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QuestionsThe Pyramid Principle

Single choice · #497

In a customer churn review meeting, Xiao Zheng categorized the reasons why long-standing clients did not renew into three groups: product issues, service issues, and after-sales issues. The supervisor reviewed records and found that many clients complained about both slow response and difficult returns/exchanges, with the same record fitting into both 'service' and 'after-sales' categories. Which of the following evaluations is most accurate?

Show answer & explanation

Answer: A

  • AThe categories overlap: after-sales is one part of service, so they should be re-divided using a single standard✓ Correct. 'After-sales' is subordinate to 'service', and the boundaries between the two are unclear, so the same record can fall into both categories. Classification must use a single standard; dividing by pre-sales, during-sales, and after-sales phases eliminates the overlap.
  • BThe classification is fine; just reorder the three categories by importance from high to low✗ Wrong. This reflects the misconception that a classification error is a sorting error. Logical ordering only determines sequence within a group; it cannot make overlapping categories mutually exclusive. No amount of reordering eliminates the overlap.
  • CThe trouble is having too few categories; adding logistics, staffing, and other categories will eliminate the overlap✗ Wrong. This reflects the misconception that more categories mean more clarity. The overlap stems from inconsistent classification standards. Adding categories without first clarifying the subordinate relationship only creates more new, poorly defined overlaps.
  • DEach group is supported by client records, so the evidence is complete, and the structure is acceptable for direct presentation✗ Wrong. This reflects the misconception that having evidence means the structure is sound. Each group having facts only shows the content is supported; it does not fix unclear category boundaries. The overlapping structure still causes listeners to double-count and lose focus.
Explanation:The criterion for overlapping classification is whether the same content can fall into more than one category. 'After-sales' is itself a component of 'service', and the boundary between them is unclear; a single record can fall into both categories. This matches the error of overlapping 'market issues' and 'customer issues' in the lecture notes, with the root cause being inconsistent classification standards. The fix is to select a single standard (e.g., by stages: pre-sales, during-sales, after-sales) and re-divide accordingly. Reordering cannot solve boundary issues; adding categories only introduces new overlaps; each group being supported by client records only shows that evidence exists, not that the classification is adequate.
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