Is it desirable to maintain our company’s high quality standards for product development, even if the result is higher prices for our customers?Yes; many employees ignore company procedures designed to ensure that our product quality standards are met.

The options actually are:

No; our company’s concern with product quality has allowed competitors to capture market share by offering slightly inferior but less expensive products.  

Argument strong / weak

Yes; many employees ignore company procedures designed to ensure that our product quality standards are met.  

Argument strong / weak

The first argument is strong

The second argument is weak

Explanation:

The first argument is logical because keeping up with the competitors' low priced products is a genuine source of concern.The quality procedures could still be adhered strictly if the product is perceived as been of very high quality in the eyes of the customers, as the saying goes that the real beauty lies in the eyes of the beholders,meaning that this is something for customers to judge.

The second argument is weak,override of control procedures by some employees is not a tenable excuse not to have the right quality products manufactured,since carrot and stick approach of punishing non-compliant employees and rewarding compliant employees is at their disposal.

they encountered severe weather for which they were poorly prepared.