The following appeared in a memorandum to the work-group supervisors of the GBS Company:

“The CoffeeCart beverage and food service located in the lobby of our main office building is not earning enough in sales to cover its costs, and so the cart may discontinue operating at GBS. Given the low staff morale, as evidenced by the increase in the number of employees leaving the company, the loss of this service could present a problem, especially since the staff morale questionnaire showed widespread dissatisfaction with the snack machines. Therefore, supervisors should remind the employees in their group to patronize the cart—after all, it was leased for their convenience so that they would not have to walk over to the cafeteria on breaks.”

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 argument assumes that the CoffeeCart, although making a small profit, is costing the company more in staff morale than it is bringing in in revenues. This opinion is bolstered by only one piece of evidence: the results of an employee satisfaction survey. The survey provides no support for the idea that the CoffeeCart is costing the company in morale, but instead indicates that employees have complained about the vending machines. This survey could have been done at any time, and it does not necessarily indicate that low morale is the problem. The employees could have simply not chosen to respond to the survey. Additionally, the company could have conducted the survey under false pretenses, or it could have used questions that were not pertinent to the work environment. The supervisors are suggesting that employees should have to walk to the cafeteria in order to use the vending machines, but employees might already be doing that. Perhaps employees in this situation would prefer to walk to the vending machines rather than sit and eat breakfast. It could be that they have low stamina or suffer from pain. Either way, the supervisors are mistaken in their assumption that the vending machines are causing a drop in morale

The argument implies that if the CoffeeCart is discontinued, the employees will leave the company. However, this conclusion is unsupported by the evidence. The supervisors offer no numbers to indicate that the employees are leaving; they only imply that they are unhappy. While dissatisfied with their jobs or their bosses might cause employees to leave, other factors could also impact their decision. The employees might simply have decided that the CoffeeCart is not worth the hassle, or they might prefer to wait for the company’s cafeteria to open. The company might also lose employees because of budget cuts. The company could have incurred steep losses on a recent project, and any surplus funds have been eliminated

The supervisors do not present any alternative solutions to the problems that arise if the CoffeeCart is discontinued. In this case, the supervisors appear to be placing all of their eggs in the proverbial basket of the vending machines. They present no viable alternatives for boosting morale, such as providing entertainment or snacks during breaks. The supervisors might be concerned that if the employees do not receive their coffee at the CoffeeCart, they might become disgruntled, but employees could simply choose to make their own coffee in the office kitchen. If the employees dislike the vending machines, they might be more inclined to walk over to the cafeteria at lunch

Even if the supervisors offer a viable alternative, such as walking to the cafeteria, it would not address the problems that the employees are complaining about. The question remains whether the employees would be happier or not if the vending machines were discontinued. The only way to know is to conduct a survey

If the supervisors were to conduct such a survey, they might find that employees do not want to quit their jobs or the company. The supervisors might then realize that their solution to the problems is misguided, and they might consider a plan that is more viable. For example, the supervisors could offer additional incentives to the employees in order to boost morale. It could also help if the supervisors were to pay closer attention to their employees. Instead of just assuming that the vending machines are the problem, they could monitor the workers more closely to find out what is actually bothering them. If the employees are not happy about their jobs, the supervisors could address their concerns.

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