Hi,
I am posting the AWA response below. Could you please evaluate and provide your inputs on the same. Thanks & Much Appreciated !
Question:
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.”
Answer:
The statement by Olympic foods that long experience helps minimizing costs and maximize profits is limited as it fails to take into consideration several other key factors involved.
Firstly, the comparison between the color film industry and food industry is irrelevant as both the industries are different. For example, in the Color film industry, there could be more number of reasons for the decrease in costs and increase in profits other than long experience like cheaper raw materials, adequate man power, high competition etc. But the statement doesn't take any of these possible causes into account.
In addition, the annual report doesn't specify any of the obstacles involved in both the industries and how they overcame those. Had this been reported, it would have been more significant to consider that the industry's long term experience was the major reason that they overcame all those obstacles and proved to be profitable. For instance, in the food industry, there could be a shortage of locally available raw materials and hence that could lead to increase in imports thereby increasing its overall costs irrespective of its long term experience.
Also, the statement doesn't provide any information on the additional charges involved like labor charges, shipping costs, cost of living etc. These could still remain same or potentially increase over time. The statement is inadequate as it doesn't provide any evidence to back the above possibility.
To Sum up, had the annual report taken into consideration the above possible factors and provided solid proof to back them, it would have been more persuasive. But currently with all these limitations, the report stands inconsequential.