Hello everyone, A simple question regarding AWA section on the GMAT. Are we allowed to cite fictious examples? Can we then relate them with the situation present in the Argument. For instance, lets take a sample statement from 1st essay in GMAT published list of Analysis of argument essays. Over time, the costs of processing go down because as organizations learn how to do things better, they become more efficient. This statement rests on the gratuitous assumption that “long experience” has taught the organization to do things better. There is however, no guarantee that this is the case. Now, can we cite a fictious example here, of say an organization Y that has achieved decline in cost processing during a period of couple of months? After this example, can we elaborate that since organization Y has achieved decline in cost processing in few months the author initial statement is flawed ? Please help me out with this confusion. Thanks in advance.

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Over time, the costs of processing go down because as organizations

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jayanta8610

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18 Jun 2014, 08:09

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I got a 6 and from my experience of the GMAT AWA, you need to apply a lot of common sense. Few tips from my end:
- Spend the first 3-4 mins finding 2/3 assumptions, a starting and concluding line, alternate explanations, extra information which could have helped to bolster the argument
- Present your critique like a third party. Do not use 'I think so', 'In my opinion'. Use statements like 'The arguments fails to address the issue of .... because ....'.
- Use keywords like 'First', 'Second', 'To sum up', 'Alternately', 'Assumption', 'Conclusion fails to impress the reader', etc.
- Time yourself well. Keep the final 3 mins to read through the whole essay to correct spelling/grammatical mistakes.
- Structure :: First para: state why you critique the conclusion and that it is based on unsubstantiated evidences and weak assumptions and therefore conclusion is invalid. Second/Third para: explain the assumptions. Fourth/Fifth para: present alternative explanations and what extra information was necessary to prove the author's point and subsequent conclusion. Final para: Restate the critique in a different language and bolster your opinion based on what you analyzed and presented. Kill the author's conclusion! Be strong!!

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18 Jun 2014, 12:10

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Many thanks for your answers!

Please, evaluate my understanding ot following arguments:

1) 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.”

Premise1: Over time, the costs of processing go down because as organizations learn how to do things better, they become more efficient.

Support of premise by the fact: 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.

Premise 2: The same principle applies to the processing of food.

Conclusion: 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.”

2) When the Apogee Company had all its operations in one location, it was more profitable than it is today. Therefore, the Apogee Company should close down its field offices and conduct all its operations from a single location. Such centralization would improve profitability by cutting costs and helping the company maintain better supervision of all employees

Premise_1:[/b] When the Apogee Company had all its operations in one location, it was more profitable than it is today. - Reason

Premise_2: [/b] Such centralization would improve profitability by cutting costs and helping the company maintain better supervision of all employees.”

Conclusion: Therefore, the Apogee Company should close down its field offices and conduct all its operations from a single location.

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19 Jun 2014, 01:45

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jayanta8610

Hi Jayanta, how much do we need to write on the conclusion? When I timed myself, I had hardly any time left for conclusion.

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Updated on: 18 Jun 2018, 12:35

Originally posted by shasara on 05 Apr 2015, 18:52.
Last edited by shasara on 18 Jun 2018, 12:35, edited 2 times in total.

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“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 twenty-fifth birthday, we can
expect that our

The author's argument that color film processing principle with processing of food is flawed.

In drawing this conclusion the author fails to mention reasons for decrease in costs.Furthermore,the author compares two different processing principle as same.

Second, it is highly doubtful that the facts drawn from the color-film processing industry are applicable to the food processing industry.Differences between the two industries clearly outweigh the similarities, thus making the analogy highly less than valid.For example,
problems of spoilage, contamination, and timely transportation all affect the food industry but are virtually absent in the film-processing industry.Problems such as these might present insurmountable obstacles that prevent lowering food-processing costs in the future.

The argument could be strengthened if the author provided sufficient information and evidence that long experience will enable minimize costs and maximizeprofit.As it stands,however the argument is flawed for the reasons indicated.

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I have scored worst in today's real GMAT 240 (Q:13 V:10 IR:1) please can anyone suggest me how can i improve my score to 500 in at-least 2 months i need a score of at-least 510 to apply for near by school .I had prepared for almost 3 months for this exam studied 3-4 hours a day & used only OG 12 for studying since i don't have any other option and i'm from a non math background and my first language is not english ,i did my MBA from india in 2013,moved to US. (i'm an dependent housewife).

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11 Apr 2015, 15:58

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This topic have been merged with: https://gmatclub.com/forum/topic-136464.html

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Please go through MY FIRST ESSAY and opine it.You may even grade it if you want
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*5 inch print fell from 50 cents for 5 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 argument states that Olympic Foods will be able to reduce the cost of food processing due to the 25years of experience the company holds in the field of food processing. The argument in claiming so has made a number of assumptions and is therefore not convincing.
First, the author mentions the reason behind the cost reduction for any processing company in general and relates the same to Olympic foods. The argument does not discuss how the same will cause the probable cost reduction by Olympic Foods. The author never highlights the ways in which Olympic Foods has improved on it food processing techniques and thus increased the efficiency. For example: the argument should have been mentioned the new technologies the company has implemented over time and how has it catered to the change in the quality of its end products. Without any such data, it becomes difficult to evaluate the argument.
Second, the writer assumes that a tenure of 25 years is enough for Olympic Foods to become efficient in its field whereas the argument nowhere provides any information regarding the actual time a food processing company requires to learn the modern ways to hone its techniques. Had any such data been provided, it would have been easier to reach a conclusion.
Moreover, in a weak attempt to support the claim, the author compares the 14 years taken by a color film processing company to the 25 years a food processing company will take for minimizing the costs. The two industries vary not only in their inputs but also in their processing methods. Therefore it is not logical to associate them with each other. The author could have talked about the time taken by any other food processing company to strengthen the claim.
Since, the author does not address to the improvisation of ways by which Olympic foods might have made a change in the food processing techniques over the years to ensure a better quality and thus a cost minimization, the argument does not sound plausible and well reasoned.

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29 Feb 2016, 08:32

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Could you please evaluate my essay?
Quetion:-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 twenty-fifth 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. In your discussion be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion.

Quote:

The reasoning given by Olympic food processor is flawed and is based on various assumptions.Hence, multiple questions can be raised regarding the validity of the conclusion drawn.

First, The argument presents a correlation between two different industries.It is possible that the decrease in price may have increased the profit of color processing industry, but it may not lead to the same result for food processing industry.Possibly because manufacturing cost could have increased due to increase in raw materials such as flour and oil.In this scenario, decreasing the cost of the final product may not be in best interest of the company.

Moreover, The decrease in price that would lead to profit also requires high competence and expertise. It is possible that company may not have garnered high expertise in its field, in spite of having spent many years in the food processing industry.If many industries have emerged in the processing business and are direct competition for Olympic food processing company, then reducing prices might be profitable.But this situation is valid under certain criteria only.For instance, If Olympic is already selling the product at its lowest price then further reducing the price will not be possible.

In addition, The efficiency does not come with time. While many people become efficient in short duration, some may not become efficient even after long duration of being in business.

The author could strengthen his conclusion by providing examples of how the company has learned how to improve its operations over 25 years and implemented those changes.

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Argument :

"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."

Analysis:

The argument stated above is flawed. The author takes the liberty to compare a color film processing firm to a food processing firm , using illogical assumptions to support the same

Every industry has its own technicalities and challenges. The manufacturing process in a tyre plant will be different from a PET bottle plant. The author believes that manufacturing plant life is directly proportional to the increase in efficiency for every industry. He forgets to account for the fact that a film processing plant might be technologically advanced compared to a food processing plant. .The dynamics governing both industries is totally different, hence the causality does not make sense.

The author is also comparing two events which happen to be in a totally different time zones. In 1970's the number of inventions were pretty high compared to the 2000's. It could also be possible that 1970's was the time when the government funded programs for innovation in film processing , hence leading to cheaper and better quality films. Hence, the comparison fails on the premise of different time-lines also.

The argument fails to mention as to why US Foods will be able to achieve such a feat specifically. A year on year growth estimate, market share or any specific data on the efficiency would help this argument to justify the same.

The argument is not convincing on many levels, as it fails to account for the fact that it compares two different industries in different time zones.

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"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 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. 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. In your discussion be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might you can also discuss what sort of evidence would encourage or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion

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07 Mar 2018, 19:35

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" A product is defined by mainly 2 things, its price and its usage, both being equally important as a customer will not buy a product until its use is necessary and it is economically viable. However, an organization is continuous work to optimize their cost by efficiently utilizing their resources and increase its product quality by taking regular customer feedback. Most people think that an older organization is able to reduce its cost to substantial amount and is more competitive to a newer organization which is not totally true since the older organizations has To control develop its products as per customer need, they have to regularly upgrade their technology with the newest available and as we all that capex cost contributes to 60% of the product cost.Thanks though older organization have an edge over how to improve the quality of products there nothing much they can do when it comes to cost competitiveness. Also as mentioned in the example the cost of color film processing reduce drastically over the years but then there lies an Assumption that no newer technology was available to people which would have cut short the demand of color processing demands. This is quite similar to our mobile phones, as soon you buy the latest featured phone, one month down the line a newer version of the same Thus the investment done on present technology might not harvest benefits if the whole technology is replaced by some newer technology. Also as an organization grew older and there is not much change done in its management, there is a lack of innovative ideas within the organization which lead to a stubborn kind of attitude thus phasing out the organization from the competition. In today's world where a customer is a king, organizations have to be dynamic in their operation and should cater to wide range of product portfolio so that as and when demand for some product is varied, a small change in the product can cater to the change. Their lies a minor difference between the operating capability of the successful organization and unsuccessful ones and this can be Harnessed by carefully monitoring the market scenario.

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17 Jan 2019, 02:38

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Dear GMAT club) The best site ever for GMAT prep

Thanks a lot for all your resources!

Could you please rate my essay! I have 1 month left to prepare so I would like to make sure that I'm done with AWA section

Thank you in advance!

The following appeared in a memorandum from the business department of the Apogee Company:
"When the Apogee Company had all its operations in one location, it was more profitable than it is today. Therefore, the Apogee Company should close down its field offices and conduct all its operations from a single location. Such centralization would improve profitability by cutting costs and helping the company maintain better supervision of all employees."
Discuss how well reasoned ... etc.

My essay:

The argument that the Apogee Company should shut down its field offices and centralize its business operations in order to improve profitability is extremely flawed because it omits some important factors, other than location, that impact on profitability. The sole reason that the Company used to gain more profit before, when it was located at one place than today, when decentralized does not constitute a logical argument in favor of centralization.

Firstly, the argument falsely assumes that the profit of the Apogee Company decreased over time solely because it made a decision to reallocate some of its offices apart from the central office. It fails to consider some other important factors that might lead to the decrease in profit, for example, demand, market conditions or the price for the product might have changed. Probably in the past market conditions were more favorable for the Apogee Company to succeed, for example, the demand was high, very few or even no competitors were on the market. The situation might have changed and the abundance of newly appeared competitors, producing the same type of product made the price of it and, hence, profit to decline.

Secondly, the author erroneously consider that centralization will undoubtly lead to cutting costs, increased profitability and better control over the workers. The opposite might be the case, however. When decentralizing their branches, companies usually seek to lower the labor cost or become closer to the resources they use, or the customers they serve, thus cutting transportation and labor costs, consequently decreasing the price of the product and ultimately leading to increased profit. Therefore, the claim that centralization will certainly increase the profit of the Apogee Company is unsubstantiated.

The argument could be more sound if the author states that for Apogee Company location of its business is the most important factor in determining its profitability and the other external market conditions did not change significantly over the time when it was decentralized. It could also be strengthen by stating that Apogee Company does not seek to use any advantages of decentralization, like reduced transportation or labor costs.

In conclusion, the argument is extremely flawed and comes across as unconvincing and weak since it omitted some factors that must be addressed to conclude that Apogee Company need to centralize its business again to gain more profit. If the author would have considered other factors influencing profitability or the positive sides of decentralization, the argument would be much more convincing.

Hope to receive positive feedback!)

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20 Feb 2020, 13:08

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Prompt:
“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.”

My response:
The report states that any industry, with time, can maximize profits and minimize operational costs. This argument is fundamentally flawed because of the following reasons.

The report states that the costs and time involved in image processing decreased from 1970 to 1984. This could be due to numerous reasons like better availability of raw materials involved in image processing or perhaps, development of significantly better equipment over time.

The report also assumes that the principles which led to improvement in image processing can be applied to food processing without any strong evidence or logic. As stated in the above paragraph, the raw materials essential in food processing mostly include different kinds of oils and preservatives which may or may not be available at a discounted price so as to make the whole process more economical. Though we can argue that with better equipment and technology in food processing, we can decrease the operational costs and increase profit margins, the report fails to explain how to achieve these goals. The capital involved in up to date food processing technologies can be so expensive that it may not be worth the investment in the long run with its maintenance costs factored in.

Food processing is a very health-focused industry where the manufacturer cannot afford to let the eatables lose their nutritional value by any means. In comparison, both the raw materials and finished products in image processing don't lose their value under normal circumstances unlike the food items which may start to rot due to the slightest of negligence.

The report fails to mention any similarities between the two industries. Thus it fails to convince us as it is vaguely assuming that the same principles can be applied in both of them without any logic or substantial evidence.

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20 Feb 2020, 22:32

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piyushh19 - Welcome to GMAT Club!

The first red flag in your AWA is the size. At 296 words, the passage is exceedingly small and may therefore lower your score. I see a number of issues related to modifiers, parallelism, subject-verb, pronoun, among others. You will have to put in little more effort to improve your performance on the AWA section. Did you get a chance to review GMAT Club's chineseburned AWA template? I would recommend that you review a few high quality passages and write an AWA essay every alternate days for the next few days, but please do not sweat it out. AWA is pretty easy to improve in a significantly less amount of time.

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21 Feb 2020, 00:47

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piyushh19

Prompt:
“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.”

My response:
The report states that any industry, with time, can maximize profits and minimize operational costs. This argument is fundamentally flawed because of the following reasons.

The report states that the costs and time involved in image processing decreased from 1970 to 1984. This (what does "this refer to? no appropriate antecedent) could be due to numerous reasons like ("such as" is the correct idiom - "like" = similar to) better availability of raw materials involved in image processing or ,perhaps, development of significantly better equipment over time.

The report also assumes that the principles , which (commas are needed) led to improvement in image processing , can be applied to food processing without any strong evidence or logic. As stated in the above paragraph (what is stated before??), the raw materials essential in food processing mostly include different kinds of oils and preservatives which may or may not (redundant) be available at a discounted price so as to make the whole process more economical. Though we can argue that with better equipment and technology in food processing, we can decrease the operational costs and increase profit margins (should be rewritten as one sentence without a comma in the middle to avoid confusion), the report fails to explain how to achieve these goals. The capital involved in up to date food processing technologies can be so expensive that it may not be worth the investment in the long run with its (ambiguous pronoun - capital or investment?) maintenance costs factored in.

Food processing is a very health-focused industry where the manufacturer cannot afford to let the eatables lose their nutritional value by any means. ~~In comparison~~ ("unlike" is enough) , both the raw materials and finished products in image processing don't lose their value under normal circumstances unlike the food items which may start to rot due to the slightest of (incorrect preposition) negligence.

The report fails to mention any similarities between the two industries. Thus it fails to convince us as it is vaguely assuming that the same principles can be applied in both of them without any logic or substantial evidence.

Hi Buddy, I totally agree that the essay needs lots of improvement in terms of quantity and quality.
Here is my 2 cents:
1- I tried to mention some of the issues in your writing as highlighted.
2- You should use your SC and CR skills to improve your writing (so if you just got started studying GMAT, let the AWA be the last thing to do after mastering the verbal part)
3- https://gmatclub.com/forum/how-to-get-6-0-awa-my-guide-64327.html?fl=menu --> use this template as a standard to buld your own template for the exam.
4- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL560775B17C79CAA3 --> I would recommend this playlist to get a better understanding of the AWA expectations and basic tips.

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21 Feb 2020, 00:53

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MahmoudFawzy - Very impressive! Your analysis is spot on.

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25 Feb 2020, 03:46

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Following a go-to structure for you AWA is the way to go, I feel. As someone who got a 6 in the AWA, I think writing an analysis a day a week before the GMAT could help in a number of ways.

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27 Mar 2020, 13:38

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Here is my take on it:

The author is leaping from the premise to the conclusion without providing any substantial evidence. The author is making two distinct conclusions; (i) as the age of the company increases, its processing cost goes down and (ii) as the processing cost goes down, its profit increases.

Regarding the first conclusion, the author is claiming that the analogy of color film processing is applicable for food processing without highlighting any similarities between both industries. The argument also does not provide any evidence to prove that the reduction in processing cost in the color industry was indeed due to learning from the experience. It may very well be because of some technological breakthrough which may not be applicable for the food processing industry.

As far as the second conclusion is concerned, profit depends upon the total cost and revenue. The total cost is comprised of many different types of costs such as processing cost, raw material, tools, etc. Hence, it is premature to claim that the reduction in processing cost will lead to a reduction in overall cost. Similarly, the revenue depends upon the demand for frozen food, market competition and certain risk factors beyond the control of Olympic Food. The argument skips discussion of revenue.

Subsequently, I find this argument inadequate. The company can not promise the stockholders greater profit amount solely based on the information provided in the passage.

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(1)The argument makes several critical assumptions which lead it to be a flawed argument. The assumptions that this argument makes are that color film processing and its related costs are similar to those of the processing of food, that this same principle applied in 1984 is still relevant today, and that the experience of Olympic Foods will cause an effect of maximizing profits.
Firstly, the argument readily assumes that color film processing is the same as food processing, in terms of costs. The text is assuming that because the color filming company was able to reduce costs and maximize profits, that Olympic foods would also be able to do the same. A way that the argument could be strengthened would be including examples of other food processing that were able to maximize their profits, rather than a company that is a completely different industry. Even then, the success of one company does not correlate and guarantee the success of a similar company.
Secondly, the argument is flawed because it assumes that a strategy that was used in 1984 would still be relevant and effective today. Although the costs of the color film processing reduced, they were reduced over a fourteen year period more than 30 years ago. The argument is assuming that all conditions during that period were similar to those of today. The argument is also assuming that the cost reductions reduced for that company are completely contingent on their gained knowledge to become more efficient. One way that the argument could be strengthened would be to include examples closer to today’s date that would confirm the relevance and effectiveness of these same strategies or include the conditions of running businesses during those times and state the similarity of them to today.
Lastly, the argument is flawed because it makes the assumption that the experience of Olympic Foods would directly correlate to maximizing profits. The text assumes that the people running the company have learnt strategies that will benefit business in terms of cost and profit. One way to strengthen this argument would be to include employee statements on how their experience has helped them gain knowledge on the topic.
Because the argument makes several unwarranted assumptions, it can be concluded that this argument is weak.