Question: Fill in the blanks with the most appropriate option that follows:
Peter has suggested to me that the _____________ of highly systematic and _____________ planning techniques may have led to a substantial _____________ in firms’ notions of what is likely to happen in the future, and thus to a _____________ in the incidence of mistakes, especially on the part of the _____________modern corporations.
“Exact” does not make for a favourable adjective as far as describing the “planning techniques” is concerned. This eliminates options 1, 2 and 5.