GRE Argument Topic 100

NOTE: The above topic has wording similar to Argument Tasks 62 and 101 of this Website. However, if you read carefully you will notice that the topic and the task instructions are different. Hence, it is very important to read the topic as well as its instructions completely before you start to write your response.

Sample 1:

It is the job of the business manager to take care of the bottom line. If he were able to increase profits, the owners of the business will be happy. In the case of this chain of cheese stores, the business manager may be putting the cart before the horse by suggesting that the stores focus on domestic cheeses only. While this argument seems logical on the surface, the stated and unstated assumptions in it deserve closer scrutiny before the company owners decide to jump on this wagon.

The readers of the memo may assume that the popularity of Wisconsin cheeses in the newest store predict similar success with domestic cheeses in their other stores. This may or may not be significant. If the newest store is located in Wisconsin, all bets are off. Customers of the store would be inclined to support their local cheese makers. Wisconsin is, after all, the Dairy State, and fans of the Green Bay Packers are known as Cheeseheads and wear foam hats that look like wedges of cheese when attending a Packers' game. If the company has a store in Vermont, a state replete with dairy farms, it likely sells more Vermont cheeses than imported cheeses. Stores located in the country's largest cities like New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles are likely to sell more imported cheeses to satisfy the more demanding palates of their citizens or to supplement the ethnic diets of their diverse populations. Eliminating imported cheeses from the inventories in these stores could have a deleterious effect on profits.

The assumption that sales of domestic cheese will lead to increased profits may have holes in it. Profit can be expressed as a percentage or a dollar amount. It is derived from the amount of markup on the items sold in a store and is affected by general expenses of operation. Let's assume that the cheese stores have a 100% markup on their cheeses. In other words, they double the wholesale price to arrive at the retail price for each cheese. If a pound of Wisconsin cheese wholesales for $5.00, it will retail for $10.00, and the store realizes a gross profit of $5.00. Now, if a pound of imported cheese costs $10.00, and the same 100% markup is applied, it will retail for $20.00 per pound and gross $10.00. It's easy to see that, in this case, the store must sell twice as much domestic cheese to make the same profit as on the imported cheese. The popularity of domestic cheeses guarantees neither higher total sales nor greater profits.

Using survey results to make important decisions requires careful consideration. A survey conducted by Cheeses of the World among its subscribers indicates a growing preference for domestic cheeses. It would be helpful to know how many subscribers there are and what percentage of them completed the survey. If this is an international publication, some respondents may have been referring to cheeses that Americans could only buy as imports. The business manager of the American cheese company in the argument needs this information before assuming that the survey results support his recommendation.

Most chain stores tailor their inventory to the location of each store. Macy's will not promote the same merchandise in Bangor, Maine that it does in Dallas, Texas. Bangor is a small city surrounded by even smaller towns and large rural areas. The population is largely working class. Dallas is home to millions, and the median income is far greater than that of Bangor residents. Macy's in Dallas is likely to have many more designer items than the Bangor store. This chain of cheese stores should probably adopt this same approach at each of its locations rather than assuming that the same items will sell well in each one. America is a country of great variety. Different ethnic, racial, and religious preferences exist side-by-side in communities across this great country. This cheese business should consider these variables before making decisions about the types of cheeses it stocks in each of its stores.

Sample 2:

In the given memo, the president of a US based chain of cheese stores recommends that they should stock domestic cheese only and discontinue stocking imported cheese. The president claims that this would lead to reduction of expenses due to the limitation on inventory. The argument is supported by the fact that the five best-selling cheeses in the past year at their newest stores were domestic cheeses. Moreover, a recent survey conducted by Cheese of the World magazine has indicated an increasing trend of consumption of domestic cheeses among its subscribers. A closer analysis of the argument reveals that it suffers from several logical fallacies.

The fact that there has been an increase in sales for domestic cheeses in the newest stores in the past year does not necessarily mean that the remaining stores across the country are experiencing similar preferences from their customers. It is likely that the new stores have been set up in rural areas where the people are used to having domestic cheese. As the sales statistics refer to the past year only, it is likely that in the coming time the sales of imported cheese will also increase once the people get used to their taste. Moreover, it is likely that the locations of the new stores are such that their customers come from humble backgrounds and they cannot afford expensive imported cheeses. Therefore, the arguer unfairly makes a hasty recommendation that all the stores of the company should discontinue stocking many of their varieties of imported cheeses.

Another flaw in the argument is the assumption that the results of the survey conducted by Cheeses of World magazine will hold true for the customers of the company’s cheese stores as well. There is no mention of the number of subscribers who are regular customers of the company. Moreover, there is no mention of the location where the survey was conducted. Was it conducted in the towns where the company has its cheese stores? The results of the survey may hold true for the people who were a part of the survey, but the arguer fails to establish a link between the subscribers who participated in the survey and the people who buy domestic cheeses from the company’s cheese stores. Therefore, the preferences of the subscribers as reflected by the results of the survey may have little to do with the sales of the imported cheeses offered at the stores of the company across the country.

Even if we assume that there is indeed an increased preference for domestic cheeses among the customers of the company, the arguer needs to provide details of the sales figures which can prove that the action of discontinuing the stocking of imported cheeses would result in profits. It is likely that the sale of imported cheeses brings in much higher profit as compared to the sale of domestic cheeses. Therefore, discontinuing the stocking of imported cheeses may ultimately lead to losses for the company especially since the arguer has failed to prove that the customers of the company prefer domestic cheeses in all the stores throughout the country.

As the argument does not consider any other alternatives for increasing the profits of the company, the recommendation made by the arguer sounds unreasonable and unconvincing. The argument could have been bolstered with information that could have linked the results of the survey to the preferences of the customers of the company. Moreover, there is a need to provide information on the sales statistics related to imported cheeses and domestic cheeses at all the stores of the company.