ARGUMENT
The following appeared as part of an article in a magazine on lifestyles.
"Two years ago, City L was listed 14th in an annual survey that ranks cities according to the quality of life that can be enjoyed by those living in them. This information will enable people who are moving to the state in which City L is located to confidently identify one place, at least, where schools are good, housing is affordable, people are friendly, the environment is safe, and the arts flourish."
Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion.
My Essay
The author's argument that information provided two years ago by an annual survey is still valid and can be used as a basis for judgement for people who are moving to the state in which city L is located is flawed. In drawing this conclusion, the author not only fails to provide relevant facts of other cities in the state but also fails to consider the change that was witnessed over the past two years in the state. This argument is thus unconvincing for several reasons, it is a logical flaw where the author misrepresents factual data of city L that was valid two years ago to convince people about the status of the other cities in the state as of today.
First of all, the annual survey conducted doesn't cite a proper reference as to who or by which organisation was the survey conducted nor cites the factors taken into consideration for ranking the cities in the state and therefore is a questionable assumption that the survey was done in a right manner and has taken into account all factors that are relevant in order to differenciate and rank the cities. Furthermore, the survey reveals that that a quality life that can be enjoyed by those already living in them. However, this might not hold true for the migrants who wish to settle either in City L or other cities in that state.
Secondly, the author assumes that over the past two years not much change has been witnessed by the city as well as the state, and thus the survey conducted still holds valid and would provide a reasonable basis for migrants to base their decision on. It seems equally reasonable to assume that as city L was listed 14th in an annual survey, many people wished to migrate to the state in which city L was located. This would not only increase the population but also cause a change in the facts that would be true today. As the population has increased it would have also driven up costs of basic necessities, housing and living as well as school fees.
Finally inspite of all supportive assumptions being true, the conclusion may still not be valid. The author fails to consider the conditions prevalent in other cities of the state as well as other factors that could hampen the decision of moving to a city in the state by a potential migrant. For example, the migrant might find a safe enviroment as well as the above mentioned facts, but as the population has already increased vastly, he might not be able to find a job. The schools might not have a seat to offer to his children and even if he finds a potential school, the child to teacher ratio might be higher that expected and thus not be fruitful for the decision made by him.
In sum, the authors illogical argument is based on several unsupported premised and unsubstantiated assumptions that render his conclusion invalid. The argument could be strengthened if the author provides information substantiating relevant facts along with figures, changes that have occured over the past two years, as well as a comparitive analysis of other cities in the state to state L, with regards to the facts mentioned. Thus, he would have to largely restructure his argument, fix the flaws in his logic, clearly explicate his assumptions and provide evidentarty support, Without these things his poorly reasoned argument will likely concince few people
Issue
"The presence of a competitor is always beneficial to a company. Competition forces a company to change itself in ways that improve its practices."
Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.
The issue of a competitor prevailing is always benefical to a company is a very contentious one. On one hand competition might not always be beneficial to a company when it comes to increasing profits as they are forced to keep prices at a comparable level to the prices offered by the competitor company. On the other hand it might be beneficial to both the companies to not only broaden their product base offered to customers, but also be on the lookout for developement of new products as well as advancements to the current product base. However, in the final analysis, I believe that the presence of a competitor is not always beneficial to a company for the reasons cited below.
The chief reason for my view is that in order to meet customer expectations, companies have to constantly study the desires and requirement of its customers. They have to not only bring out new products and advance its current product base, but also keep the products cost relatively low. For example, Reliance Mobile came into the service providers for mobile connections. They brought about a tremendous change by offering calls at a very low rate compared to its competitors Airtel. Airtel initially had monopoly in the market and had to reduce the call cost in line with that offered by Reliance. Moreover, by the time the change had taken place, Reliance had already captured more than half of Airtel's customers and left Airtel in the game of a seious mind play.
Another reason for my view is that customers tend to switch products frequently, look out for new products and also compare costs while selecting their product. Specifically if a new product has been lauched at a relatively low cost, customers tend to flock the market for that particular product. The company might have offered such low prices not only to showcase its new launch and offer a discount but also to gain customers from the competitors customer base and therefore has offered it at a price where only its fixed costs are able to be covered. The result is not only a loss to the company as its variable cost wasn't passed on to the customer, but also the competitor who will bring out a similiar product and cause a loss in sales for the other company's product.
Some may argue that the existence of a competitor not only helps companies increase their product base but also creates jobs for a lot of people. Yet, this is invalid for the beneficial of a company who will look to keep costs low while advancing its product base. Others might cite that the existence of competitors, helps companies provide quality products at the right price and also helps in the improvement of technology used by such companies in generating more products at a much lower rate. However, the existence of competitors is also known by employers, and the better sound company may take the best employees from the competitos company by offering more incentives and a better pay structure.
In sum I concur that the presence of a competitor though has its advantages such as increasing product base, offering better products, wider range of services and satisfying its customers, it might not always be beneficial to a company because of factors such as competing for a similiar product at a lower cost, lowering quality of its products to decrease the cost to be in line with a competitors product cost as well as the cost invloved in training its emplyees to use new echnology to generate better quality products at a lower rate and in turn the employee gets hired by the competitor company for a better wage structure. Thus, always the presence of a competitor isn't beneficial.
The following appeared as part of an article in a magazine on lifestyles.
"Two years ago, City L was listed 14th in an annual survey that ranks cities according to the quality of life that can be enjoyed by those living in them. This information will enable people who are moving to the state in which City L is located to confidently identify one place, at least, where schools are good, housing is affordable, people are friendly, the environment is safe, and the arts flourish."
Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion.
My Essay
The author's argument that information provided two years ago by an annual survey is still valid and can be used as a basis for judgement for people who are moving to the state in which city L is located is flawed. In drawing this conclusion, the author not only fails to provide relevant facts of other cities in the state but also fails to consider the change that was witnessed over the past two years in the state. This argument is thus unconvincing for several reasons, it is a logical flaw where the author misrepresents factual data of city L that was valid two years ago to convince people about the status of the other cities in the state as of today.
First of all, the annual survey conducted doesn't cite a proper reference as to who or by which organisation was the survey conducted nor cites the factors taken into consideration for ranking the cities in the state and therefore is a questionable assumption that the survey was done in a right manner and has taken into account all factors that are relevant in order to differenciate and rank the cities. Furthermore, the survey reveals that that a quality life that can be enjoyed by those already living in them. However, this might not hold true for the migrants who wish to settle either in City L or other cities in that state.
Secondly, the author assumes that over the past two years not much change has been witnessed by the city as well as the state, and thus the survey conducted still holds valid and would provide a reasonable basis for migrants to base their decision on. It seems equally reasonable to assume that as city L was listed 14th in an annual survey, many people wished to migrate to the state in which city L was located. This would not only increase the population but also cause a change in the facts that would be true today. As the population has increased it would have also driven up costs of basic necessities, housing and living as well as school fees.
Finally inspite of all supportive assumptions being true, the conclusion may still not be valid. The author fails to consider the conditions prevalent in other cities of the state as well as other factors that could hampen the decision of moving to a city in the state by a potential migrant. For example, the migrant might find a safe enviroment as well as the above mentioned facts, but as the population has already increased vastly, he might not be able to find a job. The schools might not have a seat to offer to his children and even if he finds a potential school, the child to teacher ratio might be higher that expected and thus not be fruitful for the decision made by him.
In sum, the authors illogical argument is based on several unsupported premised and unsubstantiated assumptions that render his conclusion invalid. The argument could be strengthened if the author provides information substantiating relevant facts along with figures, changes that have occured over the past two years, as well as a comparitive analysis of other cities in the state to state L, with regards to the facts mentioned. Thus, he would have to largely restructure his argument, fix the flaws in his logic, clearly explicate his assumptions and provide evidentarty support, Without these things his poorly reasoned argument will likely concince few people
Issue
"The presence of a competitor is always beneficial to a company. Competition forces a company to change itself in ways that improve its practices."
Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.
The issue of a competitor prevailing is always benefical to a company is a very contentious one. On one hand competition might not always be beneficial to a company when it comes to increasing profits as they are forced to keep prices at a comparable level to the prices offered by the competitor company. On the other hand it might be beneficial to both the companies to not only broaden their product base offered to customers, but also be on the lookout for developement of new products as well as advancements to the current product base. However, in the final analysis, I believe that the presence of a competitor is not always beneficial to a company for the reasons cited below.
The chief reason for my view is that in order to meet customer expectations, companies have to constantly study the desires and requirement of its customers. They have to not only bring out new products and advance its current product base, but also keep the products cost relatively low. For example, Reliance Mobile came into the service providers for mobile connections. They brought about a tremendous change by offering calls at a very low rate compared to its competitors Airtel. Airtel initially had monopoly in the market and had to reduce the call cost in line with that offered by Reliance. Moreover, by the time the change had taken place, Reliance had already captured more than half of Airtel's customers and left Airtel in the game of a seious mind play.
Another reason for my view is that customers tend to switch products frequently, look out for new products and also compare costs while selecting their product. Specifically if a new product has been lauched at a relatively low cost, customers tend to flock the market for that particular product. The company might have offered such low prices not only to showcase its new launch and offer a discount but also to gain customers from the competitors customer base and therefore has offered it at a price where only its fixed costs are able to be covered. The result is not only a loss to the company as its variable cost wasn't passed on to the customer, but also the competitor who will bring out a similiar product and cause a loss in sales for the other company's product.
Some may argue that the existence of a competitor not only helps companies increase their product base but also creates jobs for a lot of people. Yet, this is invalid for the beneficial of a company who will look to keep costs low while advancing its product base. Others might cite that the existence of competitors, helps companies provide quality products at the right price and also helps in the improvement of technology used by such companies in generating more products at a much lower rate. However, the existence of competitors is also known by employers, and the better sound company may take the best employees from the competitos company by offering more incentives and a better pay structure.
In sum I concur that the presence of a competitor though has its advantages such as increasing product base, offering better products, wider range of services and satisfying its customers, it might not always be beneficial to a company because of factors such as competing for a similiar product at a lower cost, lowering quality of its products to decrease the cost to be in line with a competitors product cost as well as the cost invloved in training its emplyees to use new echnology to generate better quality products at a lower rate and in turn the employee gets hired by the competitor company for a better wage structure. Thus, always the presence of a competitor isn't beneficial.
