Self-introduction
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Class2MGMT542fall2018.pptxMGMT 542: Argument and Communication for International Business
Foundations Week
This class is 2.5 hours long.
Instructor: Alisa Gordaneer
Class 2
Attendance
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Foundations Week – Day 2 Topics
• More about argument: counter-argument
• Characteristics of weak arguments
• Preparing for Assignment 2
Critical thinking and assignment analysis
• Organizing your argument: pyramid and paragraphing
• Topic sentences and evidence sentences
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Introduction to argument
Claims and evidence
Critical Thinking
Argument and logic
Using quotations
Writing practice exercises
Looking ahead: TAPS for Assignment 4
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Counter-argument
Discuss with your team:
What is counter-argument?
Why is it used?
Counter argument
Argument
Counter Argument
Counter argument
Demonstrates you have considered another point of view
Rebuttal of the counter-argument strengthens your main argument
On one level: the argument can look solid
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Different Perspective: can show its weaknesses
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What makes an argument weak?
Image source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Peacock_terms.png
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A weak argument
Is based on flawed logic (see Week 2 reading: Rhetological Fallacies)
Does not have sufficient evidence to support it
Supports with irrelevant or unrelated evidence
Is not tested against other perspectives
Is not logically organized
Just a few common errors in logic
Anonymous authority
“They say…”
Unrelated evidence
9-11 was a conspiracy because it happened in New York.
Slippery slope
If we allow self-driving cars, computers will figure out a way to take over the world.
Biased generalizing
9 out of 10 dentists agree this toothpaste is the best.
Overgeneralizing
Businesses must be allowed to pursue profit without interference from the government.
Reading: Rhetological Fallacies (Week 2)
Insufficient evidence
How much is too little?
How much is enough?
Two Components of Sufficiency…
Do not omit key information
Explore points deeply
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Sufficiency Fairness
Covering key points is linked to the concept of fairness
Always create arguments that present your views in a fair way, without omitting key evidence.
This makes you more credible. If you seem biased, it reduces your credibility
Intuition
Personal experiences or anecdotes
Testimonials
Personal observations
Analogies
Appeals to experts
Primary research (research author has done themselves)
Secondary research (research author is quoting)
Academic theories
Case facts
What types of evidence can you use?
Frequently,
in all assignments
Almost
never
Sometimes
(Assignment 2)
That said, in business school, you will generally want to explain your intuition, using other forms of evidence. Use intuition, but then you’ll need to go into material to find evidence to support it. What gives you the intuition in the first place? For Hawaii vs. Alaska, it might be that I’m vaguely aware of differences in temperature and my dislike of cold. I could use those as evidence to support my decision.
In your MBA classes, you will frequently be drawing on evidence like primary and secondary research, as well as academic theories and case facts in order to support your claims.
That said, you will sometimes be using personal experiences or anecdotes as well. For example, in the leadership class you will be taking, you will be asked to make claims about yourself, as a leader, through drawing on both the readings you will do for class and your personal professional experiences.
What’s key to remember here are that there are different types of evidence and that it will be up to you to use the type that is appropriate for a given situation.
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Untested against other perspectives
Image source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4UtEQaDw8Y
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Untested against other perspectives
Image source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4UtEQaDw8Y
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A complete argument has several parts
Claim
Evidence
Counter-argument and rebuttal
Reassertion of claim
For example
Let’s build an argument.
Our claim is “Communication is the most important skill for global learners to develop.”
Let’s assume we have plenty of researched evidence
Discuss with your team: What reasons can you think of to support this claim?
Discuss with your team
What is another perspective for this statement?
“Communication is the most important skill for global learners to develop.”
What are the weaknesses of that perspective?
We’ll hear back from each team.
Building a complete argument
Claim
Evidence
Counter-argument
Reassertion of claim:
“Communication is the most important skill”
Information, data, examples that illustrate why communication is important
Another valid perspective (what did your team identify?)
Rebuttal
What are the weaknesses of that perspective?
So clearly, communication is the most important skill
Argument and the writing process
Prewriting
Writing
Postwriting
Building your argument requires…
Prewriting
Analyzing your assignment
Writing
Organizing your argument
Postwriting
Editing your argument
Conceiving a thesis
Finding evidence
Developing reasons
Revising your argument
Think first, organize next
The writing process
Prewriting
Writing
Postwriting
Prewriting essentials
Assignment analysis
Brainstorming/list/talk it out
Research (internal or external)
Prewriting for Assignment 2
Analyze your assignment
Open “Assignment 2” description
Discuss with your team:
Why are you being asked to do this assignment?
What do you need to do to complete this assignment successfully?
What is not required in this assignment?
What are the most important things to keep in mind?
How do you know how you’ll be assessed?
Terminology
Strength: a beneficial characteristic/quality/attribute that you possess
Ability: a talent or skill in a particular area
Skill: something you are able to do well or have developed expertise in
Talent: something you have natural aptitude for
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Rubrics: your key to evaluation
Prewriting: Your turn
Develop your assignment’s main claim by brainstorming or making lists:
What are you good at?
How do those skills/abilities demonstrate a strength?
Argument building basics
Sometimes called
subclaims
Claim: My strength is…
Reason (is also disputable + supportable)
More evidence supports this other reason
Evidence supports this other reason
Reason (is also disputable + supportable)
Evidence supports this reason
More evidence supports this reason
Prewriting: Your turn
Internal research: what information do you need to find to prove your claims?
Make a list.
What do you already know?
What will you need to look up?
Assignment 2 building blocks
Main Claim
Reasons (subclaims) supporting that claim
Evidence
What strength do you have?
Why do your skills and abilities indicate that strength?
What examples could you include, to illustrate your related skills and abilities?
A weak argument
Is not logically organized.
How can you fix this?
You have to have something to organize in the first place.
So, how do you make sense of this?
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Organizing your argument
Pyramiding and paragraphing
The Pyramid Principle
Barbara Minto. The Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing and Thinking. (1981)
Let’s get started. What is the Pyramid Principle?
The Pyramid Principle is a system for logically organising thinking that was written about in a book by Barbara Minto in 1981. It was later adopted by Mckinsey Consulting and became somewhat a standard in Business communication.
The document you read in Week 1 was written by Stephen Long, who teaches OB here. It’s a summary of the book’s main points.
The Pyramid Principle is not that different from other methods you may already use for creating an outline. It is, however, somewhat more rigorous than other methods. Also, at Royal Roads, where you will be doing so much teamwork, it can be helpful to adopt common systems. Even if you have your own approach to organising documents, please try, at least for now, working with this system—not because it is better than your own—but because it will provide you and your teammates a common language.
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Document = Sandwich
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To begin, it can be helpful to think of a document like a sandwich. There’s a piece of bread on the top and the bottom. And then, there’s the good stuff in the middle.
This is analogous to a document, with an introduction at the start, a conclusion at the end, and what’s most important—your argument—in the middle.
Document = Sandwich
Body
Conclusion
Introduction
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When we discuss the Pyramid Principle, we will be discussing only the body of the document. So as we move through the rest of this presentation, please keep that in mind. Generally, you want to start with the body of your document, since it is only once you know what the body contains that you can compose an introduction or a conclusion.
Pyramid Basics
Determine your main point
Ask the question your readers will want to know
Keep asking questions until readers have no more logical questions
Here’s how it works.
You determine your main point—or, in the language of argumentation, your main claim. Here’s my position statement. Then you ask the question your reader will want to know. You then you keep asking questions until the typical reader would have no more logical questions.
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Example: Cover Letter
Let’s use a straightforward example to illustrate: A Cover Letter. What’s the main point of a cover letter? To persuade the reader to call you in for an interview, and ultimately to hire you.
Example you reviewed in week one.
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The pyramid helps you sort out your thoughts so your reader can follow them
Hire me
For the sake of simplicity, we’ll say that you could summarize the document’s point in two words: Hire me.
Now, you ask the question your reader will want to know.
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Hire me
Why?
In this case, “Why should I hire you?”
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Hire me
Why?
I have relevant work
experience
I have a personality
that’s well-suited to
the job
I have the necessary education
You might provide three reasons: [READ]. In the case of this very short document, each of these sub-claims might represent a paragraph. When you are writing longer documents, each might represent a section, which could be several pages long.
Just as an aside, What kind of logic are we using here?
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Hire me
Why?
I have relevant work
experience
I have a personality
that’s well-suited to
the job
I have the necessary education
What education?
The reader would then have more questions. For example, “What education do you have?”
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Hire me
Why?
I have relevant work
experience
I have a personality
that’s well-suited to
the job
I have the necessary education
What education?
BCIT
RRU
On the job
You might then respond, I went to BCIT & RRU, and I have on-the job training. Each of these points might be a sentence or two within a paragraph about your educational experiences.
You’d continue in this way until you’ve responded to all questions you might anticipate from the reader.
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Pyramid Basics: Three Rules
Ideas at any level in the pyramid must be summaries of the ideas grouped below them
Ideas in each grouping must be the same kind of idea
Ideas in each grouping must be logically ordered
There are three rules to adhere to in structuring your document. We’ll go through each using our cover letter example.
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Hire me
Why?
I have relevant work
experience
I have a personality
that’s well-suited to
the job
I have the necessary education
What education?
BCIT
RRU
On the job
Ideas at any level in the pyramid must be summaries of the ideas grouped below them
One, [Read].
“Hire me” summarizes the whole document.
“I have the necessary education” summarizes your educational experiences: BCIT, RRU, and on-the-job training
Example from readings—pyramid did not effectively summarize what came below, paper only 80 because not as effective as could have been.
Look at heading—look at whether each paragraph under heading actually respond to what the heading suggests?
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Hire me
Why?
I have relevant work
experience
I have a personality
that’s well-suited to
the job
I have the necessary education
What education?
BCIT
RRU
On the job
2. Ideas in a grouping must be the same kind of idea
Two, [Read].
Here, BCIT, RRU, and on the job training are all kinds of educational experiences.
By adhering to this rule, you will ensure that information you position in a given section of a document actually belongs in that section.
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Hire me
Why?
I have relevant work
experience
I have a personality
that’s well-suited to
the job
I have the necessary education
What education?
BCIT
RRU
On the job
3. Ideas in each grouping must be logically ordered
Three, [Read].
There are different approaches to logically ordering ideas, but the most common approach in business and business-related study is to put more important information first.
In this example, the writer is probably a young person, not an older person, because in ordering their document, they have put education first, suggesting that their education is more impressive than their work experience. Older people, with extensive resumes, usually include their work experience first.
Other logical approaches include chronological, general to specific
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Building your assignments
Words
Paragraphs
Your whole argument!
Sentences
Parts of a paragraph
Topic sentence
Evidence sentence(s)
Summative sentence
Topic sentences
What is a topic sentence?
Topic sentences
Begin each paragraph
Make a clearly stated claim
If you’re writing an argument: Contain your perspective or opinion
If you’re writing a summary: Contain the author’s perspective, opinion or main point
Evidence sentences
Logically link to claim in topic sentence
Illustrate claim with facts
Summarize and paraphrase information
Include direct quotes only when necessary
Include signal phrases and in-text citations as needed
Summative sentences
Answer “so what?”
Tie together claim and evidence
Can offer transition to next topic/claim
Pyramid into paragraph
Hire me
I have the necessary education
RRU, BCIT, on the job course
I have the right experience
Work at Place A
Work at Place B
I would be a great manager because I earned an MGM degree at RRU, a Bachelors of Commerce at BCIT, and received on-the-job training. I also have extensive experience from my work at Place A and Place B. This will allow me to be an effective employee.
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Paragraph Length Depends on Audience
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You Must Feed Your Reader Ideas in Digestible Bites…
…but paragraph size will depend on audience
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Paragraph unity means putting just one idea in each paragraph. As a writer, you have the responsibility of feeding your reader one idea at a time.
Paragraph Length
Paragraphs too long
You are not doing the work of dividing ideas up for your reader
Paragraphs too short
You are not doing the work of making links for your reader
Appropriate Length?
3 sentences
8 sentences
Example: Cover letter paragraph
I would be a great manager because I have the right education and experience. I earned an MGM degree at RRU, a Bachelors of Commerce at BCIT, and received on-the-job training. I have also done lots of work at Place A and Place B. This will allow me to be an effective employee.
Parts of the paragraph
I would be a great manager because I have the right education and experience (topic sentence includes claim). I earned an MGM degree at RRU, a Bachelors of Commerce at BCIT, and received on-the-job training. I have also done lots of work at Place A and Place B. (Evidence sentences give examples to support claim) This will allow me to be an effective employee.(Summative sentence ties back to main point)
Questions?
Reflection
In your own notebook, make notes for yourself:
What do you know now that you didn’t know before?
What strength will you write about for your Assignment 2?
What subclaims/evidence will you use to support your claim?
Homework
Review PPTs and Week 2 readings
Complete Assignment 2 and submit by deadline (11:55pm Sunday)
Read through Week 3 material (to be posted by Monday morning)
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