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arashyazdiha
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This is my first analysis of an argument I wrote this after reading an article of Princeton review about writing such arguments. So, somehow I used the openings and endings regarding that style.
The following appeared as part of an annual report sent to stockholders by Olympic Foods, a processor of frozen foods:
"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."
Premises:
-The costs of processing declines as organization gains better knowledge upon experience.
-This knowledge leads to a more efficient service.
-Color film processing service costs were reduced.
-The same principle applies to the processing of food.
-They celebrated 25th birthday of the Olympics Food, lately:
-So, this experience leads to minimized costs and maximized profits
Assumptions made:
-The color film processing service is comparable to that of Olympics Food.
-The cost reduction in color film processing was due to experience and knowledge gained by the service provider firm.
-25 years shows a long experience of the Olympics Food and the arguments assumes that they have gained knowledge during this period to minimize costs.
The essay:
The argument concludes that Olympics Food can reduce its costs via the experience it gained. This conclusion is based on the premises that a color film processor firm reduced its costs between 1970 and 1984, and this cost reduction can be achieved by Olympics Food as the frozen food processor is going to celebrate its 25th birthday. This argument is flawed, however, because the author assumes numerous assumptions, but fails to adequately support them.
First of all, the argument fails to consider differences between color film processing service and Olympics Food frozen food processing, and what made the former to reduce its costs might not be the same approach that the latter seeks to achieve. This declination in the costs in the color processing firm might be caused by the cheaper technologies, which are pervasively available to the whole film processing market after some years and would not be necessarily the direct cause of the experience and knowledge gained by the firm. The demand for color film processing might force the market to provide cheaper and high tech tools during the period and we cannot simply assume that the knowledge itself leaded the firm to reduce its costs.
The argument assumes that the 25th birthday celebration of the Olympics Food is a convincing indication of experience and knowledge that is sufficient for maximizing profits. However, there is no present evidence, supporting the idea that the Olympics Food has gained the experience, which is needed to apply to cost reduction policies during these years. The author also fails to consider the relevant data to present a successful background of the Olympics Food regarding the experience.
In conclusion the argument that being established for 25 years, Olympics Food will minimize its costs is weak. If the author was able to illustrate that the two services are properly comparable and what applies to the color film processing firm could be expected to apply to the frozen food processing firm, that the color film processing firm minimized its costs by gaining experience and knowledge, and that the 25 year backgrounds of Olympics food have given it adequate capability and experience to apply cost reduction policies to maximize its profits, then the argument would be strongly supported. Absent that support, however, there is no reason to accept the argument's conclusion.
I would be grateful if anyone comments my first attempt.
Bests
The following appeared as part of an annual report sent to stockholders by Olympic Foods, a processor of frozen foods:
"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."
Premises:
-The costs of processing declines as organization gains better knowledge upon experience.
-This knowledge leads to a more efficient service.
-Color film processing service costs were reduced.
-The same principle applies to the processing of food.
-They celebrated 25th birthday of the Olympics Food, lately:
-So, this experience leads to minimized costs and maximized profits
Assumptions made:
-The color film processing service is comparable to that of Olympics Food.
-The cost reduction in color film processing was due to experience and knowledge gained by the service provider firm.
-25 years shows a long experience of the Olympics Food and the arguments assumes that they have gained knowledge during this period to minimize costs.
The essay:
The argument concludes that Olympics Food can reduce its costs via the experience it gained. This conclusion is based on the premises that a color film processor firm reduced its costs between 1970 and 1984, and this cost reduction can be achieved by Olympics Food as the frozen food processor is going to celebrate its 25th birthday. This argument is flawed, however, because the author assumes numerous assumptions, but fails to adequately support them.
First of all, the argument fails to consider differences between color film processing service and Olympics Food frozen food processing, and what made the former to reduce its costs might not be the same approach that the latter seeks to achieve. This declination in the costs in the color processing firm might be caused by the cheaper technologies, which are pervasively available to the whole film processing market after some years and would not be necessarily the direct cause of the experience and knowledge gained by the firm. The demand for color film processing might force the market to provide cheaper and high tech tools during the period and we cannot simply assume that the knowledge itself leaded the firm to reduce its costs.
The argument assumes that the 25th birthday celebration of the Olympics Food is a convincing indication of experience and knowledge that is sufficient for maximizing profits. However, there is no present evidence, supporting the idea that the Olympics Food has gained the experience, which is needed to apply to cost reduction policies during these years. The author also fails to consider the relevant data to present a successful background of the Olympics Food regarding the experience.
In conclusion the argument that being established for 25 years, Olympics Food will minimize its costs is weak. If the author was able to illustrate that the two services are properly comparable and what applies to the color film processing firm could be expected to apply to the frozen food processing firm, that the color film processing firm minimized its costs by gaining experience and knowledge, and that the 25 year backgrounds of Olympics food have given it adequate capability and experience to apply cost reduction policies to maximize its profits, then the argument would be strongly supported. Absent that support, however, there is no reason to accept the argument's conclusion.
I would be grateful if anyone comments my first attempt.
Bests
