

Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
Check each option against a simple test: does it explain the pay gap through something other than size, which helps the speaker, or does it explain the pay gap through size or an unrelated factor, which hurts the speaker?

Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
"Good educational background" can apply to small-company CEOs too and does not distinguish the two groups, so it neither helps nor directly strengthens the speaker's stand.
"Family businesses have CEOs from within the family" explains high pay through ownership and family ties, a reason completely outside performance, so it works against the speaker.
"Big organisations contribute more towards moral development of society" gives yet another reason for high pay that has nothing to do with performance, again working against the speaker.
"CEOs of big organisations are very difficult to hire" says the market for such CEOs is thin, so companies pay more to attract someone capable enough to do the job well. This ties the pay gap to capability and scarcity of the right person, a performance-linked reason, not a size-linked one.

Step 4: Final Answer:
The option that ties higher pay to scarcity of capable candidates, not to the size of the company, is the one that strengthens the speaker's performance-based argument. This corresponds to option (BB).
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