The following appeared in a memo from the president of a chain of cheese stores located throughout the United States.
"For many years all the stores in our chain have stocked a wide variety of both domestic and imported cheeses. Last year, however, the five best-selling cheeses at our newest store were all domestic cheddar cheeses from Wisconsin. Furthermore, a recent survey by Cheeses of the World magazine indicates an increasing preference for domestic cheeses among its subscribers. Since our company can reduce expenses by limiting inventory, the best way to improve profits in all of our stores is to discontinue stocking many of our varieties of imported cheese and concentrate primarily on domestic cheeses."
In this memo the author seems to be biased towards domestic cheeses and the grounds on which he proposes the new plan of action are questionable. There are a number of flaws in the line of reasoning of the author, which must be addressed before accepting the proposal.
The claim of the author - "domestic cheeses being more popular than the imported ones" - is based on the sales of just one store. By no means can this figure be used to generalize the trend of sales throughout the chain of stores in the whole country. This preference for the domestic cheese in this particular region might not be reflected in the data of a different region.
Moreover the sales figures correspond to a store, which is the newest in the chain of stores in the country. It does not make much sense to plan the future course of action of the entire chain based on the sales of a new store as compared to the more established ones.
And the survey results, which the author cites to backup his/her claim, also do not deserve any merit. The survey, being conducted only among those who subscribe the concerned magazine, might not represent the bulk of the cheese consumers in the country. There might be a huge chunk of customers who might not bother to participate in such a survey, or for that matter, might not subscribe such a magazine at all.
Finally, though limiting the inventory results in the reduction of expenses, it is usually not the best way to increase profits. The preference for the domestic cheeses might not last long and the customers might revert back to the imported ones. Discontinuing the stocking of the imported ones might not guarantee the satisfaction of the customers and thus might affect the sales.
If the argument of the author is to receive any credibility, then he/she has to follow it up with adequate facts and address the fallacies indicated above. A decision of further plan of action must be based on a study of the trend of sales and the preference of the customers throughout the chain of stores in the country.
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Please rate it on a scale of 6.
Hi, Rajveer
Although I cannot grade your essay, since I do not know about scoring standarts for this type of essay, I liked it. You have made complete research of the topic you were given, and analyzed it throgouhly. Good work!
There might be a huge chunk of customers who might not bother to participate in such a survey, or for that matter, might not subscribe such a magazine at all.
---- I believe there is a term for this: "nonparticipation bias."
A decision of about a plan of action must be based on a study of the trends of sales and the preferences of the customers throughout the chain of stores in the country.
This essay is solid./ I cannot accurately score it based on the same criteria others would use, but in my opinion it's 6 out of 6.
