gladys

Argument 55

In order to introduce its own brand of coffee, Excelsior Company memorandum
proposes as the the best strategy conducting a temporary sales promotion that
offers free samples, price reductions, and discount coupons for the new brand.
This memorandum is based on three facts: (1) coffee is an expensive food item;
(2) there are already many established brands of coffee; (3) Superior, the leading
coffee company used just such a sales promotion. This argument, as it stands,
shows little business shrewdness, for three reasons:

(1) The arguement unfairly assumes that a promotional plan works for one company
will also works for another.

(2) The argument rests on the assumption that Excelsior Company has the ability to
carry out a promotional strategy similar to that of Superior

(3) The argument took it for granted that the temporary sales promotion employed
by Superior is a successful one. However, no evidence is provided in this argument
to support this assumption.

gladys

Issue 36

Whether businesses and other organizations have overemphasized the importance of working as a team is a complex one and with no ready answer. In my view, virtually
every business operation is a blending of teamwork and individual autonomy on work.
The optimal point of such blending lies in somewhere between one pole of extreme emphasis on working as a team and the other of extreme emphasis on individual autonomy, depending on the nature of the businesses and the real situation they are in.

1. A business plagued by too much emphasis on working as team may breed inefficiency, bureacracy as well as stifling individual initiatives and creativity.

2. Carried to its extreme, individual autonomy can be counterproductive.
For example, the employee's efforts can not be effectively combined toward fulfilling
the business goal.

3. Managers are well advised to keep flexibility in the constantly changing business environment and learn to harmoniously combine both team work and individual efforts.