Professional Skills and Academic Integrity in Business Report

This report addresses the concepts of academic plagiarism and academic integrity, emphasizing their significance in the professional business environment. It defines plagiarism as the misrepresentation of others' work and highlights the consequences of academic dishonesty, such as failing grades or career damage. The report also explores the expectancy value model, which explains student behaviors related to plagiarism. Furthermore, it underscores the importance of academic integrity in building trust, developing a good reputation, and fostering ethical habits essential for success in the business world. The report concludes by emphasizing the application of academic integrity principles beyond the classroom and the significance of developing a personal code of integrity for navigating professional challenges. The report also provides a detailed account of various types of plagiarism and the importance of ethical behavior in the business environment.

Professional Skills for Business and Finance

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................3
ASSESSMENT 1..................................................................................................................................3
What is Academic Plagiarism and why is academic integrity is important to professionalism in a
Business environment ?...................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION....................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES.....................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
Professional skills can be defined as the competencies related with the career that are not
acquired as a part of regular coursework to get any PhD or masters degree. There are various types
of professional skills such as project management, leadership, conflict resolution etc (Guraya,
Norman and Roff, 2016). All these skills are value added skills that are important for the career of
the person. In the area of business and finance essential professional skills are interpersonal skills,
ability to communicate effectively, financial reporting etc. The Report will outline the meaning of
academic plagiarism and the importance of academic integrity to professionalism.
MAIN BODY
ASSESSMENT 1
What is Academic Plagiarism and why is academic integrity is important to professionalism in a
Business environment ?
Academic Plagiarism :
Plagiarism can be described as the intentional attempt to deceive the reader through
representation and appropriation as own work and using words of other people. Academic
plagiarism happens when a writer continuously uses more than four words from any form of printed
source or material without the use of precise reference and usage of quotation marks to the original
source of information in the work performed as the author's own research. Consistent plagiarism
without interaction with other person's views in a serious manner through argument or the addition
of new material is a type of academic plagiarism. It is considered as an academic dishonesty and
also the breach of journalistic ethics (Kelley, 2018).
Students who get involved in academic dishonesty have to face serious consequences. Such
as failure on assignment, reduction in grade, dismissal or suspension. It may cause the student to be
barred from high school or entering into the college. It may damage the entire career of a
professional. Plagiarism may also destroy academic reputation of the individual. Person cannot use
material of another person without reference or citation. There are various types of plagiarism such
as straight plagiarism, citation plagiarism, simple plagiarism by using footnote, complex writing by
using a footnote, plagiarism with hanging quotations, paraphrasing as plagiarism etc.
Task values and expectancies are the predictors of academic intentions and motivations.
According to expectancy value model, there are two concepts that are subjective task values and
expectancies for success that has immediate and direct impact on choice, motivation and

persistence. It is the theory of conceived behaviour that explain reasons behind plagiarism by
students. According to the theory, there is a logical relationship between intention to plagiarise and
student's level of awareness regarding plagiarism. It is also assumed that their actions are
unintentional. Irrespective of the prior experience of students they are generally confused regarding
wrongfulness and existence of plagiarism because of inconsistency in enforcement and existence of
rules and policies that surrounds the plagiarism by academic staff (Paz, Moore and Creel, 2017).
The theory says that, students enter to higher education with different prior experiences of learning.
Plagiarism is complex and it is common for students to misinterpret the meaning and importance of
plagiarism in a particular learning institution in which it is being assessed.
Importance of academic integrity :
It refers to the demonstration of and commitment to moral and honest behaviour in an
academic setting. Academic integrity is very important at the level of university as it is related with
offering recognition to the work of other individuals while using their ideas. Academic integrity
requires acknowledging the contribution made by other people. Integrity means remaining true to
self ideas and moral standards of conduct despite the hardships (Guraya, Norman and Roff, 2016).
Academic integrity is very important in professionalism due to variety of reasons. When an
individual possess academic honesty and integrity other people trust on them. The people believe on
right things and think that behaviour is consistent with their trust. Further, trust is one of the
important feature of successful leader. It helps people to develop good reputation by being
trustworthy, honest and fair. It helps people to remain successful in professional business
environment. Mostly, successful people knows the advantages of acting with integrity. Community
of the business is dependent upon the ability to trust each other. Moreover, the development of good
habits of being ethical helps to enter into the professional world and also assist to face ethical
issues. Another importance of academic integrity is that it provides value to the degree. Generally
employers of the organisation prefers to hire those candidates that are possessing high level of
personal integrity. Therefore, developing better ethical habits helps to enter into the workplace
(Karimbux, 2016).
The principle of academic integrity is beyond the limits of the classroom. All the students
must act in a responsible, honest and open manner. All the people should act with personal integrity
and also give respect to the property, rights and integrity of other students. Moreover, they should
assist to develop and maintain the environment in which all can succeed with the help of fruit of
their efforts. Academic integrity is also important for development of new ideas (Brundiers and
Wiek, 2017). It provides the path for developing new knowledge and also provides proper credit to
the individuals who have used the ideas and information. There are various ways in which people

can develop personal code of integrity. To face difficult situations in professional business
environment, individual should have the clarity of own system of beliefs and values. One of the
main approach to develop integrity is through becoming self-aware. Another method is that people
should have clarity regarding the principles of writing. People should develop personal mission
statement to express and clarify own ideas and values with the help of reflection and introspection.
CONCLUSION
The above Report has outlined that, academic plagiarism may result in various adverse
consequences. Further, it has been concluded that expectancy value model helps to explain the
causes behind the act of plagiarism by students. Academic integrity plays an important role in
professional business environment. Principle of academic integrity is applied beyond the classroom.
REFERENCES
Books and Journals -
Brundiers, K. and Wiek, A., 2017. Beyond interpersonal competence: Teaching and learning
professional skills in sustainability. Education Sciences, 7(1), p.39.
Guraya, S.Y., Norman, R.I. and Roff, S., 2016. Exploring the climates of undergraduate
professionalism in a Saudi and a UK medical school. Medical teacher, 38(6), pp.630-632.
Karimbux, N.Y., 2016. Creating a culture of academic integrity and professionalism.
Kelley, J., 2018. PREVENTING, IDENTIFYING & DEALING WITH PLAGIARISM.
Paz, V., Moore, W. and Creel, T., 2017. Academic Integrity in an Online Business Communication
Environment. Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (1947-2900), 9(2).