The falling revenues that the company is experiencing coincide with delays in manufacturing. These delays, in turn,
are due in large part to poor planning in purchasing metals. Consider further that the manager of the department that
handles purchasing of raw materials has an excellent background in general business, psychology, and sociology,
but knows little about the properties of metals. The company should, therefore, move the purchasing manager to the
sales department and bring in a scientist from the research division to be manager of the purchasing department.
Author of the argument wants a scientist to replace as the manager of purchasing department. Author considers that the delay in manufacturing is due to technical incapability of current purchasing department manager. Author considers that the scientist from the research division can resolve the issues of manufacturing delays and hence falling revenues. Argument inexplicitly considers that the knowledge of general business & other disciplines is not helpful for running purchasing department.
There are few flaws in the argument. First flaw is that author considers that only a technical person can be a good manager; knowledge of general business, psychology & sociology is not of any help in planning. This assumption is wrong unless issue of falling revenues or manufacturing delays is not identified. Manufacturing delays could be due to many reasons such as supply constraints, unavoidable circumstances at supplier end, shortage of raw material, machine breakdown etc. In case of such issues, a pure technical person is as good as a person having knowledge of general business & other disciplines. Rather a multidisciplinary person might think better from different perspectives to think of any possible solution.
Second flaw with the argument is that argument is considering falling revenues as direct consequence of manufacturing delays. Yes, it could be one of the reasons of falling revenues but not the only reason. Revenue can fall due to other factors as well such as competition in the market, economic condition of the market, changing behaviour of the customer, technological enhancement, labour issues, government regulations etc. unless such root cause factors are analyzed, it is not wise to make decision.
Third flaw with the argument is that the manufacturing delay is due to raw material purchase only. However, it could be due to other external factors such as logistics, mining issues of metal. Logistics issues can cause delay in supply of the raw material. Mining sector depends on many factors & tier-2 suppliers. Breakdown of anyone tier2 /3 supplier in the chain can also lead to chaos in the tier 1 companies.
Thus, author’s argument that changing of purchasing manager will change everything, and a technical person can resolve all such issues is invalid. Since issues are ranging diversly, it requires a multidisciplinary approach to analyze the issues at tier2 & tier3 level. Master of anyone discipline such as a scientist will not be a good choice. On the other hand, it is also not advisable to appoint someone having knowledge of humanities. Multidisciplinary person having knowledge of technical areas, general management, tier 2 & tier 3 supplier issues can be better choice.
| Post date | Users | Rates | Link to Content |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-12-30 | Aarif_MSIL | view |
- In a recent citywide poll 15 percent more residents said that they watch television programs about the visual arts than was the case in a poll conducted five years ago During these past five years the number of people visiting our city s art museums has i
- When the Apogee Company had all its operations in one location it was more profitable than it is today Therefore the Apogee Company should close down its field offices and conduct all its operations from a single location Such centralization would improve
- Since a competing lower priced newspaper The Bugle was started five years ago The Mercury s circulation has declined by 10 000 readers The best way to get more people to read The Mercury is to reduce its price below that of The Bugle at least until circul
- Corporations should look to the city of Helios when seeking new business opportunities or a new location Even in the recent recession Helios s unemployment rate was lower than the regional average It is the industrial center of the region and historically
- People who use the artificial sweetener aspartame are better off consuming sugar since aspartame can actually contribute to weight gain rather than weight loss For example high levels of aspartame have been shown to trigger a craving for food by depleting