Mr. Blatt: Expert consultants are sought after by management because they help executives make better decisions. That...

Irina on July 15, 2019

@Lizzie,
We are looking for an answer choice that would support Ms. Fring's position over Mr. Blatt's position. Let's consider what each of them is arguing.

Mr. Blatt is saying that expert consultants are sought after by management because they help executives make better decisions, and this fact justifies their high fees. Mr. Fring is saying that expert consultants help executives avoid responsibility, and the more they cost, the more they can be blamed when things go wrong.

Let's consider each of the answer choices.

(A) supports Mr. Blatt's position, an expert consultant in this scenario helps the company to make a better business decision;

(B) is irrelevant, we are only interested in the purpose of expert consultants;

(C) supports Mr. Fring's decision and is the correct answer choice. Mr. Fring directly ties the value of expert consultant to their fees - "the more they cost, the more they can be blamed", whereas Mr. Blatt merely justifies the high cost of expert consultants but does not establish direct correlation between their value and the fees. In this scenario, if Mr. Blatt is right, an expert consulting firm that reduces its fees would see its business grow, because its value to the management is still equally high even though their fees are now lower. The fact that the opposite happens suggests that Mr. Fring is right, and their services are no longer as valuable to the management.

(D) support Mr. Blatt's position. If the fees are based on the savings resulting from consultant's advice, the primary purpose of the expert consultant is to help executives make better business decisions.

(E) is irrelevant. The merits of a specific consultant's advice are not at issue here.

Let me know if this makes sense and if you have any further questions.