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  • 标题:When chance turns to disaster: Parts A, B, and C.
  • 作者:Armandi, Barry ; Sherman, Herbert ; Rowley, Daniel J.
  • 期刊名称:Journal of the International Academy for Case Studies
  • 印刷版ISSN:1078-4950
  • 出版年度:2010
  • 期号:July
  • 语种:English
  • 出版社:The DreamCatchers Group, LLC
  • 关键词:College faculty;College teachers;Plagiarism;Strategic planning (Business);Teachers

When chance turns to disaster: Parts A, B, and C.


Armandi, Barry ; Sherman, Herbert ; Rowley, Daniel J. 等


PART A

Introduction

"Houston, we have a problem!" Professor Reynolds may not have uttered those exact words to himself, but he certainly thought them as he perused the two plagiarized group case term papers from his Business Strategy classes. The case analyses he perused were professionally done and identical to what was in the instructor's manual of the textbook. This would seem to be an open and shut case, but there was far more here than meets the eye--far more than anyone could ever imagine.

In the Beginning ...

It was bright and early Monday morning and Professor Reynolds sat in his office preparing an accreditation report for the Dean of the School of Business of Central State College. The phone rang, and he answered "Dr. Reynolds." "Bob, we have a problem," said Jen Thomas, secretary to the Dean of the School of Business at Caladon University, a local private college where Professor Reynolds sometimes worked as an adjunct. "Oh, hi, Jen, what's the problem?" asked Reynolds. Jen continued "Well, remember that full-time person we hired, Dr. Chance, to teach those Policy courses you sometimes teach for us? Things aren't working out. He has been out for the last two weeks, claiming he is not feeling well. In that time, about fifty of his seventy students came over and complained. Their complaints were: that he was absent most of the time; he didn't cover a lot of material; they didn't use the book, which had cost them around $180; he only graded about 50% of the midterms and out of that only 20% got grades; on another assignment, he only gave about 10% of the class feedback and grades; and some students said he was grading them using graduate standards, but they are only undergraduates. They even showed the Dean and me an email indicating that he was using those standards. It's a mess and we have only four weeks left in the semester; less than 1/4 of the class time left!"

Reynolds said "What a shame! What can I do to help?" Jen quickly came back with a request, "Dean Barrett was wondering and hoping that you might be able to take over Dr. Chance's courses?" "You mean for the next few classes until he gets well" Reynolds responded. "No, for the rest of the semester, and perhaps even next semester. We are really stuck. Anything you can do would be better than what has been going on." replied Jen. Reynolds thought a moment and asked about class schedules, which didn't conflict with his own teaching schedule at Central. Dr. Reynolds had three courses of his own and luckily was not teaching an overload; he normally taught four courses. "OK, Jen," replied Reynolds. "I'll check with my Dean, but I don't envision a problem as long as this is a temporary fix and an emergency." "Great! Dr. Barrett would like to see you tomorrow, Tuesday, for lunch. I'll have the book and instructor's manual as well as any other material you may need. Also, we'll prepare any transparencies, slides, or copies. Whatever you need, we'll get it done ASAP," said Jen.

Reynolds Meets Barrett

The next day Reynolds met Dr. Barrett and Jen for lunch. They recounted in far greater detail what Jen had told Reynolds over the phone the previous day. Barrett was very appreciative and told Reynolds that Dr. Chance would never teach in his school again. He also informed Reynolds that besides the academic complaints, there were charges of sexual harassment from a female student and racial discrimination by two black students against Dr. Chance. Barrett felt that anything Reynolds would do now, with only four weeks left in the semester, would be better that what had been previously done.

Preparing for the Takeover

The weekend came and Reynolds started to review the material. Having a background in the area of strategy and policy, he recognized the approach used by Dr. Chance. Although Reynolds preferred to use a simulation, Dr. Chance used the typical case approach. Reynolds had just completed a policy book with two of his colleagues and his text used a similar approach. Reynolds knew the assigned text for these new classes well and also knew that the cases in the book were comprehensive and were typical policy cases about various organizations such as Apple Computer, United Airlines, Enron and other high profile companies. He checked his computer, and the overheads they prepared for the book were still there. He looked at the calendar and decided to work backwards from the final exam date to the next class on Monday. "Not much time," he muttered. He continued speaking out loud, "Let's see. It would be unfair to give them an exam, so I'll have to use the last day for them to hand in reports. They'll have to do group presentations of a comprehensive case (each of the three classes had an enrollment of around 25 students), so that will take at least four classes for the day classes; two for the evening class. That only leaves me with four classes for the day classes or two nights for the evening class to present the students with some material. Since I don't know what they do know, I'll give them some introductory material and then move on to external environment and internal environment analyses. Then, I'll put it altogether for them in an overall SWOT analysis. I should also have them do a mini-case at the end of one chapter. So let's see what I have." Reynolds constructed the following grade point distribution:
Mini-case Analysis         25%
Group Case Presentation    25%
Group Case Report          50%


Under the circumstances, he felt that these requirements were fair. He prepared his lecture notes and printed out the transparencies. He was ready for Monday's classes.

Reynolds Meets the Classes

There were three classes in undergraduate strategic management and policy: two in the day and one at night. The day classes met at 9 and 11 AM Mondays and Wednesdays for one hour and forty minutes. The evening class met at 6 PM on Mondays for three hours and twenty minutes. The students had been told via emails and phone calls over the weekend by Jen that a new professor would be in to cover the courses for the next four weeks until the end of the semester and that he would be grading them.

In each of the classes, Dr. Reynolds introduced himself and asked the students to tell him about what went on previously. He said this would be the only time that he would ask since they had limited time and allot of material to cover. The students recited a litany of complaints most of which Reynolds had heard from Jen and Dr. Barrett. Other complaints were that Dr. Chance liked females more than males and was kinder to them in class. After hearing the students' comments, Reynolds proceeded to explain to the class the requirements for the remainder of the semester, writing his grade distribution on the board. He explained the mini-case analyses and the comprehensive cases from the book. Over the weekend, he identified the cases he wanted the class to do in their presentations. He found out that Dr. Chance had constructed groups, but they did not contain the same number of students. He discovered that in each of the classes some groups had three students, while others had six. When asked about group formation, the students responded, "Dr. Chance let us do it ourselves." The students had met in their groups many times during the semester, always in class.

Some students raised the issue of previous work that had been done. Some had their work graded. Others had some feedback--but no grades. Others never received their work back, and others felt that they were not given the chance that other students had to revise and resubmit their work. Reynolds indicated for those who had grades on work from Dr. Chance, if the grade was a B or better, they would receive extra credit. He explained that he didn't have copies of the cases, didn't know about Dr. Chance's expectations or grading scheme, and didn't know about deadlines, revisions, or other qualitative feedback given by Dr. Chance. Some students protested and started to literally cry. All of their hard work was for nothing.

Reynolds felt his stomach tie in knots. He did not expect such a response from the students and really had not prepared for such an outcry. How can he deal with the students' needs for fair treatment balanced by what Reynolds perceived as a 'botched' job by Dr. Chance. What was Reynolds to do now?

WHEN CHANCE TURNS TO DISASTER: PART B

Dr. Reynolds sympathized and asked the students to understand how difficult, if not impossible, it was to evaluate fairly the entire class' performance, given such little information and obvious problems caused by Dr. Chance's inconsistent grading of their prior work. A large majority of students understood and told the other students that this was better than what they had before and that they were finally going to learn something. Afterwards, some students came to Reynolds and said that they were not in a group. All of them were Asian students. Reynolds asked how this could have happened. He was told that "Dr. Chance had a policy that if you showed up late for class, you had to work alone and not in a group." Reynolds assigned these students to other groups.

The Conversation with the Provost

The next day, Tuesday, Reynolds received a call from Barrett, who asked him to call the Provost to discuss compensation (under these special circumstances the Provost was trying to obtain permission from the College's V.P. for Finance for full adjunct pay for Dr. Reynolds rather than the traditional pro-rated compensation rate) and to give the Provost a briefing on the feedback from the classes. Reynolds called immediately. The Provost thanked him for helping, told him he was going to get his full pay, even though there was only a month left in the semester, and asked how the classes went. Reynolds explained the issues that had arisen in class and how he handled them. He told the Provost of his requirements and grading. He then mentioned the problem of previous work. He wanted the Provost to know that he may hear from some unhappy students. The Provost said he would have Dr. Chance grade all the work and give the grades to Reynolds. Reynolds said that Dr. Chance's grading may open up a can of worms, since some students felt they were unfairly graded, others felt that their grades were too low, and others felt that they were not given the chance that other students had to revise and resubmit their work. Reynolds told the Provost that there were only a handful of students who complained, and for those he would give extra credit for grades of B or better, that the process of Chance's continued grading of papers would be too cumbersome and perhaps not timely. The Provost agreed and went along with Reynolds' suggestions.

Lectures and Presentations

Over the course of the next two weeks, Reynolds lectured on introductory material, external and internal analyses, and culminated with a comprehensive SWOT analysis. He showed the class how to do an overall problem identification and analysis and how to quantify a SWOT analysis. He introduced theories from Michael Porter and Miles and Snow, as well as other strategy theorists. During his presentation, he referred to examples of corporations and small businesses. A number of students came to him after class and said they had learned more in those four weeks of classes then the previous twelve weeks of classes held by Dr. Chance.

The case presentations, scheduled for the last four sessions of the day classes, and the last two sessions of the evening class, went well. Reynolds had reviewed the cases before each class and checked the instructor's manual. Two of the presentations in different classes and on different cases looked familiar, but he didn't think much of it at the time.

When the semester ended and Reynolds had collected the group case reports, he settled in his office and started to read and grade them. He came to the reports of those presentations that previously seemed familiar to him. After reading them he became curious. They were professionally done and their analyses looked too good for undergraduates--especially since students made a continued point of complaining that they really had not learned much at all from their previous instructor. Becoming increasingly suspicious, he checked the instructor's manual. In both cases, the reports were identical to the analysis in the manual, even down to the typos! He sat back, and shook his head in disbelief and frustration.

Reynolds knew that these were not normal conditions, and there were numerous mitigating circumstances. He had substituted for a professor who, for whatever reason, seemed both incompetent and incapable of finishing the instruction of his classes. This was the capstone course, the final course that students took in business to graduate and to integrate their business education, and, clearly, it had been bungled from day one. Students had done prior work, and that work would no longer count towards a grade in the course. Dr. Chance had even been accused of favoritism and sexual harassment.

"What do I do now? Fail them, given the circumstances? Bring them up on charges? Just let it go? I need to be both fair and equitable, yet I cannot let plagiarism go without some form of punishment or at least acknowledgement." Reynolds had to do something, but what would do, at this point, escaped him.

Reynolds went to the Dean Barrett and explained the situation. The Dean was stunned after reviewing the evidence. He suggested that they call the groups in and see each member individually. After the questioning, the students waited in a separate room. Reynolds concurred with the suggested solution and the groups were notified.

During the meetings, the students readily admitted that they had used the instructor's manual. However, when questioned how they acquired the manual, the groups unanimously indicated that Dr. Chance gave them the manual. It seemed that the students had gone to ask him about doing a case analysis and report and asked if he had some examples. Being a new professor at the school, the professor told them that he didn't. They pleaded with him to give them some help, and Chance had finally relented and told them to follow the guide in the instructor's manual and handed it to one student whom he considered to be responsible. The following week, the student gave the manual back to Chance and thanked him. Unbeknownst to him, the student had photocopied the entire manual, distributed copies out to his classmates, and, subsequently, this material was used in their reports (without footnoting or indicating the source of their information).

Dean Barrett and Dr. Reynolds had a tough decision to make. Students had clearly and admittedly plagiarizing material from an instructor's manual that they obtained from their instructor; could they be held accountable for their actions even though a faculty member was an unknowing "accomplice?"

WHEN CHANCE TURNS TO DISASTER: PART C

After meeting with each student, Barrett and Reynolds decided to officially withdraw each student from the course since plagiarism (regardless of Chance's involvement) in and of itself was inexcusable. Since the students needed this course for graduation, the withdrawal would mean that they would not graduate for another semester. Barrett and Reynolds figured this would be apt punishment for their actions. Under the circumstances and realizing that the alternatives could be failure or expulsion (either one would leave a permanent mark on their transcript), the students quite reluctantly agreed.

Barrett decided to also notify the Provost. The Provost stated that the resolution was appropriate. He informed Barrett that he would discuss the matter with Chance. Barrett said adamantly, "I don't want him back teaching in my school." The Provost assured him that he would handle it quickly and decisively.

The Provost met with Chance the next day and confronted him with the situation. At first, Chance hesitated but realized that he had made a mistake. Chance confessed but said, in his defense, that he was new to classroom teaching, and that he had spent the last few years doing one on one and Internet teaching. He normally showed students the manual so he wouldn't have to waste time explaining it. The Provost asked for his resignation. Chance refused, indicating that he had a two-year contract and that he expected the University to honor it.

The Provost told him he was going to contact the University lawyers and once it was in their hands, he could not help Dr. Chance. The stigma would follow him in the industry. Chance told him to go to hell and stormed out of the office. The Provost wondered what his next steps should be in light of Chance's refusal to resign.

Barry Armandi, SUNY @ Old Westbury (deceased)

Herbert Sherman, Long Island University--Brooklyn Campus

Daniel J. Rowley, University of Northern Colorado
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