In their latest press release, the company's new management

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

In GMAT, you can assume that collective nouns are singular. Check out SC748, SC685, and CR578 (from OG 2018).

[ShivaniS604]

In GMAT, you can assume that collective nouns are singular. Check out SC748, SC685, and CR578 (from OG 2018).

Okk so first we should check if the sentence says anything about the collective noun being singular or plural. Otherwise, we should always assume it as singular and choose an answer according to this. Please correct me if i am wrong.

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

first we should check if the sentence says anything about the collective noun being singular or plural

No, that's not necessary, as collective nouns are always singular on GMAT.

[yo4561]

I realize logically that "its" should refer to company. However, why can't the "its" prefer to the "press release"?

[esledge]

I realize logically that "its" should refer to company. However, why can't the "its" prefer to the "press release"?

Because of meaning: a "press release" can't have "operations." Also, "press release" is just a noun in an opening modifier, whereas "the company's" is a possessive noun modifying the subject in the main clause, so it is a stronger antecedent, so to speak, based on its placement and role.

Also, I think this must be the company/its example I replied to you about on another thread.

[JbhB682]

Hello - in D, can the possessive pronoun (ITS) refer back to a noun that is not in the possessive format ?

"ITS" is a possessive pronoun. The antecedent of the possessive pronoun should be a noun in the possessive format (specifically X's Y)

In option D - "Company" is NOT in the format of X's Y

Hence"ITS" cannot refer to "Company"

Hence I eliminated D

Is this accurate or not a good elimination strategy ?

[esledge]

Hello - in D, can the possessive pronoun (ITS) refer back to a noun that is not in the possessive format ?

A possessive pronoun can indeed refer back to a noun that is not possessive: The cat licked its paws.

You might be remembering that the reverse is not true.
A non-possessive pronoun cannot refer to a possessive noun: The cat's toys were lost under the couch where it could not reach them. (WRONG)

This is wrong because "it" cannot have "the cat's" as the antecedent. The only singular, non-possessive noun in the sentence is "couch"; replacing "it" with "couch" reveals the meaning problem.

"ITS" is a possessive pronoun. The antecedent of the possessive pronoun should be a noun in the possessive format (specifically X's Y)

In option D - "Company" is NOT in the format of X's Y

Hence"ITS" cannot refer to "Company"

Hence I eliminated D

Is this accurate or not a good elimination strategy ?

Here's the problem in (D): "the company" is not a noun at all! It's an adjective! So the "its" could only refer to the singular nouns "press release" or maybe "plan," neither of which make sense.

(D) is like this: The new cat toys were lost under the couch out of its reach. (WRONG)