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AWA ESSAYS: Analyze Argument
ESSAY QUESTION:
The following memo was circulated by the management team of a retail company:
“We are very pleased to announce the relocation of our inventory, which had been located in four different warehouses throughout the country, to a single new warehouse near Company headquarters in Boston. This consolidated location will cut the company’s expenses for warehouse rent in half. As a result we expect our monthly profitability to go up by this amount.”
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.
MY RESPONSE:
The argument states that a certain retail company plans to cut companies expenses by closing four different warehouses and having a single consolidated one instead. This argument is flawed in varied contexts and fails to provide clear scenario of the inference being done by the information given.There are lot of parameters that needs to be evaluated to for firming the base of the claim made in the argument.
First, the argument does not state the exact location of the four different warehouses that are being closed. Exact detail of these warehouses would have been helpful to determine whether or not they are strategically aligned or placed for the business value chain.A retail business is dependent on multiple supply chain networks and every individual link helps to build up or add value to that network.
Second, the argument states that closing these warehouses would help cut expenses or rent in half. Now, it is unclear or not absolutely confirmed as there are different state and labor laws which applies when it comes to commercial leasing. Maybe, the combined rent of the four warehouses being closed may not surpass for the one which is being opened in Boston. This needs to made clear to base the assumption of lowering cost by meager closing and shifting.
Then, the argument deviates to conclude that the monthly profitability will increase by closing for warehouses and instead by having just one centrally located in Boston. Now this needs to made clear as there are various factors which needs to be evaluated when it comes to calculate the profit making ability of the business and not just the monthly rent for a warehouse. It may be that the cost of transporting the raw material for the retail chain may increase the cost of production, or it also might be that the labor cost or the state laws pertaining to run a commercial business may not be suitable for having just one center to run a business.
To conclude, the argument fails to provide a lot of information that can serve as a useful aid to evaluate the action and infer a clear reason for justifying the decision of the retail chain. In today's global supply chain scenario being dependent on a single parameter for evaluating the profitability needs evaluation of various factors to draw a conclusion. Hence, the argument should provide more details to justify or strengthen the reason behind evaluating the decision being taken by a retail business house.
ESSAY QUESTION:
The following memo was circulated by the management team of a retail company:
“We are very pleased to announce the relocation of our inventory, which had been located in four different warehouses throughout the country, to a single new warehouse near Company headquarters in Boston. This consolidated location will cut the company’s expenses for warehouse rent in half. As a result we expect our monthly profitability to go up by this amount.”
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.
MY RESPONSE:
The argument states that a certain retail company plans to cut companies expenses by closing four different warehouses and having a single consolidated one instead. This argument is flawed in varied contexts and fails to provide clear scenario of the inference being done by the information given.There are lot of parameters that needs to be evaluated to for firming the base of the claim made in the argument.
First, the argument does not state the exact location of the four different warehouses that are being closed. Exact detail of these warehouses would have been helpful to determine whether or not they are strategically aligned or placed for the business value chain.A retail business is dependent on multiple supply chain networks and every individual link helps to build up or add value to that network.
Second, the argument states that closing these warehouses would help cut expenses or rent in half. Now, it is unclear or not absolutely confirmed as there are different state and labor laws which applies when it comes to commercial leasing. Maybe, the combined rent of the four warehouses being closed may not surpass for the one which is being opened in Boston. This needs to made clear to base the assumption of lowering cost by meager closing and shifting.
Then, the argument deviates to conclude that the monthly profitability will increase by closing for warehouses and instead by having just one centrally located in Boston. Now this needs to made clear as there are various factors which needs to be evaluated when it comes to calculate the profit making ability of the business and not just the monthly rent for a warehouse. It may be that the cost of transporting the raw material for the retail chain may increase the cost of production, or it also might be that the labor cost or the state laws pertaining to run a commercial business may not be suitable for having just one center to run a business.
To conclude, the argument fails to provide a lot of information that can serve as a useful aid to evaluate the action and infer a clear reason for justifying the decision of the retail chain. In today's global supply chain scenario being dependent on a single parameter for evaluating the profitability needs evaluation of various factors to draw a conclusion. Hence, the argument should provide more details to justify or strengthen the reason behind evaluating the decision being taken by a retail business house.
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