Argument 69/70/115 Arg 115 Alpha for new building project-o
69) The following appeared in a memo from a vice president of a large, highly diversified company.
Ten years ago our company had two new office buildings constructed as regional headquarters for two regions. The buildings were erected by different construction companies¡aAlpha and Zeta. Although the two buildings had identical floor plans, the building constructed by Zeta cost 30 percent more to build. However, that building's expenses for maintenance last year were only half those of Alpha's. In addition, the energy consumption of the Zeta building has been lower than that of the Alpha building every year since its construction. Given these data, plus the fact that Zeta has a stable workforce with little employee turnover, we recommend using Zeta rather than Alpha for our new building project, even though Alpha's bid promises lower construction costs.
Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.
70) The following appeared in a memo from a vice president of a large, highly diversified company.
Ten years ago our company had two new office buildings constructed as regional headquarters for two regions. The buildings were erected by different construction companies¡aAlpha and Zeta. Although the two buildings had identical floor plans, the building constructed by Zeta cost 30 percent more to build. However, that building's expenses for maintenance last year were only half those of Alpha's. Furthermore, the energy consumption of the Zeta building has been lower than that of the Alpha building every year since its construction. Such data indicate that we should use Zeta rather than Alpha for our contemplated new building project, even though Alpha's bid promises lower construction costs.
Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument.
115) The following appeared in a memo from a vice president of a large, highly diversified company.
Ten years ago our company had two new office buildings constructed as regional headquarters for two different regions. The buildings were erected by two different construction companies¡aAlpha and Zeta. Even though the two buildings had identical floor plans, the building constructed by Zeta cost 30 percent more to build, and its expenses for maintenance last year were twice those of the building constructed by Alpha. Furthermore, the energy consumption of the Zeta building has been higher than that of the Alpha building every year since its construction. Such data, plus the fact that Alpha has a stable workforce with little employee turnover, indicate that we should use Alpha rather than Zeta for our contemplated new building project.
Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted.
G1: Ten years ago our company had two new office buildings constructed as regional headquarters for two different regions.
G2: The buildings were erected by two different construction companies -Alpha and Zeta.
G3: Even though the two buildings had identical floor plans, the building constructed by Zeta cost 30 percent more to build, and its expenses for maintenance last year were twice those of the building constructed by Alpha.
G4: Furthermore, the energy consumption of the Zeta building has been higher than that of the Alpha building every year since its construction.
G5: Such data, plus the fact that Alpha has a stable workforce with little employee turnover,
C1: indicate that we should use Alpha rather than Zeta for our contemplated new building project.
A1 (G3): Identical floor plans implies that building costs should be the same or similar.
A2 (G3): The higher building cost indicated that Zeta was less competent than Alpha.
A3 (G3): The higher maintenance expenses resulted from Zeta's less competence .
A4 (G4): The energy consumption is higher because Zeta did a poor job.
A5 (G5): The company with a stable workforce would necessarily do a better job.
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assumption 1: the higher building cost and maintenance expenses are due to the less competence of Zeta
- maybe the labor cost is higher
- maybe the building was more heavily used
- perhaps the raw materials are more expensive due to the transportation costs
assumption 2: Alphas buildings always consume less energy
- maybe Alpha do not have better green technology
- the climate helps save energy
- the building is less heavily used
assumption 3: the stable workforce necessarily work more efficiently and effectively
- job security may provide less motivation for workers
- no opportunity for the company to hire new talents
- the HR of the company may be incompetent