Business Arguments

TH3002: Definitions and Exemplar The purpose of this document is to provide clarification on some of the terms that are used in the TH3002 Assessment. In addition to some general terms being defined, most of the definitions are provided in the context of the Assessment to clarify what is needed. Additionally, this document aims to provide some examples, as well as research tips. Note: The examples or other information regarding the Assessment are provided as additional guidance. They do not represent how the responses to the Assessment questions should be answered.

Defining Terms Terms Specific to the Context of the Assessment

• Business Topics—List A and List B: For the Assessment, you will choose one topic from List A and one topic from List B. The List A topics focus on broader issues impacting business that are more theoretical in nature, whereas the List B topics focus on narrower issues that are more specific and tangible.

• For argument: When making the For argument (which you will do for both List A and List B), your perspective should be that the business topic is something positive. It is something that you would support. If you personally disagree with the For argument, you will need to set those opinions aside momentarily and play devil’s advocate for this side of the argument.

• Against argument: This will be a counterargument to the For argument. You will simply reverse your position on the business topic.

• Position argument: For the Assessment, you will be making four position arguments in total (For List A, Against List A, For List B, and Against List B). This term is just a general way to refer to them in the context of this Assessment.

• Claim statement: For this Assessment, your claim statement is where you will provide a brief explanation of the overall argument that you are trying to make. It should clearly state what your position is, but it should not go too deep into the details as to why. You will provide those further details in the premises.

• Conclusion: Conclusions usually are similarly constructed. They often restate whatever was introduced in order to reiterate the point. They are not supposed to introduce any new information. In the context of the Assessment, the conclusion should restate the claim statement, as well as make a final intellectual or emotional appeal to the audience.

General Terms

• Premise: A premise is an assertion that you use to support your argument. Consider it to be a piece of evidence that you would provide in an effort to convince others that your argument is valid.

• Formal logical fallacy: This type of logical fallacy has more to do with the structure of the argument, rather than the content of the argument. This can occur when the premises do not align with or support the conclusion.

• Informal logical fallacy: This type of logical fallacy is centered on the content of the argument and is more common in everyday occurrences than formal logical fallacies. It occurs when people misrepresent facts or are irrational in their reasoning.

• Audience: The audience represents to whom you will direct your message. Depending on who your audience is, you may change the tone, format, and persuasion techniques of your message. For example, if you were trying to convince the executives of your company to make a decision, you would likely take a different approach than if that same message were delivered to employees or customers.

Examples Based on the Assessment The following information is designed to provide an example of how the Assessment could be approached. To serve as an example, it is based off a business topic that is not included in either List A or B: customer support phone numbers. In developing a background for the issue, you would probably research the origins of customer support phone numbers. You would introduce the controversies or different arguments surrounding the topic, including the costs involved, outsourcing, companies favoring online help, and people’s experiences with customer support (good and bad). People might base their assumptions on customer support phone numbers by recalling their experiences using them, which could lead to logical fallacies. Someone on the For side of the argument could make a hasty generalization by saying, “My coworker refuses to buy a product unless it has a customer support number. My family and I feel the same way. Therefore, no one will buy a product unless it has a customer support number.” Someone on the Against side of the argument could be guilty of the fallacy of appealing to authority by saying, “The CEO of that large, multinational corporation made a statement that customer support numbers are a thing of the past, so I think we should not have one for our company.” In developing the For argument, the claim statement could be, “Customer support phone numbers are a critical component of a business because they help create loyal customers, improve the credibility of brands, and provide opportunities to sell more products/services.”

The first premise of the For argument could focus on creating loyal customers. When customers have a superb experience over the phone, they may feel like they would receive the same level of service if another issue were to arise, so they continue to buy from that company for that reason. The second premise could focus on the credibility of the brand. If people are about to spend a few hundred dollars on a product from an unfamiliar brand, they will be more likely to buy the product from a company that has a customer support number as opposed to one that does not. If there are issues, they at least know there is someone they can call. The third premise could focus on the opportunities to sell more products or services. If a customer calls to ask a question about the product, the customer service representative could use that opportunity to gather additional information. The representative may discover that the customer could benefit from an upgrade or additional accessory, explain the benefits to the customer, and make the sale over the phone. In developing the Against argument, the claim statement could be, “Customer support phone numbers are a thing of the past that businesses should discard because they cost too much money, take up resources, create a negative experience for the customer, and are inefficient in solving customers’ issues. The first premise for the Against argument could focus on the costs and burden on resources. Whether it is outsourced or in-house, a customer support line must be managed by people, and it costs money to pay those people. Instead, that money could be better spent on hiring more developers, engineers, and designers to design better products and services that would require less customer support. The second premise could focus on customers’ negative experiences when calling a customer support line. Many people find the process frustrating. They could be on hold for long periods of time, be transferred to multiple people and constantly reexplaining their situation, or be told one thing by one representative, only to be told the opposite by another. The third premise could focus on the inefficiencies in solving customers’ issues. As mentioned in the second premise, it is common for information to be lost in translation as representatives transfer customers from one department to another. Representatives could spend countless hours walking customers through a common issue that could easily be described on companies’ websites. A well-developed website could be built once and help millions of people with minimal oversight.

Additional Tips You may want to spend some time researching websites that cover the For and Against positions of common (and sometimes controversial) debate topics. For example:

• ProCon.org. (n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2020, from https://www.procon.org/debate-topics.php