AWA Essay Evaluation

Hello All,

I practiced one of OG 2015 AWA essay today and I would like you review and provide feedback. Thank you in advance

Question Prompt:
The following appeared in a memorandum from the director of research and development at Ready-to-Ware, a software engineering firm:
“The package of benefits and incentives that Ready-to-Ware offers to professional staff is too costly. Our quarterly profits have declined since the package was introduced two years ago, at the time of our incorporation. Moreover, the package had little positive effect, as we have had only marginal success in recruiting and training high-quality professional staff. To become more profitable again, Ready-to-Ware should, therefore, offer the reduced benefits package that was in place two years ago and use the savings to fund our current research and development initiatives.”

My Response:
The argument that offering the reduced benefits package that was in place two years ago and using the savings to fund current research and development initiatives is substantially flawed in that it relies on several questionable assumptions.

Most conspicuously, the director assumes that investing in research and development initiatives will have direct impact on profitability. While it is laudable to fund R&D projects, it is only the first step of many. Proposals from such projects will still need to be implemented and failure in execution may have negative impact on the bottom line.

Furthermore, without considering other dynamics, the director asserts that the sole cause of the low profit is the introduction of costly package benefit and incentives. A company’s profitability depends on costs as well as revenue. It could therefore be that the firm’s declining sales is responsible for the reducing profit.

Finally, the assumption that a 2-year-timeframe is sufficient to evaluate a new policy is dubious. The argument could have been more plausible if it provided a similar policy that yielded profits within the same timeframe.

In conclusion, the argument is neither sound nor persuasive since it fails to substantiate its claims and relies on bogus assumptions in drawing its conclusions.