The following appeared in a memo from the vice president of a food-distribution company with food-storage warehouses in several cities.

“Recently we signed a contract with The Fly-Away Pest-Control Company to provide pest-control services at our fast-food warehouse in Palm City, but last month we discovered that over $20,000 worth of food there had been destroyed by pest damage. Meanwhile, the Buzzoff Pest-Control Company, which we have used for many years, continued to service our warehouse in Wintervale, and last month only $10,000 worth of the food stored there had been destroyed by pest damage. Even though the price charged by Fly-Away is considerably lower, our best means of saving money is to return to Buzzoff Company for all our pest-control services.”

The food- distribution company, as mentioned above, is associated with food storage warehouses in several cities. Recently it signed a contract for the pest-control services with Fly-Away-Pest-Control Company, thereby ending its contract with Buzzoff Pest-Control Company in some of the cities, after a year. The memo from the vice president of the food-distribution company, lays emphasis on returning to Buzzoff Pest-Control Company for its services in all the cities. This is based on the comparison between the losses incurred by the two pest control companies in terms of food destroyed by pest damage. In the first glance, this claim in the memo appears to be quite logical as the services of the company which is causing more monetary loss must be immediately terminated.

However, the rising competition with the nearby markets may not be entirely based on the organic value of the food available there. There seems to be no proof in support of the above mentioned assumption. It is quite possible that these food products are becoming popular due to their better quality or may be better taste. There is a fair possibility of better advertisement for these newly launched organic food products. The memorandum has not considered the role of media in giving hype to the organic content of these products. Correspondingly, the need of the hour may be met by better advertisements through various media channels.

Damage of food worth $ 20000 by The Fly -Away Pest-Control Company in Palm City can be due to bad weather conditions. The climatic conditions in both Palm City and Wintervale, must be compared. More damage in Palm City may have resulted due to the lack of adequate facilities or congenial environment provided by the food distribution company. One can not even rule out the likelihood of less efficient or inexperienced staff employed by the food distribution company itself. Consequently, the decision on continuation or termination of contract with Fly-Away Pest Control Company should be based on its performance in all the associated cities, and not just a single city.

Last but not the least, there must have been some factors responsible for transferring the contract from Buzzoff Pest-Control Company to Fly-Away Pest-Control Company, when the services of the former were received for many years. Those factors must have had a ground and therefore should not be ignored. For instance, the cost shared by both of the pest control services must be analyzed in detail. Since The Fly-Away-Pest-Control Company charges much less as compared to Buzzoff Pest-Control Company, separate records of the likely expenditure by both the companies should be evaluated side by side. This will give a true picture of the more profitable company, in the long run.

In other words, faith should be expressed and more time should be given to analyze the overall performance of Fly-Away-Pest-Control Company. Proceeding otherwise may harm the reputation of the food-distribution company, as switching from one company to another and back to the previous one seems to be an impulsive, immature and unethical action. Thus, the argument given in the memo proves to be quite unconvincing, owing to the various above mentioned aspects being ignored.