Question

Imagine that you live on Planet Zong, where the main energy source is a nonrenewable substance called Zong-X. Alternative energy source Zong-Y also exists, but it is not currently well-developed or widely used. If you were the CEO of a company that produced Zong-X, how might you delay the development of Zong-Y and prolong people's usage of Zong-X? A) invent new technologies that use Zong-X B) do your best to convince people that there remains a vast supply of Zong-X still available to exploit C) convince people that Zong-Y was inferior to Zong-X D) convince people that Zong-X was soon going to peak, encouraging people to stock up now E) drastically lower the prices of Zong-X

Answer 1

The answer is option A)

Step-by-step explanation:

Keep in mind that all of these options are inherently correct. Each strategy when adopted will play a part in extending the utilization of Zong X and acting as a barrier towards widespread adoption of Zong Y. Some strategies would work better and as CEO (and in the context of the question) we must select the best option that would have the greatest impact on the objective. Lets look at each option below and then figure out why option A is correct.

Option B: Zong X is already the main energy source. It is not explicitly stated that the reserves are running out. Furthermore, simply trying to convince people that enough of the product is available does not mean that its consumption should be kept ongoing. Zong Y could have better uses (less pollution, eco friendly etc). So this is not the best strategy to adopt.

Option C: this is a good way to prolong the use of Zong X but simple bragging about its superiority is not enough ESPECIALLY if no innovation is brought in and no further uses are explored to ensure that only Zong X should be utilized (this is proposed in Option A only). A company exploiting Zong Y could launch a similar marketing campaign to counter our strategy.

Option D: This might actually work against us in the long term and is focused purely on the short term. As a company you cannot abandon long term planning for short term growth because that means the company wont exist in the future. By virtue of this option, the company claims that Zong X has peaked and there can be no further growth. That would actually create a bigger market and greater focus on the development of Zong Y

Option E: Again this is not the optimal approach and must only be undertaken as a last resort. Currently, there is no stated major competition from Zong Y so there is no reason to lower prices thereby reducing profitability.

Option A is the best course of action. By creating new machines that solely rely on Zong X, you are actually creating greater value and greater demand. Zong Y companies would have to compete by producing comparable machines as well which would require a significant amount of time and investment. This time and investment is already required to explore Zong Y as am alternative source because it is not currently well developed. Therefore, this would significantly prolong the use of Zong X

Answer 2

The answer is A.

Step-by-step explanation:

Option C is wrong because the question already states that Zong-Y is not well developed and can not be substituted for Zong-X.

Option D and E are not the answer because it is not stated that the use of Zong-X is decreasing, the main objective is to prevent the development of Zong-Y.

Option B can be a good solution but only if the longterm results of exploiting the Zong-X supplies are not going to cause any problems because otherwise people would not support it.

Option A is the best option to delay the development and use of Zong-Y because if people have more ways that they can make use of Zong-X, they will do so because it is the main energy source and Zong-Y is not fully developed yet. This will also lower the attention to Zong-Y, slowing down it's advancement.

I hope this answer helps.