Influence and Persuasion via Elementary Argument: Examples of Strong Writing from MGT 360

Influence and Persuasion via Elementary Argument:Examples of Strong Writing from MGT 360 Wayne Smith, Ph.D. Department of Management CSU Northridge ws@csun.edu

Superior, Contemporary Argumentation • Employ higher-order writing strategies • Always elevate your writing (throughout this class and beyond) • All of the following examples are from my outstanding students • Components of Passages • The Point, Background, Support, Implication • Basic Argument • Conclusion, Premises, Counterpremises, Assumptions • Informal Reasoning • Controversy (Problem), Issues (Questions), Claim (Belief), Resolution (Action) • Formal Argument • Claim, Reason, Evidence, Warrant (Theory), Acknowledgement/Response (Counter-argument), Qualifications (Limitations)

Superior, Contemporary Writing (cont.) • Evidence • Examples, Statistics, Tangible Objects, Testimony, Social Consensus • Credibility • Personal Judgment (Apparent Ethos) • Competence (Ability), Trustworthiness (Reliability), Good will (Altruism), Dynamism (Energy) • Types of Sources • Witness (First-person), Background/Training (Education), Experience (History) • Formal Basis • Authority, Clear Basis for Reasoning, Eager Evidence (Bias/Vested Interest), Reluctant Evidence (Supports the Opposition), Representativeness • But also…Actively avoid making logical fallacies and unsubstantiated statements…

Exemplars – Components of Passages • The Point (Resolution, Answer, New Idea, or Reason) • Background (Information needed to understand The Point) • Support (Assertions and opinions for The Point) • Implication (Enumerated consequences that result from The Point)

Exemplars – Basic Argument • Conclusion (The main point of the argument supported by premises and assumptions) • Premises (The support for the argument: facts, opinions, or claims) • Counter-premises (Support that undermines or goes against the conclusion) • Assumptions (Unstated pieces of information that arguments needs to function)

Exemplars –Informal Reasoning • Controversy (Problem) • “During my four years with the agency, I was faced with the ongoing challenge of working under a supervisor who was a micromanager. Being inundated with requests for updates on deadlines, schedule changes, and my out-of-office whereabouts, as an employee, left me feeling untrustworthy, scrutinized, and frustrated with my job. The realization that this was to be my supervisor for the duration of my employment was a sour one and for the next two years, many of my workdays and at least two of my evaluations were less than gratifying.” • Issues (Questions) • “The issue of micromanaging is a very difficult one to bring up without accusing your boss, the person in charge of your livelihood, of stifling you.”

Exemplars – The Logic of Informal Reasoning (cont.) • Claim (Belief) • “I reminded myself that I could not and would not be able to change the supervisor I had come to know. It was most likely around this time where I realized I could do something about my level of displeasure because I didn’t have to stay at this agency for the rest of my career.” (emphasis in the original) • Resolution (Action) • “Although at times still hard to manage, a change of perspective helped ease some of the micromanaging expectations. As the employee I no longer wished to change my supervisor into the manager I wanted, but rather tried to understand her stance in the management hierarchy and work to appease what seemed like insecurities in her leadership style.”

Exemplars – Formal Argument • Claim • “As a result, I felt harassed and discouraged for most of my time with the company.” • Reasoning • “In my situation, my value was not based on the quality of my work, but on my failure to socialize.” (emphasis added) • Evidence • “Subsequently, I began to experience a series of negative consequences, [such as]…frequent quality reviews, unprofessional emails, and threats to terminate my employment due to vague reasons.” (emphasis added) • Warrant (Theory) • “…management should always try to lead by example and provide all necessary tools for its employees to be successful.” (emphasis added) • Acknowledgement/Response (Counter-argument) • “Initially, I was appreciative and excited of the invitations [to socialize] especially when they were paid by the owner.” • Qualifications (Limitations) • “I had to opportunity to experience both sides of the business, as both an employee and part of management. However, I didn’t spend enough time with management.

Exemplars – Evidence • Examples • “Once the new supervisor was settled, my major objection to this person was the condescending way she approached and/or treated employees. This negative behavior was observed on more than one occasion by several employees and did little to ingratiate her with those who were to work closely with her. For instance, the new supervisor often exhibited a lack of respect and compassion for her employees and failed to acknowledge the accomplishments and contributions made by them. Often, it was plainly clear that some employees were being evaluated or rewarded based on their “brown nosing” abilities rather than their performance.” • Statistics • (percent) “The majority of sales orders that I received were easily handled with the final product being delivered to the customer. However, I faced an organizational challenge that consumed much time and decreased productivity. Approximately one-quarter of the total orders required customized work for the customer.

Exemplars – Evidence (cont.) • Tangible Objects • “In my particular job as a tutor at a community college, I run into all sorts of challenges during tutoring sessions such as students being late or students being unprepared. However, the most difficult challenge that I am often faced with is when the student’s self-esteem is low because of a bad grade [tangible evidence] and they are in need of my motivation to pick themselves up. The burden is now on me to motivate and encourage my students to stay focused and to strive harder than before in order to do better.” (emphasis added) • Testimony • Social Consensus • “With employees leaving for opportunities or leaving due to them seeing the job as not ‘worth it’, management sought after an answer. After getting approval from our corporate offices to conduct an anonymous survey within the store, many issues that were once ‘unseen’ became clear. Employees voiced their frustrations and did not hold back.”

Exemplars – Credibility – Personal Judgment • Competence (Ability) • “Like many first time business owners, I started my company with a dream.” • “I learned how to sketch designs at a young age.” • “I decided that from the sketch board to the clothing rack, everything would be done in-house in Los Angeles. I sketched 15 designs for my collection and compiled a list of potential contractors I could use to help me produce my line. I had a five thousand dollar start up budget and I left room in that budget for overhead costs. I compiled a list of different companies that I could potentially contract work to. After 2 weeks, I chose a company to make my patterns and samples at a relatively low cost.” • “Outsourcing my work would cost me more money, but potentially save me time. Insourcing and creating everything myself would cost me a great deal less as well as give me more control, but it would take time for me to learn everything. I made a decision that over the course of four months, I would begin to learn how to sew and pattern make to perfect all of my samples.” • “Overall, not only would everything be according to my standards, I would have more control over any changes I wanted to make with the original designs. When I began to learn how to sew and learn the actual construction of a garment, it also affected the sophistication of my designs. I knew making this decision would benefit me as a designer and as a businesswoman.”

Exemplars – Credibility – Personal Judgment (cont.) • Trustworthiness (Reliability) • “Since the risks of being unfaithful [e.g., stealing] to the company are surprisingly high, you would think that any person would have the common knowledge to obey the rules and procedures that a company is established on. My ‘friends’ [new employees], however, did not acquire this knowledge. While confused and frustrated, I knew I had one job to do. I had to be loyal to the company I have been working for so many years and to my boss who relied on me to inspect the products [and account for any loss]. Even though I had begun to trust these new employees, it was time to tell my manager what I had figured out. The problem was that if I told my manager, two employees with families would lose their jobs. On the other hand, if I didn’t, I would partially be responsible for the loss in profits for our merchandise. I decided to separate friendship from work relationship and tell my manager about the two employees [stealing].” • Goodwill (Altruism) • “I was new to the company and wanted to work my way out of being just a cashier. I had heard that one member of the night crew would be out of work for some time, so I offered to take his place. I knew volunteering for a less-than-desirable shift would put me in good standing with my employers right away. It was during my time covering the overnight shifts that I began to understand and empathize with the night crew.

Exemplars – Credibility – Personal Judgment (cont.) • Dynamism (Energy) • “I must admit that I considered immediately putting in my two weeks of notice, but I resolved to maintain the job until I could find something more stable and suitable to my interests. It was never in my interest to spend a great deal of energy developing my skills as a busser, but I decided that I would forego my comfort zone in the hopes of being looked on favorably by the management staff. I worked twice as hard and resolved to keep my personal energy level high, so that I could always find something to keep me busy, and it paid off. The general manager recognized my hard work and even told me that he could get my schedule back to normal if I kept it up. My schedule eventually returned to three days per week, which is where it stayed for four weeks.”

Exemplars – Credibility – Types of Sources • Witness (First-Person) • “My other three co-workers warned me that Anna could be “difficult”, [third-party hearsay] but I didn’t know exactly what they meant until I experienced it myself. Whenever our boss was unable to come to work, Anna would ignore her responsibilities entirely. Anna had a tendency to be very social with customers, which got to the point of some regular customers treating her as a friend. While that may seem benevolent, Anna would use that as an excuse to not do the manual tasks that she was assigned.” [first-person witness] • Background/Training (Education) • “You soon realize that much of what you study in accounting courses, you are now using in practice. One of the most important things to remember is what I call the ‘invoice trinity’. Always make sure that you enter the correct vendor number, invoice number, dollar amount, and that the invoice and the entered data always match.” • “I was young, new, and had little experience in management, but I knew social media and how to use it.”

Exemplars – Credibility – Types of Sources (cont.) • Experience (History) • “I believe that having a caring and understanding manager can make all the difference in the workplace. If a manager expects their employees to respect them and to do their job proficiently, then managers need to give that same respect. If they fail to have those positive attributes as a manager then they’re just going to have aloof employees that won’t have the best interest of the company in mind. In my experience, if I have a manager that is motivating, understanding, and respectful then I tend to work harder and enjoy it more.”

Exemplars – Credibility – Formal Basis • Authority • “Being a Hispanic woman in the landscaping and horticulture business is not common. The business of landscape and gardening has mostly been composed of males. I have been looked down upon many people who work in this industry. But when my father’s clients were informed of the new management, they were very understanding. More than I expected. Perhaps because I told them I was attending college while managing the business. Communicating with them has definitely helped me build a trust with them.” • Clear Basis for Reasoning • “At times I had a question about a certain topic and I didn’t feel comfortable enough to ask my supervisor. That affected my work performance.” • Eager Evidence (Bias/Vested Interest) • “My father’s landscape and gardening business would become my first job. This would implicate a huge responsibility from my behalf. Seeing how my father would manage his business made me believe that it would not be a difficult task. Once I was actually in his place, I realized how much dedication one has to put in.”

Exemplars – Credibility – Formal Basis (cont.) • Reluctant Evidence (Opposition) • “On the other hand, perhaps my uneasiness deterred me from filing the management problem. I did not know the right way to approach the situation.” • Representativeness • “At first, I thought this behavior [from my boss] was aimed solely at me. However, after talking with the other babysitters as well as one of the parents who employed her services, I found that others also agreed that [the boss] was terrible at communicating with them.”

Avoid Logical Fallacies(throughout this class and beyond) • Fallacy of Weak Analogy • “Here is what didn’t make sense with this [manager]: He claimed to have a degree in chemistry, yet he was working for a failing company in retail. He must not have been very good in the lab.” (emphasis added)

Avoid making Unsubstantiated Statements(throughout this class and beyond) • No evidence provided anywhere in the essay • “If there is one thing we millennials understand, it’s technology.”

References • The categories for this presentation were excerpted and adapted from the following books: • Freeley, A., and Steinberg, D. (2009), Argumentation and Debate: Critical Thinking for Reasoned Decision Making, 12th ed., Cengage. • Hurley, P. (2014), A Concise Introduction to Logic, 12th ed., Cengage Learning. • Lunsford, A., and Ruszkiewicz, J. (2012), Everything’s an Argument, 6th ed., Bedford/St. Martins. • Williams, J., and Colomb, G. (2007), The Craft of Argument, 3rd ed., Pearson Education. • Zarefsky, D. (2005), Argumentation: The Study of Effective Reasoning 2nd. ed.), The Teaching Company. • All of the examples were pulled directly my students’ work. It can only be my high privilege to be able to work with, and learn from, these motivated and talented student-professionals.

Influence and Persuasion via Elementary Argument: Examples of Strong Writing from MGT 360