Despite a company's strong market performance and innovative product development, maintaining investor confidence in volatile economic conditions requ...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
Despite a company's strong market performance and innovative product development, maintaining investor confidence in volatile economic conditions requires executives to continuously _____ stakeholder trust through transparent financial reporting and strategic communication.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
jeopardize
fortify
monitor
randomize
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Despite a company's strong market performance and innovative product development," |
|
| "maintaining investor confidence in volatile economic conditions requires executives to continuously" |
|
| [MISSING WORD] |
|
| "stakeholder trust through transparent financial reporting and strategic communication." |
|
Part B: Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Even successful companies must actively work to maintain investor confidence during uncertain economic times.
Argument Flow: The sentence contrasts the company's strong performance with the ongoing challenge of maintaining investor confidence during volatile conditions, then explains that this requires executives to take continuous action with stakeholder trust through transparency and communication.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
This is a fill-in-the-blank question asking us to choose the best logical connector. The answer must create the right relationship between what comes before and after the blank.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- The word must describe what executives do to stakeholder trust
- Given the context of maintaining confidence during volatile times, the action should be positive and strengthening
- It must work grammatically as a verb after "continuously"
- The method (transparent reporting and communication) suggests building or reinforcing trust
- So the right answer should be a verb that means to strengthen, build up, or reinforce stakeholder trust
jeopardize
✗ Incorrect
- Jeopardize means to put something at risk or endanger it
- This is the opposite of what's needed - executives want to maintain confidence, not risk losing it
- What trap this represents: Students might be confused by the word "volatile" and think it refers to something negative executives are doing, rather than describing the economic conditions
fortify
✓ Correct
- Fortify means to strengthen, reinforce, or make more secure
- This perfectly matches the context - executives need to strengthen trust during uncertain times
- The method of transparent reporting supports this strengthening action
monitor
✗ Incorrect
- Monitor means to observe, track, or keep watch over
- While executives might monitor trust levels, this doesn't capture the active strengthening needed
- Monitoring is passive observation, not the active maintenance required
randomize
✗ Incorrect
- Randomize means to make random or arrange without pattern
- This makes no logical sense in the context of building stakeholder trust
- Trust-building requires consistent, strategic action, not random behavior