Manchester Metropolitan University Business School
Research Methods
Assessment 1: Critical Writing (15%)
Granitz, N. and D. Loewy (2007), Applying Ethical Theories: Interpreting and Responding to Student Plagiarism, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 72, pp 293-306.
Summary
Plagiarism in today's “copy and paste generation” is an unremitting, complex issue that is not yet fully understood.
The paper responds to this proposition with a thesis that understanding the ethical reasoning provided by students in defending plagiarism is crucial in preventing it in student populations. The reasons can provide the basis for specific action-orientated recommendations to reduce plagiarism and to design programs to encourage originality and
207). Furthermore, since the early 1950s researchers in organizational sciences have expressed concern that the “tendency of individuals to deny socially undesirable traits and to admit to socially desirable ones” may impair empirical studies based on questionnaires which require respondents to report on their own behaviour or attitudes (Randall and Fernandes, 1991, p. 805)
Recommendations
The paper outlines a basis of recommendations based on the results achieved by the content analysis. Given the above critique of the content analysis, and the limit that the context of asking sensitive or incriminating questions in a business, and I would suggest academic, context, one could critique the assumption put forward in the paper that the recommendations for each ethical theory will achieve the effect of reducing plagiarism in institutions and provide a basis for the implementation of clear academic policies. Moreover, expanding on what I have suggested above, given the critique forwarded by Weiss and Bader (2003), it could be argues that poor public perception of plagiarism in academic institutions may make any changes difficult to implement. I would argue that a more useful critique would be to consider the reasons offered by