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发表于 2004-10-7 05:47:55
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233 The following appeared in a memo from the vice president of a company that builds shopping malls throughout the country.
"The surface of a section of Route 101, paved two years ago by McAdam Road Builders, is now badly cracked and marred by dangerous potholes. In another part of the state, a section of Route 66, paved by Appian Roadways more than four years ago, is still in good condition. Appian Roadways has recently purchased state-of-the-art paving machinery, and it has hired a new quality-control manager. Because of its superior work and commitment to quality, we should contract with Appian Roadways rather than McAdam Road Builders to construct the access roads for all our new shopping malls."
两年前由McAdam筑路公司修筑的101公路的一段,表面现已严重开裂,并存在危险的坑洼。在同一州的另一个地区,四年多以前由Appian筑路公司修筑的66公路的一段现在依然状况良好。Appian公司最近购买了最先进的筑路机械,并雇佣了一名新的质量监控经理。由于Appian公司更优秀的工作和质量保证,我们应该和他们而不是McAdam公司签订合同修筑我们新的商业街前面的通道。
In this memo, the president draws a conclusion that sounds plausible but in fact still open to doubt based on the simple and facial contrast between the two companies. To be frankly, the analysis of the vice president has some critical fallacies as below.
To begin with, the conditions of the two roads cannot be used as the only standard to value the quality of work. It is well known that condition of a road is the result of many factors such as the frequency of its usage, the reparation and protection of it, the rigidity and humidity of its under soils, and so on. Although the surface of a section of Route 101 is now badly cracked and marred by dangerous potholes with contrasting to a section of Route 66, which is paved by Appian Roadways more than four years ago and is still in good condition, it is not persuasive enough to claim that Appian Roadways is superior to McAdam Road Builders in its quality of work.
Next, the vice president should not only compare a section of each route as the evidence for his/her announcement. It is also possible that the rest sections of the Route 101are still in very good condition while the rest parts of Route 66 have been damaged ultimately. Without wide and extensive sampling, the vice president seems to draw a hasty conclusion and irresponsibly announces the failure of McAdam Road Builders in this competition.
Thirdly, the purchasing of state-of-the-art paving machinery and employment of new quality-control manager cannot prove the stronger competition of Appian Roadways than McAdam Road Builders. Maybe McAdam Road Builders has had such machines and talents much earlier. Furthermore, the strength of companies, especially such professional ones as these two, cannot be evaluated by only these simple standards. That is, new machine and quality-control manager does not equal to good quality of work.
Last but not least, even if Appian Roadways has proved itself more appropriate for the work of building roads, it is not the same when considering the construction of the access roads for new shopping malls. The design for roads should be more consideration of aesthetics than ordinary road. Maybe neither Appian Roadways nor McAdam Road Builders can afford the work.
In conclusion, a right decision means cost saving and better quality of the work, for these two goals the vice president should not be anxious to choose Appian Roadways with the scarce knowledge of both of the two companies.
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