Could you please give me feed back/grade my AWA essay?

[arjun666]

Dear MGMAT members/instructors.
Pls find below the argument and my response for the AWA Analysis of Argument.
I would really appreciate it if anybody could take time off and help me with some feedback. I finished this within 20 mins and just relaxed for the next 10 mins to prepare for the devilishly tough quant section( all MGMAT quant tests just suck the juice out of my brain, leaving me almost nothing in my tank for verbal. My MGMAT scores are CAT1 680 (Q49V34), CAT2 680 (Q49V34) and CAT3 690 (Q48V36).

ESSAY QUESTION:
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.
YOUR RESPONSE:
The argument presented above has a number of flaws including the following:1. Were the extra hours put in by the company's employees after the lunch program was implemented due to the program? The answer to this question would likely give the true reason behind the sudden increase in the working hours of employees.
2a. The lunch period in any company is an hour at the maximum. The lunch program's goal was to keep employees inside the building during this period. Using common sense, this would mean that employees could cut short their lunch time and work more by a maximum of 30 mins (assuming it takes 30 mins for a person to procure and eat his lunch). How did the average working hours increase dramatically?
2b. Also, usually, the majority of employees bring their lunches from home, both to save time and money ( which makes most sense) and are in the building during the lunch period. Hence, the lunch program would have saved them the cost of preparing the lunch meal, but the the time it would have taken them to eat would still have been the same.
3. In what areas did the company's profits increase substantially? What factors contributed to the increase in profits? Answers to these questions will determine if the lunch program was the real reason behind the increase in profits.
4. How many people participated in the survey? If not enough people participated in the survey then the sample is not representative of the entire population
5. What were the average working hours of the survey participants before and after the lunch program was implemented? If the survey had asked part time employees or contractors who became full time employees or salaried employees during the six month period the lunch program was implemented then the reason behind the increase could be due to a change in employment status.
Based on these flaws, I find the argument to be poorly constructed. The evidence does not support the final conclusion of the argument.

I am taking the GMAT day after tomorrow Friday Sep 28th, PST

Thanks a lot to MGMAT for all the prep it has given me.
Cheers
Arjun

[StaceyKoprince]

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