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Plagiarism and its impact on Corporate Governance Frameworks

Based on my on going analysis of our website visitor's statistics and details I am noting a lot of interesting key search words and strings being entered referring to or researching sections of our website. This provides good management information to us while we are fine tuning the content of our site. As a result I am happy to report visitor traffic has increased dramatically (current visitor count is 2800 and growing exponentially by 30 - 70% on a month by month basis) since March 2009, when I started to consciously write on a number of topics, such as corporate ethics, corporate governance, professional services and so forth. The articles on fairness and equity, as well as those explaining natural law, discussions on employment law, and a number of case studies are generating a lot of interest from all over the globe, and especially from Malaysia, Middle East (Kuwait) and France. Alors, je souhaite le bienvenue au site web Balfoort Consulting! Amongst the search strings I also noted a number searching for case studies on specific professional topics, and I am happy that we have posted a number of these on the website to showcase our professional skills and experience.

As a result of our initial success in using our website to publicize professional concepts and definitions of ethics more widely, as they relate to business issues, I have also started writing professionally for several global research foundations, and contributing to a Kuwait blog. Not long ago, a contact of mine in New York suggested I explore commercial blogs as a way to earn some money and at the same time distribute my thoughts more widely, so I undertook research which came up with some interesting results which confirm and make sense of some of my previous professional experiences.

Ever since I commenced work at a previous professional office I was rather surprised to find that a number of MBA graduates at that office were wholly incapable of writing even a standard business letter, research report, proposal or marketing brief, instead resorting to copying and pasting from other previous writings, such as proposals, to create an impression of professionalism. I investigated this issue further by direct questioning and monitoring of the individuals concerned, but did not obtain a conclusive answer why these apparently intelligent individuals, mostly in their early to mid twenties, had so much trouble analyzing, researching and writing professionally at the most basic level. One classic example was a case where additional real estate demand was predicted in a particular area of the Middle East based on the fact that a high level of supply of rental space was on the market. The logic being that, based on the originators of this supply being rational businessmen, this oversupply surely had to represent an expected demand in the future, thereby confirming the need for further office space and a further and continuing increase in demand in future. This wholly demand side driven conclusion, ignoring some dramatic supply side statistics, including a dramatic and precarious drop in GDP growth and FDI, was expected to be presented to the client as a self evident professional conclusion by a young MBA with several years experience.

My recent research into the world of commercial blogs and pay per article of research clarified a lot of questions that arose from this and similar episodes. On one site inviting me to register as a professional writer I noted the following statement:

"The freelance writers at …………….. assist customers in the development of essays, term papers, theses, and dissertations which are designed to meet each customer's unique needs. Projects requiring original field research or qualitative studies are also accommodated. We try to support students and professionals in a wide range of settings, however, customers can only request work at a high school level or above. Generally, our clientele request Masters or Doctoral-level writing."

Further discussions with my sons indicate that the practice is rife at some international schools they have attended, where the more (or less) affluent students are quite comfortable in ordering this type of research (read essays, theses) and have these hand delivered to them by any reputable courier company on a regular basis prior to course deadlines. Imagine what a clever way around the rules against plagiarism and the controls imposed by software applications that are currently utilized by the schools and institutions of higher education, in order to check whether any of their students are in fact inappropriately copying existing research papers from any pre existing publications. The writing fees on offer are in the range of US$ 10 - 20 per page for the writing of such essays and academic papers, with requirements to write up to 40 or more pages on any assignment. My sons indicated, based on what they had heard from friends, that they were paying up to US$ 200 for a short essay.

My research indicates there is a stronger requirement to check research, analysis and writing skills of candidates with any certifications from any educational institutions. It also raises a major question mark over the quality of new and existing graduates in the corporate world and the private sector, as well as the future of our organizations if a material percentage of our key future corporate and political decision makers are potentially part of a group of world citizens that have earned their qualifications in an unethical and inappropriate manner.

In summary, the above, identifying its potential material impact on the personal ethical frameworks of such graduates and the deficiencies in their ability to quickly research, grasp concepts and draw valid conclusions, together with the likelihood that they may occupy senior positions in organizations, either currently or in future, will negatively affect the corporate governance of any organization. No doubt more grist for the mill of the Peter Principle, which I have written about in other news on our website, and possibly another contributing factor to the current economic crisis we are having to contend with.

Source: http://sociology.camden.rutgers.edu/jfm/plagiarism/