argument117 [08-6g 奋斗组]第十三次作业 我的第2篇aw 迟交了好久。。谢拍 定回

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TOPIC: ARGUMENT117 - The following is a memo from the business manager of Valu-Mart stores.

"Over 70 percent of the respondents to a recent survey reported that they are required to take more work home with them from the workplace than they were in the past. Since Valu-Mart has not seen impressive sales in its office-supply departments in the past, we should take advantage of this work-at-home trend by increasing at all Valu-Mart stores the stock of home office machines such as printers, small copy machines, paper shredders, and fax machines. We will also increase stock of office supplies such as paper, pens, and staplers. With these changes, our office-supply departments will become the most profitable component of our stores."

At first glance, the conclusion that The Valu-Mart store should makes some changes on the office-supply departments base on the reasons that the arguer comment in this argue seems unquestionable, but through carefully and insightfully reexaminated, there are several fallacies which weakens it.

Firstly, the sample of the survey is unconvincing. The survey just takes the respondents of whole participants that the survey took, but there are many participants who did not give their feedback. Undoubtedly ,maybe this part of people makes the majority of the whole participants. Also they maybe worked at office as usual and did not been required to take work home with them from the workplace at all or even less than usual. And even the whole participant hold the same opinion like the most of the respondents, but whether the amount of participant is large enough to represent the whole is vague. Only the arguer present the details of the sample, I can believe this survey is validated.

Secondly, even though the sample is representative enough to indicate that the work-at-home trend is right, but the arguer makes a unwarranted assumption that the more people work at home, the more need for home office machines. As we all know, many factors may influence the sales, such as the price of commodities, the needs of commodities, the band of commodities, and the emphasis put on the advertisement for propagandizing commodities. And each factor has various effects on it, and there is no certainty which is most essential to decide the situation of the sales. Maybe the customers take more account of the price. Beside this, no data to imply that which machine is needed. Probably printers are the bestseller at this moment, on the contrary, the small copy machines oversupplied.

Last but not least, there is no evidence to show whether the store should to increase stock of offices supplies. The arguer does not provide any proof to support there is a need for office machines. Suppose that the need of home office is increase as the arguer assumed, and the population of customers who need office and home office machines is stable in some time, therefore this may causes the decrease of the sale of office machine, and leads to false decision-making which may demand more spending on storing the goods,  then, cut down the store’s profits.

In sum, in order to strengthen his/her statement, the arguer should solve the fallacies commented above.

[ 本帖最后由 hy--phen 于 2007-11-11 04:01 编辑 ]