argument117 [Jet]小组第九次作业

yimengshanUID: 2392100

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

"Over 70 percent of the respondents toa recent survey reported that they are required to take more work home withthem from the workplace than they were in the past. Since Valu-Mart has notseen impressive sales in its office-supply departments in the past, we shouldtake advantage of this work-at-home trend by increasing at all Valu-Mart storesthe stock of home office machines such as printers, small copy machines, papershredders, and fax machines. We will also increase stock of office suppliessuch as paper, pens, and staplers. With these changes, our office-supplydepartments will become the most profitable component of our stores."
WORDS: 458          TIME: 45:00          DATE: 2008-2-21

In the memo, the manager recommends thatall Valu-Mart stores should increase the stock of home office machines andoffice supplies in order to keep up with the work-at-home trend. To support therecommendation, the manager cites a survey which provides seemingly adequatedata. Yet, the argument is based on several unsubstantial assumptions, whichmake the recommendation unconvincing as it stands.

A threshold assumption upon the argument isthat the survey is effective. However, there are no details to substantiate theassumption. The manager provides no more further information on the survey, andwe even do not know who conduct that survey and who respond to the survey.Perhaps those who respond to the survey cannot represent all people who havethe experience of taking works to home, or perhaps the survey was conducted ina special period in which the companies were all very busy, and therefore itwas a common phenomenon to prolong working time, yet the phenomenon is no longerexist now. All the scenarios, if true, will impair the validity of the survey,and therefore make the recommendation suspectable.

Even the survey's data is effective toutilize, the manager fails to take into account all departments which couldalso bring profits to the stores. The manager claims that by way of increasingthe stock of home-office facilities, the office-supply department will surelybecome the most profitable components of the stores. Yet, there is noinformation to tell us the condition of other departments. It is entirelypossible that their stores are mainly providing family facilities, and officefacilities only take a small proportion in all products sold in the stores.Without making a comprehensive comparison of all departments, it is irrationalto claim the office-supply department will become the most profitable one.Therefore, the manager overstates the function of the office-department.

Even assuming the office-supply departmentis a vital component in the stores, and the stores mainly sell officefacilities, the manager fails to consider which kinds of facilities will meetthose workers' needs. The manager just speculates that what the workers needare printers, small copy machines and so forth, While there is no evidence to provecustomers will buy these facilities. It is entirely possible that what thoseworkers really need are portable computers, which the stores cannot provide.Without make a careful research within customers, it is a rash decision tostock so many printers and so forth.

In conclusion, the recommendation hasseveral defects which make it unwarranted, in order to render it much more convincing,the manager should provide more details on the validity of the survey, andprovide further information on other departments of the stores. Moreover, themanager should carefully consider the will of the scores’ customers.

sallytxhUID: 2360795

argument117 [Jet]小组第九次作业

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 hem 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: 458          TIME: 45:00          DATE: 2008-2-21

In the memo, the manager recommends that all Valu-Mart stores should increase the stock of home office machines and office supplies in order to keep up with the work-at-home trend. To support the recommendation, the manager cites a survey which provides seemingly adequate data. Yet, the argument is based on several unsubstantial assumptions, which make the recommendation unconvincing as it stands.开头简单明了，向你学习

A threshold assumption upon the argument is that the survey is effective. However, there are no details to substantiate the assumption. The manager provides no more further information on the survey, and we even do not know who conduct that survey and who respond to the survey. Perhaps those who respond to the survey cannot represent all people who have the experience of taking works to home, or perhaps the survey was conducted in a special period in which the companies were all very busy, and therefore it was a common phenomenon to prolong working time, yet the phenomenon is no longer exist now. All the scenarios, if true, will impair the validity of the survey, and therefore make the recommendation suspectable.既然下文提到Even the survey's data is effective to utilize，这段主题应该提一下survey's data不可信，具体一些。我是觉得单看这段挺好的，但看下文就觉得有些。。。（说不清，建议一下吧）

Even the survey's data is effective to utilize, the manager fails to take into account all departments which could also bring profits to the stores. The manager claims that by way of increasing the stock of home-office facilities, the office-supply department will surely become the most profitable components of the stores. Yet, there is no information to tell us the condition of other departments. It is entirely possible that their stores are mainly providing family facilities, and office facilities only take a small proportion in all products sold in the stores. Without making a comprehensive comparison of all departments, it is irrational to claim the office-supply department will become the most profitable one. Therefore, the manager overstates the function of the office-department. 我怎么没想到从这方面批判，挺好的

Even assuming the office-supply department is a vital component in the stores, and the stores mainly sell office facilities, the manager fails to consider which kinds of facilities will meet those workers' needs. The manager just speculates that what the workers need are printers, small copy machines and so forth, While there is no evidence to prove customers will buy these facilities. It is entirely possible that what those workers really need are portable computers, which the stores cannot provide. Without making a careful research within customers, it is a rash decision to stock so many printers and so forth.开头和上端差不多，应该换种说法

In conclusion, the recommendation has several defects which make it unwarranted, in order to render it much more convincing, the manager should provide more details on the validity of the survey, and provide further information on other departments of the stores. Moreover, the manager should carefully consider the will of the scores’ customers.

文章语言很不错，结构和思路很清晰，论点也很好，赞一下。
和issue一样好多单词连在一起了，影响阅读。

[ 本帖最后由 sallytxh 于 2008-2-24 12:05 编辑 ]