The following appeared in a letter from the owner of the Sunnyside Towers apartment complex to its manager.” Last week, all the showerheads in the first three buildings of the Sunnyside Towers complex were modified to restrict maximum water flow to one-third of what it used to be. Although actual readings of water usage before and after the adjustment are not yet available, the change will obviously result in a considerable savings for Sunnyside Corporation, since the corporation must pay for water each month. Except for a few complaints about low water pressure, no problems with showers have been reported since the adjustment. Clearly, modifying showerheads to restrict water flow throughout all twelve buildings in the Sunnyside Towers complex will increase our profits further.”

The following appeared in a letter from the owner of the Sunnyside Towers apartment complex to its manager.

“Last week, all the showerheads in the first three buildings of the Sunnyside Towers complex were modified to restrict maximum water flow to one-third of what it used to be. Although actual readings of water usage before and after the adjustment are not yet available, the change will obviously result in a considerable savings for Sunnyside Corporation, since the corporation must pay for water each month. Except for a few complaints about low water pressure, no problems with showers have been reported since the adjustment. Clearly, modifying showerheads to restrict water flow throughout all twelve buildings in the Sunnyside Towers complex will increase our profits further.”

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.

The letter makes several assumptions that the Sunnyside Towers manager must examine to determine how well the stated argument will hold up. First, the Sunnyside Towers owner assumes that the corporation must pay for water each month. In the corporate environment, a utility allowance is often provided. However, if a corporation is paying for water out of its own pocket, then the decision to limit water use is a good one. There are usually several ways a corporation can reduce water usage, such as installing low-flow fixtures, replacing shower heads with single-function heads, or installing water-saving toilets. Any of these choices would save Sunnyside Towers money, which would, in turn, result in greater profits. If, however, the corporation is paying only for water usage, then any changes will cost the corporation. This may lead the manager to reject the proposal outright or to seek alternative suggestions.

Second, the Sunnyside Towers manager assumes that the decrease in water usage will have no effect on tenant comfort. While this is a valid assumption, it ignores the fact that some people like warm water and others like cold water. If one group of tenants dislikes the new water flow, they will surely complain about it and, as a result, it will cause a decrease in profits. Therefore, the manager should investigate methods to increase productivity (such as installing more efficient showerheads), rather than arbitrarily reducing water usage. If the manager is unwilling to make any changes to the showerheads, then the corporation should limit water usage to one or two buildings at a time to ensure that there are enough tenants who like the new water flow. If this is done, the corporation can then begin to introduce showerheads to the other buildings, with the expectation that, as the number of tenants who like the new water flow increases, the complaints will diminish as well.

Third, the Sunnyside Towers owner assumes that the decrease in water usage will not inconvenience tenants. This assumption is reasonable, but the owner should also consider how tenants will feel when they realize that the showers they once took in just a few minutes now take a full 15 minutes or longer. This may cause tenants to seek other accommodations, such as hotels or motels, and this, in turn, will cut into profits. Therefore, the Sunnyside Towers owner should think about how to make the changes in as painless a manner as possible for tenants. One way to do this is to give the tenants advance notice of the changes so that tenants have time to purchase or rent other accommodations. Another is to stagger the changes in water use so that tenants are least inconvenienced during the month that the changes are taking place. The manager should also offer tenants a reward of some kind if they choose to remain with the corporation during the change. For example, the corporation could donate a percentage of profits from the unused portion of the month to a charity or offer free meals to tenants who remain with Sunnyside Towers.

My fourth issue with the letter is that, although the letter claims a decrease in water usage will result in greater profits, it does not provide any data to support this assertion. Unless the corporation is paying only for water usage, the manager cannot determine whether the changes will result in greater profits and whether the corporation will be making enough money to justify the changes. As a result, the manager has no choice but to reject the argument outright.