The CoffeeCart beverage and food service located in the lobby

Question

The following appeared in a memorandum to the work-group supervisors of the GBS Company:

“The CoffeeCart beverage and food service located in the lobby of our main office building is not earning enough in
sales to cover its costs, and so the cart may discontinue operating at GBS. Given the low staff morale, as evidenced
by the increase in the number of employees leaving the company, the loss of this service could present a problem,
especially since the staff morale questionnaire showed widespread dissatisfaction with the snack machines.
Therefore, supervisors should remind the employees in their group to patronize the cart—after all, it was leased for
their convenience so that they would not have to walk over to the cafeteria on breaks.”

The following argument is flawed for numerous reasons. Primarily the argument is based on unwarranted assumption that supervisors should remind the employees in their group to prioritize the cart, rendering its main conclusion, that employee’s morale is low because of dissatisfaction with the snacking machine at the company’s office building, invalid.

The argument fails to provide any justification that the only reason of increased no. of employees leaving the company is because of the low morale of employees and that too only because of poor service of coffee cart beverage and food service located at company’s office building. The author failed to consider other possible reasons of low morale such as monotonous work environment, no appraisals since long, poor facilities, dominating supervisors etc.
The argument also leaves many other unwarranted questions about the staff morale questionnaire such as customers are dissatisfied with the snacking machine at the cart. This does not mean that the employees want to prioritize whole coffee cart service. Moreover, the author failed to address other possible reasons of dissatisfactions which could cause low morale in employees.

Finally, the argument claims without the warrant that supervisors should remind the employees to prioritize the cart to retain employees in the company. Instead, supervisors should propose other beneficial offers to employees to retain them in the company such as, better working conditions, chances of appraisals, better projects to work upon etc.

Because the argument makes several unwarranted assumptions. It fails to make a convincing case that dissatisfaction with the snacking machine of the coffee cart located at the office building is the only reason of increased no. of employees leaving the company.

bb · Answer

Hi. I ran the argument through the GMATAWA auto-rated and you get a score of 5.5 out of 6! Awesome job!

Coherence and connectivity: 4/5 
This rating corresponds to the flow of idea and expression from one paragraph to another. The effective use of connectives and coherence of assertive language in arguing for/against the argument is analysed. This is deemed as one of the most important parameters.

Paragraph structure and formation: 4.5/5  
The structure and division of the attempt into appropriate paragraphs is evaluated. To score well on this parameter, it is important to organize the attempt into paragraphs. Preferable to follow the convention of leaving a line blank at the end of each paragraph, to make the software aware of the structure of the essay.

Vocabulary and word expression: 5/5 
This parameter rates the submitted essay on the range of relevant vocaubulary possessed by the candidate basis the word and expression usage. There are no extra- points for bombastic word-usage. Simple is the best form of suave!

MonicaYadav · Answer

omg!!! really!!!! Thank you so much bb for the ratings

gmatbalar · Answer

Hi  bb , can you please provide feedback on my essay on the same topic? Thanks!

The argument claims that supervisors of the GBS Company should remind the employees in their group to patronize the CoffeeCart machine because it was leased for their convenience and the company may discontinue the beverage and food service as the company is unable to cover the costs of this service. Presented in this way, the argument manipulates facts, conveys a distorted view of the situation, and fails to consider key factors on the basis of which it could be evaluated. The conclusion is based on assumptions for which there is no evidence. Therefore, the argument is unconvincing and has several flaws.

First, the argument readily assumes that the best way forward is to discontinue the food and beverage service since it is unable to cover its costs, and employees have expressed their dissatisfaction with this service. This statement is a stretch. For example, the employees might actually be dissatisfied with the quality of the food and beverage service at the snack machines than the service itself. If it were true that the employees preferred the quality of food and beverage at the cafeteria, then the argument that employees are dissatisfied with the convenience of snack machine is undermined. Clearly, improving the quality of the food and beverages provided would not only be welcomed by employees and increase the staff morale, but also cover the costs of the service. The argument could have been much more clear if it had explicitly mentioned that reasons why the employees were dissatisfied with the snack machines.

Second, the argument claims that asking employees to patronize the coffee cart will be helpful as the employees were dissatisfied with the these snack machines. This is again a very weak and unsupported claim as the argument does not demonstrate any correlation between patronizing the service and increasing employee satisfaction or staff morale. To illustrate, the productivity levels of employees might dip not only due to unavailability of the snack machines but also the patronizing culture that is encouraged at the workplace. While the staff morale is already low and an increasing number of employees are leaving the company, it will be in the best interests of the Company and its employees to upgrade the existing snack machines. The argument would have been a lot more convincing if it had provided evidence of improved employee satisfaction by patronizing the coffee cart service.

Finally, has the company considered the possibility of an even higher number of employees leaving the company because of discontinuation of the beverage service? Also, has any other company been successful in retaining employees and improving staff morale by discontinuing convenience providing food services? Without convincing answers to these questions, one is left with an impression that the claim is more wishful thinking 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 had mentioned all the relevant facts such as reasons for employee dissatisfaction with the snack machines. In order to assess the merits of the suggestion that employees should patronize the coffee cart, it is essential to have full knowledge of all contributing factors. In this particular case, the effect of patronizing culture on staff morale in a workplace without food and beverage convenience. Without this information, the argument remains unsubstantiated and open to debate.

Aneri15 · Answer

The following appeared in a memorandum to the work-group supervisors of the GBS Company:

“The CoffeeCart beverage and food service located in the lobby of our main office building is not earning enough in
sales to cover its costs, and so the cart may discontinue operating at GBS. Given the low staff morale, as evidenced
by the increase in the number of employees leaving the company, the loss of this service could present a problem,
especially since the staff morale questionnaire showed widespread dissatisfaction with the snack machines.
Therefore, supervisors should remind the employees in their group to patronize the cart—after all, it was leased for
their convenience so that they would not have to walk over to the cafeteria on breaks.”

The following passage indicates that the CofeeCart beverage and food service is not profitable, and thus should be closed. It also states that this would have a negative impact on employee morale, which is already low as is evident from the fact that there is an increase in the number of people leaving the company. Thus, it is assumed that the cart, which was leased for the employees to leverage, should be embraced. There are a number of factors that call this claim into question, as are mentioned in the subsequent paragraphs.

Firstly, it is stated that the cart is unable to break even and maintain its profitability, so it is recommended to discontinue it from the building. However, there are a number of ways to assess and remedy this situation, before taking this extreme measure. For example, the sales might not be able to recover the cost due to its prices either being too low or so high that it becomes unaffordable for the people, keeping them away. It is also possible that the location of the cart is not a popular one. Thus, evaluating the actual reason for the low sales can help drive solutions, and business off the cart, instead of shutting it down.

Secondly, it is mentioned that there is low staff morale, as seen by the number of people leaving the company. Thus, it is assumed that the cart would help mitigate this problem. However, there is no mention of the actual reason responsible for the low employee morale. For all we know, it might be due to reasons independent of the food services. The employees might leave the company in search of better opportunities and higher pay, things not satisfied by their current company. In this case, the cart will not do anything to assuage the current situation. It is also mentioned that a questionnaire about a snack machine showed massive dissatisfaction amongst the employees. Nevertheless, bad reviews for one item, in no way indicate good reviews for others. The snack machine, on the contrary, could have a better review than the CoffeeCart as seen in a separate survey. In that case, it would be wrong to assume that the CoffeCart could salvage the situation at hand.

Finally, the passage indicates that the CoffeeCart is supposed to be a more convenient option for the employees as that way they don't have to walk all the way to the cafeteria. However, it is nowhere mentioned that walking to the cafeteria is an inconvenience in any way to the employees. It may be possible that the employees might enjoy this little break, and that moving around a little will help them relax from a busy day of work. The cafeteria might also offer better and cheaper food options, as compared to the cart. In that case, keeping the cart will not make any difference to the employees.

For the above-mentioned reasons, it is clear that the cart may not have an impact on the employee's morale. There are enough information gaps in the argument that can be exploited to assert that the employees may not embrace the cart after all. Therefore, the argument is not logically sound and is called into question for numerous reasons.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

AWA Score: 5.5 out of 6

Coherence and connectivity: 5.5
The essay demonstrates a good level of coherence and connectivity. The writer effectively presents ideas and arguments in a logical sequence, and the essay flows smoothly from one paragraph to another. However, there are a few instances where the connections between ideas could be strengthened, particularly when transitioning between paragraphs.

Word structure: 6
The word structure in the essay is strong. The writer uses a variety of sentence structures, effectively conveys their ideas, and demonstrates a good command of vocabulary. The sentences are clear and concise, contributing to the overall clarity of the essay.

Paragraph structure and formation: 5.5
The essay follows a generally appropriate paragraph structure and formation. Each paragraph focuses on a specific point and presents supporting arguments or evidence. However, there are a few instances where the paragraphs could be more tightly focused and developed. Some paragraphs contain multiple ideas, which can make the organization slightly confusing.

Language and Grammar: 6
The language and grammar in the essay are strong. The writer uses appropriate and varied sentence structures, demonstrates a good understanding of grammar rules, and effectively conveys their ideas. There are very few errors in grammar, punctuation, or sentence construction, contributing to the overall clarity and readability of the essay.

Vocabulary and word expression: 5.5
The vocabulary and word expression in the essay are generally strong. The writer uses a good range of vocabulary and employs appropriate terminology to convey their ideas. However, there is room for improvement in terms of using more precise and specific vocabulary choices to enhance the clarity and impact of the arguments.

Overall, the essay demonstrates solid coherence and connectivity, strong word structure, appropriate paragraph formation, good language and grammar usage, and a commendable vocabulary selection. The writer effectively presents counterarguments and raises valid points to challenge the given argument. The essay provides a clear evaluation of the original passage and supports its claims with reasoning and evidence. The essay can benefit from further development and refinement of ideas to enhance the overall structure and depth of analysis.

The CoffeeCart beverage and food service located in the lobby

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