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 th

The author's argument that the advertising firms should hire employees needing less than six hours of sleep per night, for making higher profit may seem to be logical at the first glance. The argument could be correct if its premises were to be true. However the author has made use of assumptions for which there is no supporting evidence and terms that lack definition.

Firstly, the author has assumed that the employees who need less than six hours of sleep per night are the ones actually responsible for the success of their respective firms. The author has based his conclusion on a study which showes that the advertising firms whose employees need per night sleep of six hours or less, have reported higher profit margins than the advertising firms whose employees need more hours of sleep per night on average.

Here the author has not provided any data regarding the individual performance of those employees who need six hours or less of sleep.It may be possible that the the strength of the profit producing firms may not be very large, as a result the actual difference between employees sleeping less than six hours and those sleeping more than six hours may not be vary big. It may be possible that the employees having more than six hours of sleep may be performing better on an individual level and may be the larger contributors towards the firm's success. If the author were to provide some evidence showing that the employees needing les than six hours of sleep per night perform better at individual level than their counterparts who need more sleep per night, it would have lent considerable support to his position.

The author has also assumed that statistical data provided by the study applies fully to the conclusion. He has not examined reasons other than the employees' sleep hours, which could also be responsible for the success of those firms which are showing more profits. For example,the advertising firms showing better profits may be hiring the better performers in the advertising industry. They may have better business plans, job incentives, work conditions etc. Thay may also be already established firms and may be having more existing customers than other firms under study, which may be newer and may not have the same customer base. If any of the above reasons is true, then the smaller sleeping hours of the employees may have no bearing on the relatively higher profit margins showed by their firms. If the author were to provide evidence suggesting that all other conditions which can be responsible for change in profit margins, are similar in all the advertising firms under study,it would certainly support his argument.

Summing up, the author's argument that if a business wants to prosper, it should hire only people who need less than 6 hours of sleep per night, may be correct. However,the author has based his conclusion on certain assumptions for which he has failed to provide any supporting evidence. In its present state the author's argument cannot be accepted.