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The following is a memorandum written by the director of personnel to the
president of the Cedar Corporation.
"It would be a mistake to rehire the Good-Taste Company to supply the food in
our employee cafeteria next year. It is the second most expensive caterer in the
city. In addition, its prices have risen in each of the last three years, and it
refuses to provide meals for people on special diets. Just last month three
employees complained to me that they no longer eat in the cafeteria because they
find the experience 'unbearable.' Our company should instead hire Discount
Foods. Discount is a family-owned local company and it offers a varied menu of
fish and poultry. I recently tasted a sample lunch at one of the many companies
that Discount serves and it was delicious — an indication that hiring Discount
will lead to improved employee satisfaction."
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The following is a recommendation from the personnel director to the
president of Acme Publishing Company.
"Many other companies have recently stated that having their employees take
the Easy Read Speed-Reading Course has greatly improved productivity. One
graduate of the course was able to read a five-hundred-page report in only two
hours; another graduate rose from an assistant manager to vice president of the
company in under a year. Obviously, the faster you can read, the more
information you can absorb in a single workday. Moreover, Easy Read costs only
$500 per employee — a small price to pay when you consider the benefits to Acme.
Included in this fee is a three-week seminar in Spruce City and a lifelong
subscription to the Easy Read newsletter. Clearly, Acme would benefit greatly by
requiring all of our employees to take the Easy Read course."
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From a letter to the editor of a city newspaper.
"One recent research study has indicated that many adolescents need more
sleep than they are getting, and another study has shown that many high school
students in our city are actually dissatisfied with their own academic
performance. As a way of combating these problems, the high schools in our city
should begin classes at 8:30 A.M. instead of 7:30 A.M., and end the school day
an hour later. This arrangement will give students an extra hour of sleep in the
morning, thereby making them more alert and more productive. Consequently, the
students will perform better on tests and other assignments, and their academic
skills will improve significantly."
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Butter has now been replaced by margarine in Happy Pancake House restaurants
throughout the southwestern United States. Only about 2 percent of customers
have complained, indicating that 98 people out of 100 are happy with the change.
Furthermore, many servers have reported that a number of customers who still ask
for butter do not complain when they are given margarine instead. Clearly,
either these customers cannot distinguish margarine from butter, or they use the
term 'butter' to refer to either butter or margarine. Thus, to avoid the expense
of purchasing butter, the Happy Pancake House should extend this cost-saving
change to its restaurants in the southeast and northeast as well.
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Many employees of major United States corporations are fearful that they will
lose their jobs in the near future, but this fear is largely unfounded.
According to a recent study, a majority of companies expected to make new hires
in the coming year, while fewer companies expected to lay off employees. In
addition, although it is very disturbing to be laid off, the proliferation of
programs and of workshops designed to improve job-finding skills has made being
laid off far less painful than it once was.
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In the Bayhead Public Library, books that are rarely borrowed continue to
take up shelf space year after year, while people who want to read a recent
novel frequently find that the library's only copy is checked out. Clearly, the
library's plan to replace books that are borrowed no more than once a year with
sufficient copies of more recent books will solve this problem. The protest we
have heard since this plan was made public has come from a small, and thus
unrepresentative, group of some thirty people and so should therefore be
ignored.
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The following appeared in a letter from the owner of the Sunnyside Towers
apartment building to its manager.
"One month ago, all the showerheads on the first five floors of SunnysideT
owers were modified to restrict the water flow to approximately 1/3 of its
original force. Although actual readings of water usage before and after the
adjustment are not yet available, the change will obviously result in a
considerable savings for Sunnyside Corporation, since the corporation must pay
for water each month. Except for a few complaints about low water pressure, no
problems with showers have been reported since the adjustment. Clearly,
restricting water flow throughout all the 20 floors of Sunnyside Towers will
increase our profits further."
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The following is a recommendation from the director of personnel to the
president of Professional Printing Company.
"In a recent telephone survey of automobile factory workers, older employees
were less likely to report that having a supervisor present increases their
productivity. Among workers aged 18 to 29, 27 percent said that they are more
productive in the presence of their immediate supervisor, compared to 12 percent
for those aged 30 or over, and only 8 percent for those aged 50 or over.
Clearly, if our printing company hires mainly older employees, we will increase
productivity and save money because of the reduced need for supervisors. "
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The following appeared as part of an article in a health magazine.
"A new discovery warrants a drastic change in the diets of people living in
the United States. Two scientists have recently suggested that omega -3 fatty
acids (found in some fish and fish oils) play a key role in mental health. Our
ancestors, who ate less saturated fat and more polyunsaturated fat, including
omega -3 fatty acids, were much less likely to suffer from depression than we
are today. Moreover, modern societies — such as those in Japan and Taiwan — that
consume large quantities of fish report depression rates lower than that in the
United States. Given this link between omega -3 fatty acids and depression, it
is important for all people in the United States to increase their consumption
of fish in order to prevent depression."
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A new report suggests that men and women experience pain very differently
from one another, and that doctors should consider these differences when
prescribing pain medications. When researchers administered the same dosage of
kappa opioids — a painkiller — to 28 men and 20 women who were having their
wisdom teeth extracted, the women reported feeling much less pain than the men,
and the easing of pain lasted considerably longer in women. This research
suggests that kappa opioids should be prescribed for women whenever pain
medication is required, whereas men should be given other kinds of pain
medication. In addition, researchers should reevaluate the effects of all
medications on men versus women.
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The following is a recommendation from the dean at Foley College, a small
liberal arts college, to the president of the college.
"Since college-bound students are increasingly concerned about job prospects
after graduation, Foley College should attempt to increase enrollment by
promising to find its students jobs after they graduate. Many administrators
feel that this strategy is a way for Foley to compete against larger and more
prestigious schools and to encourage students to begin preparing for careers as
soon as they enter college. Furthermore, a student who must choose a career path
within his or her first year of college and who is guaranteed a job after
graduation is more likely to successfully complete the coursework that will
prepare him or her for the future."
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