Essay:Argument:
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."
The author's argument is weakly supported. The author has built a flawed correlation between experience and efficiency. He has failed to analyse various factors that decide the efficiency of an industry, and he has also made an optimistic statement about increasing profits, based on his assumption of reducing processing costs in the future.
First, the author has faultily correlated experience with efficiency. He fails to understand that the age of a company is not the factor that determines its efficiency. The efficiency of an industry increases with introduction of better manufacturing practices, utilization of effective technology, and incorporation of better manufacturing processes. For example, the colour print processing industry might have observed an increase in efficiency due to the development of cheaper and better printing technology, not because of its experience. The author has failed to specify how exactly the company plans to cut its processing costs. The author has simply stated that Olympics Foods, due to its experience, would be able to cut its processing cost. Hence, the claim is not justified.
Second, based on the assumption that the company will be able to reduce its processing cost, the author claims that the company will be able to maximize its profits. The author has thus, failed to take into consideration various factors that can affect profits. For example, the company might reduce its processing cost by introducing a new technology, but due to fierce competition, the company might also have to reduce the prices of its products, resulting in negligible or no change in overall profits. Thus stating that reduction of processing cost would be accompanied by the maximization of the profits is unsubstantiated.
Due to the reasons cited above, it is fair to say that the author's claims cannot be justified. The argument can be strengthened by introducing facts and figures, showing exactly how the company plans to reduce its costs and, in the process, maximize its profits. Also, a less strong language can be used to present the argument in the current form.
