Argument117 Hamming小组第8周作业 ******_******

ScorpionSkyUID: 2273954

TOPIC: ARGUMENT117 - The following is a memo from the business manager of Valu-Mart stores.

"Over 70 percent of the respondents to a recent survey reported that they are required to take more work home with them from the workplace than they were in the past. Since Valu-Mart has not seen impressive sales in its office-supply departments in the past, we should take advantage of this work-at-home trend by increasing at all Valu-Mart stores the stock of home office machines such as printers, small copy machines, paper shredders, and fax machines. We will also increase stock of office supplies such as paper, pens, and staplers. With these changes, our office-supply departments will become the most profitable component of our stores."
WORDS: 388          TIME: 上午 12:30:00          DATE: 2007-1-10

This argument seems well-presented at first glance, but close scrutiny (scrutiny examination) reveals that it suffers from several logic flaws. For one thing, the most desired point to me is not the increasing woke-time at home, but whether most of those kickers 抱怨者 (complaints抱怨) really need to buy new office supplies or machines. For another thing, even though the office-supply departments would achieve a great (more) progress of earning profits, it does not means that they would be the most profitable component of Valu-Mart stores.

To the beginning, the representation and validityof the survey is opening to question. As we know, because home usually is thought of a place where make a tired person relax and entertainment after stayed boring workplace as a whole day, most workers go into painful and complaint at the mere mention of taking work home from the workplace. Therefore, it is a hardly possibility to get an effective result of survey which upon such a group tired people.

In addition, the arguer tends to assume under the illusion that the more work taking home the more office supplies are needed. In other words, he seems to believe the uncertain fact that the total workloads --included the part at home and the rest part at office--are increasing as a whole. Unfortunately, some other alternative explanations are overlooked by the careless arguer.Perhaps, there is merely a vary of work styles meanwhile the total workloads are not noted change. Or perhaps, the enlarged part of workloads at home from the over 70 percent of respondents is still not counteract the rest part, which is not mentioned and might having been declined significantly. Obviously, in both the two instances the workers are expected need office supplies no more than they needed before.

Finally, even if I concede that the assumption of the arguer above is accurate, and their office supply departments succeed in making increased profits by their previous stores. It must be noted that, however, there is not any information mentioned about other departments, which are equally possible paying no effort to become the most profitable component, as same as the office-supply ones. Consequently, it is too earlier to conclude that anyone of them would become the winner in this inner competition.


In conclusion, this argument is not persuasive as it stands. To make it more convincing, the arguer would have to provide more evidence to demonstrate that the survey's representation and validity. To strengthen his recommendation, he need to clear the issue that why should more work at home eans more office supplies needed? After all, before any final decisions are made about the increasing of stores, the arguer should carefully consider the situations of both the office supply department and the other branched of the Valu-Mart stores.

[ 本帖最后由 ScorpionSky 于 2007-1-14 15:56 编辑 ]