Argument 8 [为我所用 第一次作业]

flair1031UID: 2314987

TOPIC: ARGUMENT8 - The following appeared in a memorandum issued by the strategic planning department at Omni Inc.

"Mesa Foods, a manufacturer of snack foods that currently markets its products within a relatively small region of the country, has strong growth potential. Mesa enjoyed a 20 percent increase in profits last year, and its best-selling product, Diabolique Salsa, has had increased sales over each of the past three years. Since Omni Inc. is interested in reaching 14-to-25 year olds, the age group that consumes the most snack food, we should buy Mesa Foods, and concentrate in particular on marketing Diabolique Salsa throughout the country."
WORDS: 468          TIME: 00:40:00          DATE: 2008-3-21 10:17:16

In this memorandum, the author draws the conclusion that Omni Inc should buy Mesa Foods, and concentrate in particular on marketing Diabolique Salsa throughout the country. In order to support the argument the arguer reasons that the profits of Mesa increased 20 percent in the last year, which show the strong growth potential, while it markets its products within a relatively small region of the country. Moreover, the arguer emphasizes that the age group 14-to-25 year olds, who Omni Inc is interested in reaching, consumes the most snack food. With a close scrutiny, however, it's obvious that author have several critical flaws.

To begin with, the threshold of the assumption is that according to the rise of profit last year and the upswing trend of its best-selling product Diabolique Salsa, the manufacturer has strong growth potential. But seeing this oversimplified evidence, it is too hasty to draw the conclusion. We need more detail profile and data of the background of Mesa Foods and economic environment in this region. What was the total amount of the profits one year ago? How much its best-selling product increased every year, enormously or just slight? Contingences, for example, market changes, material and labor costs, legislative moves, competition, and national and international economic cycle can lead to increasing profit. Without ruling out these possibilities, the arguer can not support the argument effectively.

In addition, the arguer also make a hasty conclusion that people 14-to 25 years old consuming the most snack food, are interesting in Mesa Food too. Any recommendation at this stage is premature in absence of a comprehensive examination of the young teenagers' diet habit. What if they are not satisfied the product supplied by Mesa Food? What if their taste is totally different with each other and only a few of them like the Mesa Food flavor? Until this information is demonstrated, we have enough reasons to suspect the conclusion.

What's more, it's also possible that the sales trend in a particular location is not representative of sales in other region. The author unfairly trivializes the severity of nationwide competition by simply comparing it with the competition in a small region. Moreover the trend of profit last year is not able to make sure the profit upswing in future. It is not wise to ignore the market, which is always changing, play a significant role in the product sales. The oversights mentioned above inevitably undermine the credibility of the argument.

To sum up, the conclusion reached in this argument is invalid and misleading. To make the argument more convincing, the arguer would have to prove the nationwide strong growth potential of the manufacture in the future.. What’s more, I would suspend my judgment about the credibility of the recommendation until the arguer can provide concrete evidence that the product will be popular among the teenagers who consume tremendous amount of snake food

[ 本帖最后由 flair1031 于 2008-3-21 11:40 编辑 ]

bitdxcUID: 2465290

In this memorandum, the author draws the conclusion that Omni Inc should buy Mesa Foods, and concentrate in particular on marketing Diabolique Salsa throughout the country. In order to support the argument the arguer reasons that the profits of Mesa increased 20 percent in the last year, which show the strong growth potential, while it markets its products within a relatively small region of the country. Moreover, the arguer emphasizes that the age group 14-to-25 year olds, who Omni Inc is interested in reaching, consumes the most snack food. With a close scrutiny, however, it's obvious (插入for )that author have several critical flaws.

To begin with, the threshold of the assumption is that according to the rise of profit last year and the upswing trend of its best-selling product Diabolique Salsa, the manufacturer has strong growth potential. But seeing this oversimplified evidence, it is too hasty to draw the conclusion. We need more detail profile and data of the background of Mesa Foods and economic environment in this region. What was the total amount of the profits one year ago? How much its best-selling product increased every year, enormously or just slight? Contingences, for example, market changes, material and labor costs, legislative moves, competition, and national and international economic cycle can lead to increasing profit. Without ruling out these possibilities, the arguer can not support the argument effectively.

In addition, the arguer also make a hasty conclusion that people 14-to 25 years old consuming the most snack food, are interesting in Mesa Food too. Any recommendation at this stage is premature in absence of a comprehensive examination of the young teenagers' diet habit. What if they are not satisfied the product supplied by Mesa Food? What if their taste is totally different with each other and only a few of them like the Mesa Food flavor? Until this information is demonstrated, we have enough reasons to suspect the conclusion.

What's more, it's also possible that the sales trend in a particular location is not representative of sales in other region. The author unfairly trivializes the severity of nationwide competition by simply comparing it with the competition in a small region. Moreover the trend of profit last year is not able to make sure the profit upswing in future. It is not wise to ignore the market, which is always changing, play a significant role in the product sales. The oversights mentioned above inevitably undermine the credibility of the argument.

To sum up, the conclusion reached in this argument is invalid and misleading. To make the argument more convincing, the arguer would have to prove the nationwide strong growth potential of the manufacture in the future.. What’s more, I would suspend my judgment about the credibility of the recommendation until the arguer can provide concrete evidence that the product will be popular among the teenagers who consume tremendous amount of snake food

评论：
基本指出了文中所有的逻辑错误，驳斥有力。
缺点：个人认为，结尾应该将所有的逻辑缺陷全部从正面纠正，如文中的最后一句，改为正说It is more convincing for me if the arguer can provide concrete evidence that the product will be popular among the teenagers who consume tremendous amount of snake food,会更好。

flair1031UID: 2314987

原帖由 bitdxc 于 2008-3-25 11:23 发表
In this memorandum, the author draws the conclusion that Omni Inc should buy Mesa Foods, and concentrate in particular on marketing Diabolique Salsa throughout the country. In order to support th ...

很好!谢谢! 结尾模板的比较厉害,会注意改进的..