Argument Essay - Olympic Foods

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Argument Essay - Olympic Foods

by TrueLie » Mon Jun 27, 2011 5:54 am
Hi all,

Could you please rate my essay and give me some feedback. Thank you very much.

"Over time, the costs of processing go down because as organizations learn how to do things better, they become more efficient. In color film processing, for example, the cost of a 3-by-5-inch print fell from 50 cents for five-day service in 1970 to 20 cents for one-day service in 1984. The same principle applies to the processing of food. And since Olympic Foods will soon celebrate its 25th birthday, we can expect that our long experience will enable us to minimize costs and thus maximize profits."

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. Point out flaws in the argument's logic and analyze the argument's underlying assumptions. In addition, evaluate how supporting evidence is used and what evidence might counter the argument's conclusion. You may also discuss what additional evidence could be used to strengthen the argument or what changes would make the argument more logically sound.


The argument states that as organizations acquires experience over time, they can become more efficient; it also mentions that because Olympic Foods will soon be 25 year old, its long experience can help this organization in minimizing costs and thus maximize profits. This argument is flawed because it is based on incorrect assumptions and reasoning.

Firstly, the argument assumes that the same situation applies to different industries. According to the report, if the cost of color film processing was reduced from 50 cents for five-day service in 1970 to 20 cents for one-day service in 1984, then the same reduction can also be applied to the processing of food. However, this is incorrect because the report failed to take into account other factors such as the development of technologies in these industries. If the technology development in food processing industry was not as fast as that in color processing technology, perhaps we may not reduce the cost in food processing industry as fast as in color film processing industry. Furthermore, even if food processing industry experiences the same technology development as that of color film processing industry, we can not apply the success of the whole industry to one company. If Olympics Foods does not use the up-to-date technologies in its field, it may not achieve good performance as its competitors can.

Secondly, the argument uses wrong reasoning. Reducing costs does not have the same meaning with increasing profits. Reducing costs only means that consumers need to pay less for the same quantity of goods. The profits can be increased if the company can sold more goods but the report does not mention this point. If there are many new companies in the food processing industries, Olympics Food may need to reduce costs in order to compete with its competitors while not selling more goods. That means its profits can be reduced instead of being increased.

Thirdly, the report does not mention the current business situation of Olympic Foods. If this company is not doing well its business, then we can say that its experiences are not the goods ones. In some cases, its experiences are harmful to the development of the company instead of being useful.

The argument can be strengthened if the report can take into account the points discussed above. For example, it can provide more information about technology development in the food processing industry, the current business situation of the company, and the information about the trend in this market. As it stands, the argument is not strong enough to convince the readers.
Source: — GMAT Essays (AWA) |

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by TrueLie » Sat Jul 16, 2011 12:45 am
Hi all,

I received no reply after 3 weeks :)
Could anyone help me?

Thank you very much.

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by garima99 » Mon Jul 18, 2011 7:49 pm
Hi
I am not judging your essay but the following could be some flaws to the argument
1.The costs of the material is bound to go up with time, for eg petrol etc so prices would go up
2.The machines etc would require maintenance so the costs would go up.
3.film processing has not direct relation with food industry
4.25 years is not a parameter to gauge maybe the optimal method was reached within 5 years and practiced since then

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by garima99 » Mon Jul 18, 2011 8:07 pm
TrueLie wrote:Hi all,

Could you please rate my essay and give me some feedback. Thank you very much.

"Over time, the costs of processing go down because as organizations learn how to do things better, they become more efficient. In color film processing, for example, the cost of a 3-by-5-inch print fell from 50 cents for five-day service in 1970 to 20 cents for one-day service in 1984. The same principle applies to the processing of food. And since Olympic Foods will soon celebrate its 25th birthday, we can expect that our long experience will enable us to minimize costs and thus maximize profits."

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. Point out flaws in the argument's logic and analyze the argument's underlying assumptions. In addition, evaluate how supporting evidence is used and what evidence might counter the argument's conclusion. You may also discuss what additional evidence could be used to strengthen the argument or what changes would make the argument more logically sound.


The argument states that as organizations acquires experience over time, they can become more efficient; it also mentions that because Olympic Foods will soon be 25 year old, its long experience can help this organization in minimizing costs and thus maximize profits. This argument is flawed because it is based on incorrect assumptions and reasoning.

Firstly, the argument assumes that the same situation applies to different industries. According to the report, if the cost of color film processing was reduced from 50 cents for five-day service in 1970 to 20 cents for one-day service in 1984, then the same reduction can also be applied to the processing of food. However, this is incorrect because the report failed to take into account other factors such as the development of technologies in these industries. If the technology development in food processing industry was not as fast as that in color processing technology, perhaps we may not reduce the cost in food processing industry as fast as in color film processing industry. Furthermore, even if food processing industry experiences the same technology development as that of color film processing industry, we can not apply the success of the whole industry to one company. If Olympics Foods does not use the up-to-date technologies in its field, it may not achieve good performance as its competitors can. "same phrase used several times"

Secondly, the argument uses wrong reasoning. Reducing costs does not have the same meaning with increasing profits. Reducing costs only means that consumers need to pay less for the same quantity of goods. The profits can be increased if the company can sold more goods but the report does not mention this point. If there are many new companies in the food processing industries, Olympics Food may need to reduce costs in order to compete with its competitors while not selling more goods. That means its profits can be reduced instead of being increased."decreased would look better with increased.You have a habit of using minimum of pronouns,can avoid that as well ."

Thirdly, the report does not mention the current business situation of Olympic Foods. If this company is not doing well[in] its business, then we can say that its experiences are not the goods ones. In some cases, its experiences are harmful to the development of the company instead of being useful. "Not very accurate,could make this better."

The argument can be strengthened if the report can take into account the points discussed above. For example, it can provide more information about technology development in the food processing industry, the current business situation of the company, and the information about the trend in this market. As it stands, the argument is not strong enough to convince the readers.

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by TrueLie » Wed Jul 20, 2011 6:30 am
Thank you very much, garima99 :)

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by garima99 » Thu Jul 21, 2011 8:32 pm
TrueLie wrote:Thank you very much, garima99 :)
no problem:)

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