BUS101 Report: Academic Misconduct Analysis at USC

This report analyzes academic misconduct at the University of Sunshine Coast, focusing on issues like plagiarism and collusion. It begins with an executive summary addressing academic integrity and the use of Social Desirability Biases and the Job Demand-Resources Model. The report investigates the problem through qualitative data analysis, including student interviews, to identify the root causes of misconduct. Findings reveal that time management challenges and a lack of resources contribute to the problem. The report recommends implementing a Compliance Management Framework to address academic misconduct. Key theories such as Deterrence Theory and the Job Demand-Resources Model are discussed, and the research question explores the extent to which academic misconduct affects student academic performance. The study uses a non-probability convenience sampling method to gather data from student interviews, and the results highlight the significance of time constraints and resource availability. The report concludes with recommendations to the CEO, emphasizing the need for policy adherence and a focus on time management and resource provision to mitigate academic misconduct.

Running head: MANAGEMENT
Business analysis
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Executive summary
Academic misconduct degrades the standards of University of Sunshine Coast. As a matter of
specification, the cases of cheating, plagiarism and collusion depicts the irrational behaviour
of the students towards completing the assigned projects. This irrationality contradicts the
rationality, which is needed by the students for exposing such behaviour, which is acceptable
in the society. Herein lays the correlation with the concept of Social Desirability Biases,
which attains an important position in the report. Biases in this context reflects the different
perceptions regarding the preference of resources, which can fulfil their education needs. In
this context, reference can be drawn to the Job Resource and Demand Model, which has been
used in the report for scanning the behavioural approach of the students. Interviews responses
have been included, which depicts the use of qualitative analysis. After reviewing all the
issues, it can be inferred that Compliance Management Framework Policies needs to be
adhered for curbing the issues of academic misconduct like cheating, plagiarism and
collusion.

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Table of contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Overview of the business problem.........................................................................................3
Company profile.................................................................................................................3
Problem statement..............................................................................................................3
Overview of the literature on the topic......................................................................................3
Previous empirical work........................................................................................................3
Theory....................................................................................................................................4
Justification of the theory.......................................................................................................5
Methods and results....................................................................................................................6
Recommendations and conclusion.............................................................................................8
References................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
Overview of the business problem
Company profile
University of Sunshine Coast is one of the popular choices among the students for
realizing their potentials. Through the guidance of the skilled and qualified professors, the
students get practical work experience, enabling them to organize the academic establishment
(Usc.edu.au 2019). Focus on the community wellbeing is an initiative towards expanding the
scope and arena of the corporate social responsibility. As a matter of specification, the
students are provided with various options for selecting the courses and the programs. The
courses range from Business, IT and Tourism to Law and Criminology and others
(Usc.edu.au 2019). For gaining additional information on the courses and programs, the
students can log into the website.
Problem statement
The issue of academic misconduct has adversely affected the academic establishment
of the students in University of Sunshine Coast (Usc.edu.au 2019). The incident of copying
from the other sources for completing the projects have been detected. According to the
arguments of Hodgkinson, Curtis, MacAlister and Farrell (2016), this is unethical, as it leads
to the cases of plagiarism, which possesses dire consequences for the student as well as
others. Horbach and Halffman (2017) highlights that various forms of the issue are plagiarism
and collusion, which deviates the students from the academic integrity and the essential skills
needed for penetrating into the professional field.
Overview of the literature on the topic
Previous empirical work
According to the arguments of Hodgkinson, Curtis, MacAlister and Farrell (2016),
plagiarism has been defined as the intellectual approach of the individuals towards
acknowledging the considered sources. If this act is performed by the students for completing

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the projects and assignments, it is unethical and can lead to serious consequences. Horbach
and Halffman (2017) highlights one of the other forms of misconduct, which relates to
copying, pasting and paraphrasing the considered sources. In this context, Hodgkinson et al.
(2016) discourages academic misconduct exposed by the students in the universities.
According to the arguments of Horbach and Halffman (2017), text recycling or self-
plagiarism has been designated as one of the other forms of academic misconduct in the
universities. Strong and flexible policy statements suffices the need for controlling these
cases.
Becker (2019) exposes an inquisitive approach towards the issue of academic
misconducts in the universities. In this context, plagiarism has been connoted as the
‘violation of the academic integrity’. This violation can be considered as a deviation from the
honesty, which the students ought to expose.
Theory
As per the arguments of Wlömert et al. (2018), the concept of Social Desirable
Responding (SDR) is highlighted. Wlomert makes use of randomized response theory for
controlling the issue of academic misconduct. Social Desirability Biases differ according to
the perceptions of the individuals and groups on the social constructs and norms. Multiscale
item response approach is assistance in terms of mapping the scope and arena of the
behavioural approach of the students towards completing the assigned projects. Within this,
Paternoster (2018) highlights deterrence theory, which is one of the effective means for
taking necessary actions against plagiarism. In contrast to this, Hall and Martin (2019) is of
the view that rational choice theory is the most applicable in case of academic misconduct,
as it considers the students as the rational agents. In this context, the behaviour of rational is
contradicted, as the students commit plagiarism and collusion in spite of knowing that it is
unethical.

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According to Bakker and Demerouti (2017), Job Demand-Resources Model attains
an important position in the context of academic misconduct in the universities. As a matter
of specification, risk factors are associates with the resources and demands for completing the
assigned projects. Bakker and Demerouti (2017) highlights the cognitive and emotional
connotations for the students, the implications of which are disastrous if there is indulgence
into the instances like plagiarism and collusion.
Justification of the theory
Deterrence theory seems to be effective for the instructors to deter certain behaviours.
In this context, punishment is the obvious outcome for making the students familiar with the
intensity of the issue through the provision of suspension, termination and expulsion. In this
context, Paternoster (2018) states that one of the relevant challenge is the lack of quality time,
adding to the complexities of the professors to report the issue to the higher authorities. This
approach is considered as a lackadaisical approach, of which the students can take undue
advantage, if not dealt with due consideration. If the students deliberately commit the acts of
plagiarism, they would expose irrational behaviour, stalling their academic establishment.
Along with this, job-demand-resource model is fruitful in terms of mapping the
behavioural approach of the students towards fulfilling the course requirements (Bakker and
Demerouti 2017). As a matter of specification, if the students do not get the necessary
resources and adequate time, their academic needs would not be fulfilled. Along with this,
Wlömert et al. (2018) states that if the students do not the motivation and encouragement
from the students, they would not be able to perform well in the examinations. This would
generate disinterest among the students towards studies, which might lead to the intentions of
indulging in wrong means like that of plagiarism, collusion among others (Becker 2019).
Research objective: To examine the root cause of academic misconduct in University of

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Sunshine Coast
Research question: To what extent does academic misconduct affects the academic
establishment of the students in University of Sunshine Coast?
Managerial decision statement: The University of Sunshine Coast is committed towards
Compliance Management Framework, which ensures that all the standards and protocols
are followed for diligently monitoring the behaviour of the students, so that the cases of
academic misconduct like cheating, plagiarism and collusion is avoided.
Methods and results
The qualitative data analysis is actually the analysis of data and information attained
from the responses of the managerial individuals required to maintain the quality,
characteristics as well as define the actual meaning and purpose of the topic on which the
research is being conducted effectively. According to Mihas (2019), the qualitative analysis is
done with the help of various methods and techniques based on the Philosophy of science,
furthermore, put greater analytical focus on the management of data and information acquired
(Mihas 2019). The qualitative analysis is based on the humanistic research that represents the
responses of human beings provided when asked certain questions related to the research
topic. Merriam and Grenier (2019), argued that the qualitative analysis includes analysis of
non-numeric information that can be obtained in the form of audio recordings, interview
transcripts, etc (Merriam and Grenier 2019).
Considering the qualitative analysis aspect while conducting the research, it is of
utmost importance that the qualitative data and information have been gathered in the form of
responses provided by the students of University of the Sunshine Coast during the interview
session. As stated by Tesch (2013), the qualitative method of analysis has been used for the

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purpose of conducting interview with the six students of the business school regarding the
research topic of “Academic Misconduct”. At first to select a number of samples, i.e., the
students, a proper sampling method or technique has been accepted and here it has been the
non-probability convenient sampling method (Tesch 2013). With the help of accurate
sampling method selection and data collection procedures, the interview could be conducted
and also the focus group interviews for yielding the relevant data and information required to
provide solutions to the research questions. Following the non-probability convenience
sampling method, six students were chosen as samples and then called in for interview based
on their convenient time from their academic hectic schedule (Silverman 2016). The
interview sessions with them helped in drawing out relevant information in the form of their
responses, which are considered as qualitative data that has been analysed and interpreted.
Based on the analysis of data, it has been found that Business school experienced
issues related to Academic Misconduct at the University of the Sunshine Coast. The findings
of the analysis showed that most the students know the actual meaning of academic
misconduct and they are known to the major issues surrounding it such as copying words
from an article, influencing another individual to write the assignment or even cheat while
doing the assignment. When asked about what might be the issues that have hindered their
ability to accomplish the tasks, most of them mentioned about doing job and study at the
same time, because of which, the time is much less (Glendinning 2014). According to the
analysis of qualitative data, it has also been found that to save a significant amount of money,
most of the students preferred to do their jobs at workplace, which also made them miss out
the lectures and study materials sometimes due to not visiting the University. Therefore, it
could be understood that time management has been a major issue. When asked about
whether students cheat or not while completing the assignments, here also they believed that
sometimes work complexity and lack of time have been the major causes of cheating while

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doing the assessment, though they are aware of the penalty that might be imposed with the
misconducts during academic sessions (Eret and Ok 2014). Based on the analysis of
qualitative data, the resources that have been provided to the students include workshops
arranged for them, various courses and availability of online educational courses along with
accessibility to the Black Board website, which could help in obtaining relevant information
and data that are relevant to the research topic.
Recommendations and conclusion
Based on the analysis of the findings done in the above section, most of the students
believed that poor management of time and copying data from various articles entirely are the
major issues that have contributed to the issues experienced by University of the Sunshine
Coast. As a consultant, I have been approached by the CEO of the educational institution to
provide recommendations that can resolve the business issues and problems largely. As stated
by Glendinning (2014), the academic misconduct has mainly emerged due to redundancy of
data and information, which has happened as many of the students has copied word to word
from the journals and articles while completing the assessment. On the other hand, Singh and
Remenyi (2016) argued the fact that due to poor management of time as well, many of the
students found it difficult to maintain proper balance between their academic career and their
professional career. Due to this, they were sometimes unable to attend their classes at the
University, which prevented them from gathering proper data and information required to
complete the assessment perfectly. From the analysis of findings, it is also found that the
students often used to influence others to write their assessment, who might have poor
knowledge on the subject, due to which also, the assessments were not up to the mark. Few
recommendations are have been provided below.
 The University is recommended to set proper time for the students to take part in the
workshops and study sessions by providing them with sufficient study materials. This

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could allow them to go to the University and gain the interest to learn while carrying
out their job activities on the other hand.
 The University could also arrange some monetary benefits for the students while
pursuing their knowledge and study sessions to create a sense of interest among them
and encourage them to take part in the open discussions. The students are to be
acknowledged about the meaning of plagiarism, furthermore, gain detailed knowledge
and information from the course materials, subject notes, lecture discussions, etc.
 The management of honour code is recommended as well for ensuring that the
students undertake measures and remain cautious about not cheating, thereby, report
to the higher authorities about any cases where other students might cheat, which
might be associated with the academic misconduct.
 The University could also enable a method for resubmission where the students work
should be marked as fail, but should be provided with scopes for submitting again,
which could allow them to learn and gain experience while giving rightful
acknowledgements.
 The University is also recommended to have a clear and well publicised policies
related to plagiarism, which could ensure preventing plagiarism, furthermore put
those in practices for preventing any negative outcomes too.

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References
Bakker, A.B. and Demerouti, E., 2017. Job demands–resources theory: Taking stock and
looking forward. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 22(3), p.273.
Becker, K.D., 2019. Graduate students’ experiences of plagiarism by their professors. Higher
Education Quarterly, 73(2), pp.251-265.
Eret, E. and Ok, A., 2014. Internet plagiarism in higher education: tendencies, triggering
factors and reasons among teacher candidates. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher
Education, 39(8), pp.1002-1016.
Etikan, I., Musa, S.A. and Alkassim, R.S., 2016. Comparison of convenience sampling and
purposive sampling. American journal of theoretical and applied statistics, 5(1), pp.1-4.
Glendinning, I., 2014. Responses to student plagiarism in higher education across
Europe. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 10(1).
Hall, J. and Martin, B.R., 2019. Towards a taxonomy of research misconduct: The case of
business school research. Research Policy, 48(2), pp.414-427.
Hodgkinson, T., Curtis, H., MacAlister, D. and Farrell, G., 2016. Student academic
dishonesty: The potential for situational prevention. Journal of Criminal Justice Education,
27(1), pp.1-18.
Horbach, S.S. and Halffman, W.W., 2017. The extent and causes of academic text recycling
or ‘self-plagiarism’. Research policy. 48(2), pp.492-502. Elvisier
Merriam, S.B. and Grenier, R.S. eds., 2019. Qualitative research in practice: Examples for
discussion and analysis. John Wiley & Sons.
Mihas, P., 2019. Qualitative data analysis. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education.

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Paternoster, R., 2018. Perceptual deterrence theory. In Deterrence, Choice, and Crime,
Volume 23 (pp. 81-106). Routledge.
Silverman, D. ed., 2016. Qualitative research. Sage.
Singh, S. and Remenyi, D., 2016. Plagiarism and ghostwriting: The rise in academic
misconduct. South African Journal of Science, 112(5-6), pp.1-7.
Tesch, R., 2013. Qualitative research: Analysis types and software. Routledge.
Usc.edu.au 2019. About us. Available at: https://www.usc.edu.au/ [Accessed on 19th
September 2019]
Wlömert, N., Pellenwessel, D., Fox, J.-P., & Clement, M. (2018). Multidimensional
Assessment of Social Desirability Bias: An Application of Multiscale Item Randomized
Response Theory to Measure Academic Misconduct. Journal of Survey Statistics and
Methodology. Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology. pp. 1–33