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09 Oct 2016, 07:06
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The following appeared in a memorandum sent by a vice-president of the Nadir Company to the company’s human resources department.
[/u]“Nadir does not need to adopt the costly ‘family-friendly’ programs that have been proposed, such as part-time work, work at home, and job-sharing. When these programs were made available at the Summit Company, the leader in its industry, only a small percentage of employees participated in them. Rather than adversely affecting our profitability by offering these programs, we should concentrate on offering extensive training that will enable employees to increase their productivity.”
Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.
[u]My Essay:
In the preceding argument, the vice president proposes not to adopt the costly family friendly programs such as part-time work, work at home and job sharing because these programs have not been successful in the case of its competitor, but rather focus on offering extensive training, which will result in improved profitability for the company by improving employee productivity. Though the author's claim may well have some merit, the author presents a poorly reasoned argument, based on several questionable claims and assumptions, and based solely on the evidence that the author offers, we cannot accept his argument as valid.
To begin with, the assumption that the family friendly measures will not work for the Nadir Company because they did not work for the Summit Company is flawed, as even though both the companies are in the same industry, they may be different from each other in many aspects. For instance, in case the number of employees having families and children in the Nadir Company is much higher than that in the Summit Company, the plan may well succeed fin the Nadir Company, although it failed in the Summit Company. To support his claim, the author needs to provide supporting data on the number and percentage of employees, who have families and children, for both the companies.
Second, the author proposed to introduce extensive training without offering any additional support for its success. It is quite possible that extensive training may also not provide the required results. To strengthen his argument, the author needs to provide evidence about why extensive training will succeed in improving employee productivity.
To sum, the argument presented above is unconvincing, and based on unsubstantiated assumptions and premises. We will have to reject the author's claim, unless the author presents additional supporting evidence to back his claim that the family program will not succeed in the Summit Company because it failed in the other company, and also why the extensive training program will succeed.
[/u]“Nadir does not need to adopt the costly ‘family-friendly’ programs that have been proposed, such as part-time work, work at home, and job-sharing. When these programs were made available at the Summit Company, the leader in its industry, only a small percentage of employees participated in them. Rather than adversely affecting our profitability by offering these programs, we should concentrate on offering extensive training that will enable employees to increase their productivity.”
Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.
[u]My Essay:
In the preceding argument, the vice president proposes not to adopt the costly family friendly programs such as part-time work, work at home and job sharing because these programs have not been successful in the case of its competitor, but rather focus on offering extensive training, which will result in improved profitability for the company by improving employee productivity. Though the author's claim may well have some merit, the author presents a poorly reasoned argument, based on several questionable claims and assumptions, and based solely on the evidence that the author offers, we cannot accept his argument as valid.
To begin with, the assumption that the family friendly measures will not work for the Nadir Company because they did not work for the Summit Company is flawed, as even though both the companies are in the same industry, they may be different from each other in many aspects. For instance, in case the number of employees having families and children in the Nadir Company is much higher than that in the Summit Company, the plan may well succeed fin the Nadir Company, although it failed in the Summit Company. To support his claim, the author needs to provide supporting data on the number and percentage of employees, who have families and children, for both the companies.
Second, the author proposed to introduce extensive training without offering any additional support for its success. It is quite possible that extensive training may also not provide the required results. To strengthen his argument, the author needs to provide evidence about why extensive training will succeed in improving employee productivity.
To sum, the argument presented above is unconvincing, and based on unsubstantiated assumptions and premises. We will have to reject the author's claim, unless the author presents additional supporting evidence to back his claim that the family program will not succeed in the Summit Company because it failed in the other company, and also why the extensive training program will succeed.
11 Oct 2016, 05:10
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The argument looks quite good to me.
"even though both the companies are in the same industry," - the argument does not mention this.
Some points that you can add to your essay -
Maybe Summit is a manufacturing company - so work from home and part time work do not have much effect there?
What if Nadir is focused on marketing and online content? these tasks can very well be completed from home.
What if Summit's employees stay very close to the company's office? May be that's why a lot of people did not opt for such facilities
How does the author know that these family friendly programs are costly? May they will be much cheaper when implemented in Nadir than in Summit?
Were all the employees in Summit aware of such programs? If only a small percentage of them were aware, then the argument is weakened.
Were all the employees in Summit eligible to avail these family friendly programs? If only a small percentage of them were eligible, then the argument is weakened.
Among those who participated in the program, what was the productivity improvement? If it was very high, again the argument is weakened.
If the productivity improvements lead to significantly higher profits, such programs are justified.
How much productivity improvement does the employee training program offer compared to such family friendly programs? Do such productivity improvements lead to increased profits?
What if the employees at Nadir are already well trained?
What are costs of such training programs? Will they negatively impact profitability?
What if not providing family friendly programs leads to employee dissatisfaction? What if many employees quit or go on strikes? how will the profitability be affected then?
What if training provided leads only to short term productivity improvements but family friendly programs lead to long term improvements?
What if such family friendly programs new talent to the company?
What about savings in office space and rent from programs such as work from home?
Of course, you do not need to write down all these points during the essay. But you need to challenge each statement to get more points.
"even though both the companies are in the same industry," - the argument does not mention this.
Some points that you can add to your essay -
Maybe Summit is a manufacturing company - so work from home and part time work do not have much effect there?
What if Nadir is focused on marketing and online content? these tasks can very well be completed from home.
What if Summit's employees stay very close to the company's office? May be that's why a lot of people did not opt for such facilities
How does the author know that these family friendly programs are costly? May they will be much cheaper when implemented in Nadir than in Summit?
Were all the employees in Summit aware of such programs? If only a small percentage of them were aware, then the argument is weakened.
Were all the employees in Summit eligible to avail these family friendly programs? If only a small percentage of them were eligible, then the argument is weakened.
Among those who participated in the program, what was the productivity improvement? If it was very high, again the argument is weakened.
If the productivity improvements lead to significantly higher profits, such programs are justified.
How much productivity improvement does the employee training program offer compared to such family friendly programs? Do such productivity improvements lead to increased profits?
What if the employees at Nadir are already well trained?
What are costs of such training programs? Will they negatively impact profitability?
What if not providing family friendly programs leads to employee dissatisfaction? What if many employees quit or go on strikes? how will the profitability be affected then?
What if training provided leads only to short term productivity improvements but family friendly programs lead to long term improvements?
What if such family friendly programs new talent to the company?
What about savings in office space and rent from programs such as work from home?
Of course, you do not need to write down all these points during the essay. But you need to challenge each statement to get more points.
Ashokshiva
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12 Oct 2016, 01:29
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Hi,
Request to rate mine as well:
Candidate: Our city's students have suffered long enough. Over the mayor's four years in office, our district's math and science scores have hovered well below the national average, even while our average teacher's salary has increased. Our student-per-class ratio is laughable, yet he has made no progress on building a new school. He simply cannot be trusted with our children's future; if you care about education, I am the only candidate you can support.
Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most conspicuously, the candidate concludes that people caring about education should support him during the upcoming mayor election. This is based on the premise that averages scores of science and maths subjects are below national average. The candidate's line of reasoning is that the mayor does not care about education hence the average scores are low. This argument is unconvincing for the following two reasons.
First, the candidate assumes that only maths and science scores reflects concern about education. This assumption is totally unwarranted. It is equally possible that city's students average scores are well above national average in other subjects. It is also possible that Mayor was concern had brought the results in other subjects and would take some more time for the results in maths and science. hence the candidate must provide further evidence to strengthen his argument.
Second, the candidate claims that inspite of having poor student ratio, no new school buildings have come up. But the candidate fails to provide data on what is a good student ratio. It is entirely possible that the current student ratio is well below national average to warrant a new building. Also it is equally possible that there is sufficient space in existing building to accomodate more students. Clearly, building a new building would incur cost that could well be spent on other pressing issues in education.
Finally, the author claims that teachers salaries have increased. But the candidate provides no data to this claim and has left many questions unanswered. What if the salaries of teachers were not increased for a long time and they have got an increase only now? What if the salaries were hiked to attract highly skilled teachers to the state? Without decisive answers to this pertinent question, one is left with an impression that candidate's claims are more of wishful thinking than substantive evidence.
In conclusion, the candidate's argument is neither compelling nor persuasive. Because the argument omits several key issues, it is thus poorly supported.If the candidate had backed up his or her claims with conclusive evidence and included items discussed above, the argument would have been more thorough and convincing.
Request to rate mine as well:
Candidate: Our city's students have suffered long enough. Over the mayor's four years in office, our district's math and science scores have hovered well below the national average, even while our average teacher's salary has increased. Our student-per-class ratio is laughable, yet he has made no progress on building a new school. He simply cannot be trusted with our children's future; if you care about education, I am the only candidate you can support.
Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most conspicuously, the candidate concludes that people caring about education should support him during the upcoming mayor election. This is based on the premise that averages scores of science and maths subjects are below national average. The candidate's line of reasoning is that the mayor does not care about education hence the average scores are low. This argument is unconvincing for the following two reasons.
First, the candidate assumes that only maths and science scores reflects concern about education. This assumption is totally unwarranted. It is equally possible that city's students average scores are well above national average in other subjects. It is also possible that Mayor was concern had brought the results in other subjects and would take some more time for the results in maths and science. hence the candidate must provide further evidence to strengthen his argument.
Second, the candidate claims that inspite of having poor student ratio, no new school buildings have come up. But the candidate fails to provide data on what is a good student ratio. It is entirely possible that the current student ratio is well below national average to warrant a new building. Also it is equally possible that there is sufficient space in existing building to accomodate more students. Clearly, building a new building would incur cost that could well be spent on other pressing issues in education.
Finally, the author claims that teachers salaries have increased. But the candidate provides no data to this claim and has left many questions unanswered. What if the salaries of teachers were not increased for a long time and they have got an increase only now? What if the salaries were hiked to attract highly skilled teachers to the state? Without decisive answers to this pertinent question, one is left with an impression that candidate's claims are more of wishful thinking than substantive evidence.
In conclusion, the candidate's argument is neither compelling nor persuasive. Because the argument omits several key issues, it is thus poorly supported.If the candidate had backed up his or her claims with conclusive evidence and included items discussed above, the argument would have been more thorough and convincing.
