The following appeared in a memorandum from the director of human resources to the executive officers of Company X: “Last year, we surveyed our employees on improvements needed at Company X by having them rank, in order of importance, the issues presented in a list of possible improvements. Improved communications between employees and management was consistently ranked as the issue of highest importance by the employees who responded to the survey. As you know, we have since instituted regular communications sessions conducted by high-level management, which the employees can attend on a voluntary basis. Therefore, it is likely that most employees at Company X now feel that the improvement most needed at the company has been made.”

The following appeared in a memorandum from the director of human resources to the executive officers of Company X:

“Last year, we surveyed our employees on improvements needed at Company X by having them rank, in order of importance, the issues presented in a list of possible improvements. Improved communications between employees and management was consistently ranked as the issue of highest importance by the employees who responded to the survey. As you know, we have since instituted regular communications sessions conducted by high-level management, which the employees can attend on a voluntary basis. Therefore, it is likely that most employees at Company X now feel that the improvement most needed at the company has been made.”

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion.

The memo from the human resources director to the executive officers of Company X is flawed on several counts, and its conclusion cannot be used as evidence to support the statement that better communications between employees and management have eliminated the need to improve employee morale

The author of the memo assumes that the employees responding to the survey ranked communications as the most critical issue facing Company X. It is possible that the employees merely ranked communication as a high priority, or that they thought this topic was the most important. The author fails to mention that the employees ranked communication as their number one issue, which infers that employees did not rank it as a high priority. The author also fails to consider other possible issues with the survey, such as the possibility that the employees may have been more concerned with other issues than communication or that they may have been more concerned about communication than management was

In addition, the author fails to cite any evidence that the employees felt better about Company X after the implementation of the communications sessions. Although the employees were reportedly happier, the author provides no evidence that any improvements were made in the company’s operations. This lack of specific data makes it difficult to draw any conclusions about the effectiveness of the communications sessions

In summary, the argument by the director of human resources to the executive officers of Company X assumes that employees ranked communication as the most important issue facing the company. The memo fails to provide evidence that better communications have resulted in an alleviation of employee concerns, and the assertion that better communications have eliminated the need for improving employee morale is unsupported by the evidence in the memo.