Please rate my AWA
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09 May 2019, 04:15
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.”
Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.
The argument claims that the costs of processing went down because the organization had become more efficient and stated an example which did not help in evaluating the argument. Stated in this way the argument fails to explain several key factors, on the basis of which it could be evaluated. The conclusion of the arguments depends on assumptions for which there is no clear evidence. Hence, the argument is weak and has several flaws.
Firstly, the argument readily assumes that the costs of processing has gone done because the organizations learn how to do things better and have become efficient. This statement is a stretch as it assumes doing the things better as the reason for decrease in processing costs. The argument quotes an example of reduction in processing costs in color film industry. Decrease in processing costs might be due to increase in technological advancement in color film industry from 1970 to 1984. The argument could have been much clearer if it explicitly stated that how doing things better has decreased the cost of processing.
Secondly, the argument claims that the principle applied to color film industry will be applicable to the food processing industry. This is again a very weak and unsupported claim as the argument does not demonstrate any correlation between color film industry and food processing industry. If any such correlation had been shown between the color film and food processing industries, the author would have sounded a bit more convincing. In addition, if argument has provided information about how long experience will enable to decrease costs and increase profits, the argument would have been strengthened further.
Finally, the argument concludes that the long experience enables an organization to minimize costs and increase profits. From this statement again, it is not clear how experience enables an organization to minimize costs and increase profits. Without convincing answers to these questions, one is left with the impression that the claim is more of a wishful thinking rather than substantive evidence.
In conclusion, the argument is flawed for the above mentioned reasons and is therefore unconvincing. It could be considerably strengthened if the author clearly mentioned all the relevant facts such as how the processing costs have decreased and correlation between the two different types of industries. Without this information, the argument remains unsubstantiated and open to debate.