Topic: The following appeared as part of an article in a business magazine.

"A recent study rating 300 male and female Mentian advertising executives according to the average number of hours they sleep per night showed an association between the amount of sleep the executives need and the success of their firms. Of the advertising firms studied, those whose executives reported needing no more than 6 hours of sleep per night had higher profit margins and faster growth. These results suggest that if a business wants to prosper, it should hire only people who need less than 6 hours of sleep per night."

Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted.


Answer:
A study presented, which rated 300 male and female Mentian advertising executives based on their average number of hours they sleep per night, the association between the amount of sleep the executives require and the success of the firm. Of the firms, taken into the study, those whose executives who didn’t need more than 6 hours of sleep per night reported higher profits and faster growth. Hence, the author suggests, based on this study, that for prosperity of a business, only people needing not more than 6 hours of sleep per night should be hired. While the association presented by the study may be plausible, deciding a company’s or business’ future solely based on sleep is not feasible. Also, keeping a track of only the overall financial growth of the company leads to unhealthy work place, which ultimately helps in the deterioration of the company’s good will and fortune.

While, the study did not provide enough evidences to support the claim, various factors can work while determining the growth of a business. While most countries and start-ups are clearing the way for 4-day work-week and prioritizing sleep of employees, validating the claim does not seem feasible. In a recent press conference, the Finish Prime Minister acknowledged and launched 4-day work-week, buttressing the importance of sleep.

The world is aware of the lucrative life of Investment Bankers. A recent study considered productivity of the Investment Bankers, working at Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, and found that the 80- and 120-hours work-week generally imposed on them, are causing growth for the companies but hampering both the mental and physical health of the employees. As a consequence, the average retention of the employees is below 2 years.

Over the years sleep scientists and sleep consultants have linked productivity directly to numbers of hours of sleep per night. Popular sleep scientist and sleep consultant Dr. Mathew Walker, through his book “Why We Sleep”, has presented various reasons to why a good 8 hours of sleep per night is required for an adult to sustain good productivity throughout the day.

Also, a good night’s sleep is responsible for scaling down the effects of Cortisol or Stress Hormone, which otherwise increases, hampering our productivity and enervating, making us feel depressed as well. Cortisol controls our appetite too. Excessive release of Cortisol exacerbates the food habit, which in turn leads to Gastric problems and making us prone to worms. Moreover, our body’s immune system’s favorite protein Cytokine, is released in greater proportions, during a good sleep. Cytokine is responsible for production of antibodies, which in turn helps our body to fight against all external pathogenic and bacterial diseases.

In conclusion, the author’s argument is unpersuasive as it stands. To bolster it further, the author must provide clear concrete evidence, perhaps by a way of detailed data analysis reports, or surveys from employees throughout the world, to support his/her claim that less than 6 hours of sleep increases company’s prosperity. Finally, to better assess the argument, it would be necessary to know more information about how less than 6 hours of sleep per night is connected to increased productivity of individuals and overall growth of the business/company.