management paper

REFERENCE:
Alsop, R. (21 October 2008). “The ‘Trophy Kids’ Go to Work”. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122455219391652725.html
POINT: The author, Ron Alsop, conveys the idea that today’s millennial generation is going to make a negative impact on the business world due to their sense of entitlement. Since the “trophy kid” generation has been given everything on a golden platter and rewarded for unsuccessful attempts that do not deserve a reward, they expect the same in the work environment. He argues that due to this mindset, millennial workers will expect a tangible set of defined rules and tasks, demand a flexible work schedule, and then wish to be positively affirmed at the end of every work day. If these expectations are not met, they will ditch their commitment in search for something else.
EVIDENCE:
• CareerBuilder.com survey: “85% of managers and HR executives said they feel that millennials have stronger sense of entitlement than older workers.”
• Michigan State University and MonsterTrak: half [of millennials] had moderate to high superiority beliefs about themselves. Two-thirds would surf from job to job if not satisfied.
Of the two evidential pieces that are stated in the article, neither is based on fact and rather on broad surveys. It is difficult to draw a general conclusion from these surveys not only because the people they are given to are unknown, but also because how does one test superiority beliefs from a survey? Alsop also uses industry experts in order to strengthen his argument, which poses for more believable evidence because these people have first hand facts straight from their own experiences. Since these facts are taken from a source’s personal knowledge, the more respectable the source, the more credible their statements.
RELIABILITY: In the article the evidence contains an identified source, which makes evidence much more credible. Careerbuilder.com and MonsterTrak, two of the top most visited career search sites and do a large amount of work finding jobs for people of the millennial generation coming out of college. MSU’s Employment Research Institute does much of its research on the transition from college to the working world and provides credible statistics analyzing the college labor market each year. Alsop also uses quotes and personal facts from industry experts in order to give strength to his article. Using primary sources often builds credibility because these people have worked with and managed the new millenials first hand.
OPPOSITION: Although Alsop does not give much word to the opposite end of the argument, he does say that “[Managers] will benefit from this generation’s best and brightest.” Due to the millennial generation’s excessive educational training with today’s technology, social networking, and multitasking, they will bring a lot to the table. He includes with his word to the opposition that, “Most will work hard if the task in engaging and promises a tangible payoff.” Near the end of the article, Alsop quotes Justin Pfister, a working millennial, who says that we should be allowed to drop out of the corporate world if our expectations are not met. Millenials expect to be given jobs that make them think “multi-dimensionally”; they do not want to put their college education to waste.
JUDGEMENT: The words entitled, high-maintenance, and holding high expectations make millennials sound like demanding, spoiled brats, which in many cases is not true. When Alsop uses the words “in need of attention and guidance” and “delicate” to describe the new workers, she makes them sound incapable of handling the stresses of the business world, completely denoting all they have learned about it in their education. Lastly when the author says that they are not loyal, it assumes that all millennials cannot be hardworking and responsible.
PERSUASIVENESS: Due to Alsop’s consistent, relevant evidence and clear thesis stated, he does well at persuading his audience of his viewpoint. Unfortunately because of his lack of acknowledgement to the oppositional view, his argument is weakened. It seems as if the author hides the opposition for fear of it weakening his own argument. A key to a good writer is being able to recognize the other side of the argument (exceptional educational experience, a new potential for our hurting economy) and persuade the audience against it.
ASSUMPTIONS: The majority of the article is an assumption and addresses the millennials as a whole, as if they were all raised in the same way. One example occurs when Alsop states that millennials do not have to worry about keeping a job because they have their parents to fall back on. He does not give attention to the many people who were not given everything growing up and were provided a college education either by scholarship or student loans. He assumes that all millennials will be disloyal to their work if their “extremely high expectations” are not met. All of the argument is an overgeneralization of this generation, which actually contains people from all backgrounds and social-economic standings.