GRE Argument Essay Samples

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Argument:
The following appeared in a memo from a vice president of Alta Manufacturing.

“During the past year, Alta Manufacturing had thirty percent more on-the-job accidents than nearby Panoply Industries, where the work shifts are one hour shorter than ours. Experts believe that a significant contributing factor in many on-the-job accidents is fatigue and sleep deprivation among workers. Therefore, to reduce the number of on-the-job accidents at Alta and thereby increase productivity, we should shorten each of our three work shifts by one hour so that our employees will get adequate amounts of sleep.”

Essay
The given argument presents a couple of assumptions to arrive at the conclusion that shortening the work shifts by one hour will ensure that the employees of Alta Manufacturing get adequate amounts of sleep, thereby reducing the number of on-the-job accidents which in turn will increase productivity. The argument has cited the example of the Panoply Industries in support of its claim that on-the-job accidents can be largely reduced by shortening the duration of the work shifts. A careful analysis of the given argument brings into focus some aspects that have been ignored while framing the argument leading to a conclusion that sounds unconvincing. Let us now discuss each of these aspects individually.

Firstly, a major flaw in the argument is that there is absolutely no direct relation between getting adequate amounts of sleep and reducing the work shifts by an hour each. The company can by no means ensure that this extra hour given to the workers will be utilized by them for sleeping. They are on their own after their work shift is over and they may utilize the additional time at hand as per their convenience. Therefore, the presumption that reducing the work shifts by an hour will ensure that workers get adequate amounts of sleep is totally baseless and unsound.

Secondly, lack of sleep may not be the primary reason for on-the-job accidents. The argument presents the example of Panoply Industries where such accidents are lesser in number and cites shorter shift duration as the reason behind this. This assumption appears to be completely illogical as there can be various other factors for a lesser number of on-the-job accidents in Panoply Industries. Such accidents may be attributed to the quality and condition of machines being utilized at Alta Manufacturing as compared to the ones at Panoply Industries. In addition, the work environment, experience of workers, usage of protective gear and the level of danger involved while working with machines are important factors to be considered while comparing the statistics of these two companies with respect to the frequency of on-the-job accidents. Therefore, attributing such accidents to fatigue and sleep deprivation in a major way seems far-fetched and illogical. 

Thirdly, indicating an increase in productively as a direct outcome of lesser on-the-job accidents is, by and large, an extremely flawed assumption. It is a well known fact that the productivity of an industry depends on efficient management, good supply chain, profitability, availability of raw materials, availability of trained/skilled manpower, efficiency of the process of production, quality and types of machines, size of the company and various other socio-economic factors. Therefore, the assumption that a reduced number of working hours and lesser on-the-job accidents will directly increase productivity has weakened the given argument. The argument lacks substantial evidence that can prove a direct link between productivity and on-the-job accidents. At the same time, one cannot ignore the fact that reducing the number of working hours may probably affect the productivity of Alta Manufacturing in a negative manner.

The given argument may have been strengthened had more evidence been included in the form of comparisons between the working conditions, quality of machines and other statistics of Alta Manufacturing and Panoply Industries. In its present form, due to lack of adequate evidence, the argument fails to convince the reader that the conclusion is justified.

GRE Argument Essay Samples

GRE Argument Essay 1 | GRE Argument Essay 2 | GRE Argument Essay 3 |GRE Argument Essay 4 | GRE Argument Essay 5|GRE Argument Essay 6 | GRE Argument Essay 7 | GRE Argument Essay 8 |GRE Argument Essay 9 | GRE Argument Essay 10