The following appeared in a memo from the owner 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, all of the

The owner of a chain of cheese stores believes that in order to augment the profits the stores should discontinue stocking a variety of cheeses and focus chiefly on the domestic cheeses. This conclusion is based on the premise that people prefer to use domestic cheeses than imported ones. The author's argument is replete with unclear conditions which to be illustrated the author needs to provide answers to several vital questions.

First, the author needs to ask whether there is any direct evidence of the decline in the customer trend toward buying imported cheeses. The author assumes that as in Wisconsin branch the five best selling cheeses were domestic cheddar cheeses, then there is a decline in the trend of buying imported cheeses. It is highly possible that the newly introduced store in Wisconsin provides a domestic chesses with a different taste and as people like new things, there might be a temporary surge in the customers preferring domestic cheese.

Secondly, the author needs to ask whether the numbers of the subscribers of the Cheeses of the World magazine are statistically reliable. The subscribers’ numbers are not known, it is possible that increasing inclination toward domestic cheese is among 10 individuals throughout the world. Then it could not be counted as a reliable evidence. Even if there are millions of subscribers to show that such a trend exist, the author needs to ask whether it includes the idea of the marketing domain of the pertaining cheese stores. It is possible that people of the United States of America have a different inclination and are interested more in the imported cheese. Then there would be no justification in eliminating the cheeses from the trades.

Finally, even all the previous assumptions hold true, the author needs to ask is it the best way to contract the stock of imported cheese or are there still better ways. The author did not rule out alternative ways to increase the profits before claiming that his/her suggestion is the best. The stores can benefit from a compelling advertisement. Cheese can be packed in a colorful packaging to attract more customers. The improvement in the taste of the cheeses also can do the same. The prices might not be balanced, it might be too cheap, or too expensive that the profits are seemingly not satisfying. All these alternatives should be ruled out to affirm the conclusion.

In short, as discussed, the unclear argument of the author cannot lead us to a certain evaluation. There are several vital questions remained unaddressed by the author. Unless there is no answer for enumerated the questions, the author’s conclusion fails to be tenable.