Read the passage and answer the questions:
The highest level of decision makers or policymakers perform quinary activities. These are subtly different from the knowledge-based industries that the quaternary sector in general deals with. Quinary activities are services that focus on the creation, re-arrangement and interpretation of new and existing ideas; data interpretation and the use and evaluation of new technologies. Often referred to as ‘gold collar’ professions, they represent another subdivision of the tertiary sector representing special and highly paid skills of senior business executives, government officials, research scientists, financial and legal consultants, etc. Their importance in the structure of advanced economies far outweighs their numbers. Outsourcing has resulted in the opening up of a large number of call centers in India, China, Eastern Europe, Israel, the Philippines and Costa Rica. It has created new jobs in these countries. Outsourcing is coming to those countries where cheap and skilled workers are available. These are also out migrating countries. With the work available through outsourcing, the migration in these countries may come down. Outsourcing countries are facing resistance from job-seeking youths in their respective countries. The comparative advantage is the main reason for continuing outsourcing. New trends in quinary services include knowledge processing outsourcing (KPO) and ‘home shoring’, the latter as an alternative to outsourcing. The KPO industry is distinct from Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) as it involves highly skilled workers. It is information-driven knowledge outsourcing. KPO enables companies to create additional business opportunities. Examples of KPOs include research and development (R and D) activities, e-learning, business research, intellectual property (IP) research, legal profession and the banking sector.
Why the importance of quinary activities in the structure of advanced economies far outweighs their numbers?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Because quinary activities are performed by the highest level of decision makers or policy makers.
Option (1) Because the maximum number of the workforce is engaged in it. — Incorrect. Their importance far outweighs their numbers, so only a few people do this work.
Option (2) Because quinary activities involves blue collar professionals. — Incorrect. Blue collar workers are production workers; quinary jobs are ‘gold collar’ professions.
Option (3) Because quinary activities do not require the highly paid skills of professionals from various fields. — Incorrect. They rest on the special and highly paid skills of senior professionals.
Option (4) Because quinary activities are performed by the highest level of decision makers or policy makers. — Correct. The passage opens by saying that the highest level of decision makers or policy makers perform quinary activities. A policy of a government or the plan of a large company, once decided at the top, is carried out by thousands of workers in every other sector. So a small group steers the whole economy, and its importance far outweighs its numbers.
Note: This passage is taken from NCERT’s section ‘Quinary Activities’ in the chapter ‘Tertiary and Quaternary Activities’ (Fundamentals of Human Geography), almost word for word. The ‘new’ passage on gold-collar decision makers was the book’s own Quinary Activities section in disguise. Read each chapter line by line, and these five marks are already yours.
NCERT (2025-26): “Quinary Activities The highest level of decision makers or policy makers perform quinary activities. These are subtly different from the knowledge based industries that the quinary sector in general deals with. Quinary activities are services that focus on the creation, re-arrangement and interpretation of new and existing ideas; data interpretation and the use and evaluation of new technologies. Often referred to as ‘gold collar’ professions, they represent another subdivision of the tertiary sector representing special and highly paid skills of senior business executives, government officials, research scientists, financial and legal consultants, etc. Their importance in the structure of advanced economies far outweighs their numbers.” |