The following appeared in a memorandum from the owner of Movies Galore, a chain of
video rental stores.
“In order to reverse the recent decline in our profits, we must reduce operating expenses at
Movies Galore’s ten video rental stores. Since we are famous for our special bargains, raising
our rental prices is not a viable way to improve profits. Last month our store in downtown
Marston significantly decreased its operating expenses by closing at 6:00 P.M. rather than
9:00 P.M. and by reducing its stock by eliminating all movies released more than five years
ago. Therefore, in order to increase profits without jeopardizing our reputation for offering
great movies at low prices, we recommend implementing similar changes in our other nine
Movies Galore stores.”
Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to
decide whether the recommendation is likely to have the predicted result. Be sure to explain
how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.
In a memorandum, the owner of the Movies Galore chain of video rental stores claims that, since profits have recently had a downfall at the stores, they should reduce operating expenses whilst offering movies at low prices as usual. Although the owner provides seemingly logical reasons for this recommendation, on a closer look, it becomes evident that her argument raises many questions that must be answered before the recommendation can be taken seriously.
To begin with, the owner claims that since profits are declining, it must be due to "high" operating expenses which must, hence, be lowered. However, the owner fails to provide any evidence from which this conclusion can be drawn. What are the recent sales at the stores? Can it be reasonably assumed that the sales have been unwavering, and it is only the operating costs that have been cutting into the profits? The owner goes on to claim that raising the rental prices is not the solution. Has there a survey been conducted recently of the stores' customers that says that, were prices raised, the customers would no longer shop there? The answers to these questions can make or break the owner's argument for prioritizing the lowering of operating costs while keeping on offering videos at the same rental prices.
Further, the owner cites the Marston store which recently changed its closing time from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and, in the process, significantly decreased its operating expenses. Does a fall in operating costs necessarily reflect a rise in profits though? Is there any evidence that demonstrates that operating expenses were the only shortcoming of the Marston store, and on overcoming that hurdle, the store has turned profitable? Did Marston employ any other tactic to maximize their profits besides this? Unless the owner can produce sound proof that operating costs were Marston's only obstacle in the path to being a profitable venture, her argument that the stores should focus on minimizing operating expenses holds no water.
Finally, the owner categorically assumes that what worked for Marston will undoubtedly work for all other Movies Galore stores. Are the circumstances of all ten stores similar or at least comparable? Do they cater to the same demographic? Are the customers' purchasing habits more or less the same, so that the strategy employed by Marston can be reliably applied to the other stores and similar results achieved? It is possible, for example, that Marston's customers were older people who generally wrap up their day early in the evening, which is why Marston found it fine to close by 6:00 p.m. There may very well be a Movies Galore store in an area with a significantly younger working population who would like the option of shopping late. The owner needs to answer these questions regarding the comparative demographics of the customer base at different shops, if her recommendation is to be evaluated in light of all the evidence.
To conclude, while the owner's recommendation for reducing operating expenses at the rental stores while offering videos on rent at the same prices seems logical prima facie, there are many questions that need to be answered in detail as outlined above. Only on having the full picture at hand can the owner's argument be examined properly, and a decision be taken regarding her recommendation.
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Comments
e-rater score report
Attribute Value Ideal
Final score: 4.0 out of 6
Category: Good Excellent
No. of Grammatical Errors: 13 2
No. of Spelling Errors: 6 2
No. of Sentences: 22 15
No. of Words: 553 350
No. of Characters: 2739 1500
No. of Different Words: 261 200
Fourth Root of Number of Words: 4.849 4.7
Average Word Length: 4.953 4.6
Word Length SD: 2.633 2.4
No. of Words greater than 5 chars: 198 100
No. of Words greater than 6 chars: 145 80
No. of Words greater than 7 chars: 99 40
No. of Words greater than 8 chars: 58 20
Use of Passive Voice (%): 0 0
Avg. Sentence Length: 25.136 21.0
Sentence Length SD: 12.271 7.5
Use of Discourse Markers (%): 0.545 0.12
Sentence-Text Coherence: 0.316 0.35
Sentence-Para Coherence: 0.504 0.50
Sentence-Sentence Coherence: 0.101 0.07
Number of Paragraphs: 5 5
Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 4, column 702, Rule ID: POSSESIVE_APOSTROPHE[1]
Message: Possible typo: apostrophe is missing. Did you mean 'owners'' or 'owner's'?
Suggestion: owners'; owner's
...o these questions can make or break the owners argument for prioritizing the lowering ...
^^^^^^
Line 10, column 24, Rule ID: POSSESIVE_APOSTROPHE[1]
Message: Possible typo: apostrophe is missing. Did you mean 'owners'' or 'owner's'?
Suggestion: owners'; owner's
...the evidence. To conclude, while the owners recommendation for reducing operating e...
^^^^^^
Line 10, column 302, Rule ID: POSSESIVE_APOSTROPHE[1]
Message: Possible typo: apostrophe is missing. Did you mean 'owners'' or 'owner's'?
Suggestion: owners'; owner's
...having the full picture at hand can the owners argument be examined properly, and a de...
^^^^^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
besides, finally, hence, however, if, look, may, regarding, so, well, while, at least, for example, more or less, to begin with
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 31.0 19.6327345309 158% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 17.0 12.9520958084 131% => OK
Conjunction : 7.0 11.1786427146 63% => OK
Relative clauses : 24.0 13.6137724551 176% => OK
Pronoun: 39.0 28.8173652695 135% => Less pronouns wanted
Preposition: 65.0 55.5748502994 117% => OK
Nominalization: 14.0 16.3942115768 85% => OK
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 2817.0 2260.96107784 125% => OK
No of words: 550.0 441.139720559 125% => OK
Chars per words: 5.12181818182 5.12650576532 100% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.84273464058 4.56307096286 106% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.72384572566 2.78398813304 98% => OK
Unique words: 266.0 204.123752495 130% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.483636363636 0.468620217663 103% => OK
syllable_count: 889.2 705.55239521 126% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.6 1.59920159681 100% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 6.0 4.96107784431 121% => OK
Article: 10.0 8.76447105788 114% => OK
Subordination: 6.0 2.70958083832 221% => Less adverbial clause wanted.
Conjunction: 3.0 1.67365269461 179% => OK
Preposition: 7.0 4.22255489022 166% => OK
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 22.0 19.7664670659 111% => OK
Sentence length: 25.0 22.8473053892 109% => OK
Sentence length SD: 72.7823229152 57.8364921388 126% => OK
Chars per sentence: 128.045454545 119.503703932 107% => OK
Words per sentence: 25.0 23.324526521 107% => OK
Discourse Markers: 5.77272727273 5.70786347227 101% => OK
Paragraphs: 5.0 5.15768463074 97% => OK
Language errors: 3.0 5.25449101796 57% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 8.0 8.20758483034 97% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 6.0 6.88822355289 87% => OK
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 8.0 4.67664670659 171% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.297954826509 0.218282227539 136% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0966134080219 0.0743258471296 130% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0891474455095 0.0701772020484 127% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.193753490542 0.128457276422 151% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0681939336137 0.0628817314937 108% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 15.2 14.3799401198 106% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 46.1 48.3550499002 95% => OK
smog_index: 8.8 7.1628742515 123% => OK
flesch_kincaid_grade: 13.0 12.197005988 107% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 12.71 12.5979740519 101% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 8.69 8.32208582834 104% => OK
difficult_words: 133.0 98.500998004 135% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 14.0 12.3882235529 113% => OK
gunning_fog: 12.0 11.1389221557 108% => OK
text_standard: 13.0 11.9071856287 109% => OK
What are above readability scores?
---------------------
Rates: 66.67 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 4.0 Out of 6
---------------------
Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.