PLEASE GRADE - GRE ARGUMENT TASK

[Yiwong]

Prompt: SuperCorp recently moved its headquarters to Corporateville. The recent surge in the number of homeowners in Corporateville proves that Corporateville is a superior place to live than Middlesburg, the home of SuperCorp's current headquarters. Moreover, Middleburg is a predominately urban area and according to an employee survey, SuperCorp has determined that its workers prefer to live in an area that is not urban. Finally, Corporateville has lower taxes than Middlesburg, making it not only a safer place to work but also a cheaper one. Therefore, Supercorp clearly made the best decision.

 

The move of SuperCorp to Corporateville cannot be justified as the best decision. The argument has faulty assumptions that need to be evaluated on a deeper level.

Although corporateville had a surge of homeowners, it does not prove to be superior. The two cities cannot be directly compared as we do not know the demographics of the two areas. Middlesburg might have younger residents that are more willing to rent than buy. Since Middlesburg is more of an urban area, there might be more condos and apartments than there is houses. To strengthen this argument that corporateville is superior due to the surge in homeowners, we would need to make sure that the demographics are similar before making conclusions.

It is mentioned that Corporateville has lower taxes but that does not prove that it is necessarily more affordable. The average living expense in Middlesburg could be lower than that of the residents in Corporateville. This can be possible since Middlesburg is predominately urban and everything is more accessible. For example, an employee might be able to save money taking public transportation in Middlesburg but that wouldn't be possible in Corporateville. One would need to evaluate the costs of living of the two areas before assuming that one is a cheaper deal.

Finally, the survey showing that employees prefer to live in a place not so urban can be false. The employees surveyed can be biased due to their own personal preferences. Some employees might prefer to live in Corporateville without understanding any of the changes that will arise. These employees could possibly be looking for a change which doesn't prove that Corporateville is superior and that SuperCorp has made the best decision. The survey would have to eliminate all bias and take in account the reason why the employee prefers a non-urban area.

To say that SuperCorp has made the best decision by moving its headquarters to Corporateville is based on assumptions that do not hold true in some cases.