Analyze of an Argument

[cindyqtran]

The following appeared in an article in a human resources magazine:

"Six months ago, in an experiment aimed at boosting worker productivity, Company Z started providing free gourmet lunches to its employees. The Company hoped that these office lunches would encourage employees to remain in the building during lunch-hour and motivate employees to work harder throughout the day. A survey found that soon after the lunch program was implemented, the average number of hours worked by most Company Z employees increased dramatically. During this same period, the Company's profits also increased substantially. Thus, it is safe to say that the lunch program was a huge success and that Company Z should make the program permanent."

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. Point out flaws in the argument's logic and analyze the argument's underlying assumptions. In addition, evaluate how supporting evidence is used and what evidence might counter the argument's conclusion. You may also discuss what additional evidence could be used to strengthen the argument or what changes would make the argument more logically sound.

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The argument states that increased worker productivity was because of the free gourmet lunches provided by Company Z. While this may be the case, the argument lacks many flaws that weaken the conclusion.

First, Company Z might have a big project due within the last six months, therefore, employees will have to work longer hours. By working longer hours, the marginal rate of return of good quality work produced by the employees will decrease. Even though the numbers of hours are increased, the quality of work produced might be below the status quo. This results in workers having less energy, even though food is being provided, because of the long hours, therefore decreasing worker productivity.

Second, the argument states that the average number of hours worked increased. Company Z does not state specifically whether it provided the free gourmet lunches everday that the employees worked. The free lunches might only be provided every other day such as Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and employees worked the greatest number of hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Yet, the average number of hours will increase, but not necessarily because of the free gourmet lunches.

Third, Company X could experience an increase in profits because of a big project within the six months. But as stated before, the quality of work produced by the employees might not be up to par therefore producing mediocore work. The customers might buy the product produced by Company X, but realize that it is not of high quality and might not buy the product again. In the long run, this decreases the profit of the company. Moreover, Company X's profit could have increased because of other external reasons such as a booming economy or increasing resources in its industry.

The article tries to prove that the gourmet food was the direct and only reason why worker productivity increased. But other factors such as increased hours, profits, and external factors could have caused increased worker productivity. Even though the free gourmet lunches provided by Company X could have led to increased worker productivity, other factors should be taken into consideration.

thanks!!

[Guest]

opps, Company X = Company Z

[StaceyKoprince]

This would have received a 4 except for what I discuss in the first paragraph below. As is, I'd say a 3.5 or 3. I'm not sure whether this was just a typo due to the impromptu nature of the essay or whether there is a language issue. If the former, make sure to leave yourself time to proofread at the end, as you can't afford errors of this magnitude. If the latter, you will need to work on your language skills overall. I'm guessing it's more the former than the latter because the rest of the essay seems clear.

There are some grammatical errors here that reduce the clarity of what you are saying; when this happens, there will be a significant reduction in score. For example, the opening paragraph states "the argument lacks many flaws" - this is saying that the argument does not have flaws. It's clear you want to say that the argument has flaws, but you haven't actually said that. Also, briefly mention in your opening paragraph the flaws you are going to discuss in the body of the essay.

Your examples are clear and well-explained but, to get a great score, you also need to discuss how these flaws might be fixed. For example, you might have said that the company could survey the workers and ask why they worked longer hours during this period of time to see if they mention the free lunches as an important motivating factor. In addition, the author would have to demonstrate that other likely factors did not have a big impact in this time frame. And so on.

Your conclusion is good as far as it goes, but mention again here that the author needs to provide additional evidence to verify his/her claim that the lunch program boosted worker productivity - and then you could say that, if this other evidence doesn't exist or can't be shown, then the author will have to take other factors into consideration in order to have a reasonably acceptable conclusion.