Exam essay

You, your spouse, and your two young children, have recently moved to Texas and you are now
the Human Resource Manager of an apple juice plant called Beech-Nut. It’s a great move, both
for your career and family.

Your first few months on the job have really confirmed that you
made a great choice in joining Beechnut. Your relationship with your new peers, your
employees, and even the president have been very positive.

Thomas Rex Gibbs* is the President of Beechnut. He earned the nickname “T-Rex” because of
an unfortunate accident that left him blind in one eye many years before. While it is barely
noticeable and creates few work-related problems for him, it does mean that he is forced to
move his head to and fro when entering the room due to limited peripheral vision, thus
creating the stalking appearance of the popular portrayal of his deadly namesake. But he
doesn’t mind the name at all. Instead, he seems to actually relish it. If truth were told, Rex not
only approves of the moniker, he thinks it’s an appropriate symbol for one so dominant and
firmly in charge.

T-Rex believes in surrounding himself with talent. One of his first actions as President was
selecting and hiring a new leadership team. He gave each team member freedom to run their
respective areas (to his liking, of course). The leadership team’s first order of business was
establishing the following core values:

 People: Be a great place to work where people are inspired to be the best they can be.
 Portfolio: Bring to the world a portfolio of products that satisfy customer’s desires and

needs.
 Planet: Be responsible citizens that make a difference by helping build and support

sustainable communities.
 Profit: Maximize long-term return to shareowners while being mindful of our overall

responsibilities.

This first step paid off – the company’s product sales have benefited from Beechnut’s carefully
crafted image, and Beechnut is now the second-largest maker of baby foods in the country.

In fact, Beechnut’s winning combination of competitive salary and core values allowed your
predecessor (the previous HR Manager) to successfully recruit young, top talent to the
organization. This not only lowered payroll and medical benefit costs, but also resulted in
Beechnut being featured in Forbes magazine’s annual “Best Employers for New Graduates.”

T-Rex was not all that supportive of the initiatives of the leadership team at first, but he did
appreciate the positive press from the Forbes listing. The success of the company, T-Rex had
become convinced, was inexorably linked with positive press through all mediums. All
managers within the company knew that the slightest negative story would lead to attention
you did not want.

During your first few months, you have found that having so many young people in the
organization is exciting in a company that had been around so long. “Work hard, play hard”
was the unofficial motto among your new work force, and their results were incredible. So it
was probably inevitable that some of these “play hard” employees would decide to form a new
singles group to socialize together after work and on weekends. The singles group recently
setup a ski trip, and about 15 employees participated in this 4-day excursion. Upon returning, a
few of the employees, including one who works for you in the HR office, show you some great
pictures, and it looks like they all had a good time. They even took time to participate in a
community service event while on their excursion.

About a week later, T-Rex calls you into his office, and he appears angrier than you have ever
seen him. He shares with you a letter he received from a Delta Airlines Senior Pilot. In the
letter, the pilot states that in all his years working for Delta and other airlines, he has never
experienced a group that was so disrespectful towards the flight crew and staff. He used
several examples of their behavior, including showing up for the flight inebriated, demanding to
be served when they had already been denied service in-flight, a broken lavatory, an allegation
of marijuana smoke, and your employees proposing inappropriately to a stewardess.

When you suggest an investigation would be in order to find out who the miscreants are in the
crowd of 15, T-Rex says that you can investigate all you want, but at the end of this day, he
wants a solution. “We have all worked too hard to build our reputation to have it all taken
away from us by a crowd of immature children,” he said, growing louder with each syllable.

While you would prefer a lengthy investigation, it’s already past noon. You know T-Rex wants
everyone fired, and since this is an employment at-will state, he could do so. Also, if you can’t
come up with a good idea, T-Rex could lose faith in you as his HR manager – meaning you could
be next! You have knots in your stomach thinking about the ramifications of your looming
decision.

* The “Thomas Rex Gibbs” character is borrowed from:
Clayton, R., Stratton, M.T., Julien, M. and Humphreys, J.H., 2015. Beverly Matthews. Organization
Management Journal, 12(4), pp.221-234.

Ethics Case Instructions

The purpose of this exercise is to explore ethics and decision making within organizations.

Assignment Guidelines
After reading the case:

1) Name this section ‘Identification of Dilemma’ and address the following (limit to 1
page):

a. What is the overall ethical dilemma?
b. Who can be impacted by the dilemma (people and/or groups)?

2) Provide a brief overview of 2 Frameworks (Approaches) to Managerial Ethics (1+ pages
per framework). Name this section ‘Ethical Frameworks’. Name each sub-section after
the ethical frameworks you choose.

a. Choose from: Utilitarian, Deontology, Self-Interest, Rights, Justice, Social.
b. The textbook and lecture provide general explanations for the approaches above.

Expand on these with external sources. Use in-paper citations and list the
additional references at the end of your paper.

c. This is not copy/paste from the internet. Be sure to write this in your own words
based on your research.

d. This section of your paper should not reference the case. Instead focus on
what you’ve learned (researched) regarding each ethical approach.

3) Provide outcomes to this ethical dilemma (2+ pages). Name this section ‘Evaluation of
Ethical Dilemma’. Address the following in this section:

a. Based on what you’ve learned about the case, which framework (from the two
you’ve explained in the previous section) do you believe will guide you in this
situation? Explain why you will go this direction.

b. What are the implications of this decision (who does it benefit? What are the
positive implications? What are the negative implications?)

c. If you had been guided by the other framework addressed in section 2, what
would have been the positive and negative implications?

d. There’s no right/wrong answer choice, so I won’t grade this on your ability to
choose a particular ethical framework. Instead, I’m more concerned with your
ability to describe why you chose the approach and what happens next based on
the approach. These will help me assess whether or not you understand the
concepts.

e. No need for additional outside resources in this section, as you should refer to the
case and the information provided from section 2.

General Instructions
All exams are due NO LATER THAN 11:59 PM CST on the due date. For each day that your
assignment is late, I will deduct 10 POINTS from your grade. If you do not meet the 11:59 PM
CST deadline (even by one or two minutes), I will deduct 10 points. If you do not turn the
assignment in by 11:59 PM CST the next day, I will deduct an additional 10 points, and so on.
Saturdays and Sundays count towards the total days late.

 Include LastnameFirstname in the document title. Example: “WilliamsAlex Assignment

3 x”
 Make sure your name appears somewhere within the document that you submit.
 Submit the assignment to myLeoOnline. If for some reason you have difficulty uploading

your assignment, e-mail it to me and explain the situation in your e-mail.
 Use the bold phrases above as section headers; do not repeat the entire question.
 A title page and executive summary are not required.
 MS Word documents, 12-point Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins, double-spaced.
 Document your sources within the paper (example: Avery, 2000), and include full citations

in the reference section at the end of the paper.

 This is not an opinion paper; in other words, I am not looking for “I think” types of
responses.

 There’s no right/wrong answer choice. Instead, I’m more concerned with your ability to
make a practical, actionable decision and understand the consequences and outcomes of
that decision.

Max Points

Identification of Dilemma
 Students can recognize the conflict of interest in an ethical

dilemma.
 Students can identify a minimum of two stakeholders

impacted by an ethical dilemma.

1

5 points

Ethical Framework
 Students can recognize ethical framework(s).
 Students can apply ethical framework(s).

25 points

Evaluation of Ethical Dilemma
 Identify a minimum of two alternatives.
 Evaluate the positive implications of various alternatives.
 Evaluate the negative implications of various alternatives.

25 points

Overall Quality of Paper
 Paper Formatting
 Turnitin Similarity Rating
 Grammar

5 points

One final note: I reward high quality work. An average answer will result in an average score.
Therefore, if your goal is to obtain an A, be sure to exceed my expectations. 

Applying Ethical Theories: Interpreting
and Responding to Student Plagiarism

Neil Granitz
Dana Loewy

ABSTRACT. Given the tremendous proliferation of
student plagiarism involving the Internet, the purpose of
this study is to determine which theory of ethical rea-
soning students invoke when defending their transgres-
sions: deontology, utilitarianism, rational self-interest,
Machiavellianism, cultural relativism, or situational ethics.
Understanding which theory of ethical reasoning students
employ is critical, as preemptive steps can be taken by
faculty to counteract this reasoning and prevent plagiarism.
Additionally, it has been demonstrated that unethical
behavior in school can lead to unethical behavior in
business; therefore, correcting unethical behavior in
school can have a positive impact on organizational ethics.

To meet this objective, a content analysis was conducted
on the written records of students formally charged with
plagiarizing at a large West Coast university. Each case was
classified according to the primary ethical reasoning that
the student used to justify plagiarism. Results indicate that
students predominately invoke deontology, situational
ethics, and Machiavellianism. Based on these findings,
specific recommendations are offered to curb plagiarism.

KEY WORDS: academic dishonesty, ethical reasoning,
history of copyright, historic views of plagiarism, Internet
plagiarism, teaching academic integrity, theories of ethics

Introduction

While the use of the Internet has led to improved
efficiency and effectiveness in teaching, it has also
created an explosion in student plagiarism (Fialkoff
and St. Lifer, 2002; Groark et al., 2001; Rimer,
2003). Through online term paper mills (http://
www.cheater.com, http://www.schoolsucks.com),
Google searches, as well as access to library databases,
students literally have a world of information at their
fingertips. In a 2001 survey, conducted by McCabe,
41% of undergraduate students admitted that they
had engaged in one or more instances of ‘‘cut and
paste’’ plagiarism involving the Internet [Center for
Academic Integrity (CAI), 2002–2003]. Addition-
ally, non-Internet plagiarism continues to be a
problem. While instructors and students have tools
such as Turnitin.com at their disposal, a better ap-
proach would be to understand student reasoning
about Internet plagiarism and to devise methods to
stop it before it happens.

Past research has demonstrated that when faced
with an ethical dilemma, individuals will form their
ethical reasoning and moral intent based upon dif-
ferent theories of ethics (Hunt and Vasquez-Parraga,
1993; Mengue, 1998). Several researchers have

This research is the result of a long-standing interest in new
technology and plagiarism. Very early ideas on this subject
were presented by the authors at the ABC West Conference
in New Orleans in March 2003.

Dr. Neil Granitz teaches Marketing at Cal State Fullerton. He
has published articles in the Journal of Business Ethics,
Journal of Marketing Education, and the Quarterly
Journal of E-Commerce. Moreover, Neil is a consultant
for the fast-food industry, the airline industry, and an Internet
advertising agency. Before earning his MBA at McGill
University in Montreal and a Ph.D. in Marketing at
Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, Neil Granitz
gained extensive corporate experience in market and consumer
research. Neil’s research focuses on three areas: (1) Instilling
meaning and motivation into marketing education, (2) E-
Commerce: Development and effect on marketing educators
and practitioners, and (3) Awareness of ethics: Its influence on
the internal culture of organization.

Dr. Dana Loewy teaches Business Communication at Cal State
Fullerton. Having earned a Ph.D. from the University of
Southern California in English and translation, she is a well-
published freelance translator, interpreter, and brand-name
consultant. Fluent in several languages, among them German
and Czech, Dana has published critical articles in many areas
of interest and various poetry as well as prose translations,
most notably the 1997 volume The Early Poetry of
Jaroslav Seifert from Northwestern University Press.

Journal of Business Ethics (2007) 72:293–306 ! Springer 2006
DOI 10.1007/s10551-006-9171-9

demonstrated that students engage in varied rea-
soning based on these different theories: deontology,
utilitarianism, rational self-interest, Machiavellian-
ism, etc. (Ashworth and Bannister, 1997; Lewis and
Speck, 1990; McLafferty and Foust, 2004; Nickell
and Herzog, 1996; Swinyard et al., 1989; Webster
and Harmon, 2002). These findings should be tested
in the specific context of plagiarism.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the
reasoning students use when justifying the act of
plagiarism. More specifically, we have identified two
objectives:

(1) To determine which theory of ethical rea-
soning students invoke when defending the
act of plagiarism;

(2) Based on the theory of ethical reasoning to
which perpetrators appeal, to develop instructor
recommendations to prevent plagiarism in all
student populations.

Additionally, we will explore the data for demo-
graphic differences.

This research is significant for several reasons.
First, faculty members are looking for guidance in
recognizing and dealing with plagiarism. This study
will uncover student reasoning justifying plagiarism
and lead to specific action-oriented recommenda-
tions that faculty members can follow to reduce
plagiarism. Second, it has been demonstrated that
unethical behavior in school can lead to unethical
behavior in business and to financial ruin (Brubaker,
2003; Sims, 1993); hence, understanding and cor-
recting unethical behavior in school can have a
positive impact on organizational ethics and corpo-
rate profitability. Additionally, ethical learning about
copyright infringement may carry over to similar
unethical student behaviors such as illegally down-
loading music or movies from the Internet (Mark,
2004). Third, as the findings of this study are dis-
seminated to universities, academic disciplines, pol-
icy makers, and school boards, this research can serve
as a platform for designing and allocating funding for
programs that encourage originality, instruct in
academic honesty, and teach educators how to deal
with cheating. Finally, the bulk of past research has
focused on understanding the different determinants
(age, sex, locus of control, personality type, and
religious orientation) of general student cheating
(Allmon et al., 2000; Coleman and Mahaffey, 2000;

Crown and Spiller, 1998; Rawwas and Isakson,
2000; West et al., 2004); there is a dearth of
empirical research specifically on student plagiarism
and the reasoning behind this dishonest behavior.

In the next section, a brief historical overview
showing various changing attitudes toward plagia-
rism will be presented. Then, some of the back-
ground literature and statistics on plagiarism will be
reviewed. This will be followed by a discourse on
the different ethical theories and how they relate to
plagiarism. The methodology and results will then
be discussed, leading to the findings and recom-
mendations.

Background

The historical perspective

In traditional Western academic circles, plagiarism is
universally despised. In print and on the Internet,
definitions of cheating and instructions on how to
avoid it abound (Auer and Krupar, 2001; McKenzie,
1998; McLafferty and Foust, 2004; Ryan, 1998;
Sokolik, 2000). Yet rigorous studies of the phe-
nomenon, especially the justification for such
behavior, are still far and between (http://
www.academicintegrity.org). Thomas Mallon’s Sto-
len Words (1989) is sometimes called a definitive
investigation of intellectual theft, but in the absence
of other works about plagiarism this assessment
seems premature. As opposed to Mallon’s categorical
moral stance, Marilyn Randall’s Pragmatic Plagiarism:
Authorship, Profit and Power offers this contemporary
academic relativism of literary theft as a subversive,
almost revolutionary act: ‘‘Within the general frame
of ‘postmodernism,’ I posit ‘plagiarism’ as a mode of
guerilla warfare directed against an oppressive
hegemony’’ (Randall, 2001, p. xiii).

Mallon uncompromisingly denounces such apol-
ogetic rationalizations of plagiarism. In the afterword
to the 2000 edition of Stolen Words, he criticizes
those contemporary academics who, like Randall,
invoke Roland Barthes’ philosophy, casting doubt
on the preeminence of authorship and originality in
traditional Western thought.

Permissive attitudes are nothing new, albeit for
different reasons. In Aristotelian poetics, imitation
(mimesis) is a natural, instinctual quality of humans
and is seen in a positive light as a vehicle leading

294 Neil Granitz and Dana Loewy

both to pleasure and learning. Likewise, it is well
known that the Romans borrowed from and emu-
lated the Greeks. Moreover, all biblical books,
written over a period of approximately 1100–
1300 years, have been distorted by translation errors
and two or three millennia of manuscript copying by
ancient and medieval scribes (Hoberman, 1985).

In antiquity, in the Middle Ages, and in the
Renaissance, ideas of others were used liberally and
often without acknowledgment. In Shakespeare’s
time, theater companies staged plays that usually
bore no name of an author and were changed at will
by the actors after purchase (Clark, 1996). The Bard
himself adapted many a theme from predecessors.
Ovid’s Metamorphoses strongly influenced Shake-
speare, Dante, Chaucer, Milton, and other writers,
providing them with powerful classical myths.
Subsequently, literature featured themes and motifs
– for instance, the Faustus myth – that recur
throughout the history of letters.

It was not until the late 15th century that the
introduction of printing began to transform the idea
of authorship and, hence, that piracy emerged as a
threat, necessitating protection. Copyright was first
established in 1662 by the Licensing Act and by the
Statute of Anne in 1709 (UK Patent Office, 2004).
Only when ideas become a commodity worth
selling and protecting, can they also be stolen. Not
coincidentally, the Latin word plagiarius means
kidnapper. The emergence of copyright and the
insistence of the Romantics on originality (inspira-
tion perceived as divine afflatus) have shaped our
modern perception of plagiarism as morally repre-
hensible.

To describe the injurious effect of lifting ideas
from others, in today’s academic arena it is fre-
quently noted that plagiarism tips the scales of fair
competition, hampers learning, dilutes individual
and class grades, and cheapens the value of honest
work, hurting the perpetrator, other students, as well
as their professors (‘‘Did You Know?’’, 2004; Park,
2000; Ryan, 1998). Curiously, more than 30% of
instructors did nothing to pursue cheating although
they knew it was going on in their classes, as
McCabe found in his 1999 study involving more
than 1000 instructors at 21 college campuses. The
student respondents stated that they were more
likely to cheat if a faculty member was known as
lenient toward cheaters (CAI, 2002–2003).

Our goal was to view plagiarism historically,
briefly tracing changing attitudes toward the phe-
nomenon and the motivations and rationalizations
driving these changes. We were also interested in
juxtaposing the practice of plagiarism before the
advent of the Internet with the emergence of what
has been called ‘‘new plagiarism’’ (McKenzie, 1998;
Ryan, 1998).

Plagiarism – a new epidemic

The truth is that the available statistics are disturbing
indeed. At Virginia Tech, officials stated that
cheating involving electronic media rose dramati-
cally within one academic year, from 80 cases in
1995–1996 to 280 incidents in 1997 (Zack, 1998).
As reported by USA Today on May 21, 2001, at UC
Berkeley, academic dishonesty cases doubled be-
tween 1995 and 1999 alone (Groark et al., 2001). A
large 2000/2001 survey conducted by McCabe
indicates that cheating is rampant in high schools as
well. More than half of the high-school students
have plagiarized writing assignments in some form
specifically with the help of the Internet (CAI,
2002–2003).

But problems remain when we try to estimate the
true extent of cyber-plagiarism. Faculty members do
not always pursue and report dishonest behavior,
many cheaters probably get away, and some plagia-
rists may lie in interviews (Ryan, 1998). Compli-
cating matters further, as Roig (2001) shows, is the
fact that not even college professors always agree on
what constitutes plagiarism.

However, evidence of a rise in Internet-facilitated
plagiarism is the growth and apparent profitability of
electronic paper-mills that thrive on selling prefab-
ricated as well as custom-written assignments online
(‘‘Plagiarism and the Internet,’’ 2004). Kenneth
Sahr, one of the co-owners of schoolsucks.com, a
website that features advertising and about 5000 free
downloadable documents, claims two million hits
every month (Flynn, 2001).

Speculation about why Internet plagiarism is growing

Most sources (McKenzie, 1998; McLafferty and
Foust, 2004; ‘‘Plagiarism and the Internet,’’ 2004;

Applying Ethical Theories 295

Ryan, 1998) argue that old-style plagiarism was
arduous, required some degree of skill, and was
relatively easy to spot by knowledgeable faculty. As
opposed to that, the Internet has made cyber-
cheating as simple as a mouse click and has raised the
bar for instructors who may be struggling to keep up
with tech-savvy perpetrators. The Internet is
seductive with its ease and speed of access and sheer
bounty. To a student under pressure to produce an
assignment it may seem just too tempting: ‘‘Stealing
or copying someone’s work has become so effortless
[…] that students may be inured to the ethical or
legal consequences, much like drivers exceeding the
speed limit’’ (Zack, 1998).

Berkeley professor Alex Aiken, creator of an anti-
plagiarism software package, cites the anonymity of
the electronic medium, the growing capacity and
speed of computers, and the vast supply on the
Internet as factors contributing to the lowering of
inhibitions and acting on impulse (Zack, 1998).

Many professors are not as technologically savvy as
their students, so the plagiarists may not fear detection.
Transgression may present an ‘‘irresistible challenge’’
(Ryan, 1998) to vulnerable students, or cheaters may
experience a certain thrill when they get by without
the professor noticing (‘‘Preventing Plagiarism,’’
2004).

Deadline pressure, difficulty keeping up, and lack
of preparation for college may play a role, too, in
motivating cheating: ‘‘Plagiarism is almost always a
symptom of other educational problems’’ (‘‘Did You
Know?’’ 2004).

Reasoning and cheating

While several researchers have focused on classifying
the reasoning used by students to justify general
cheating behaviors, no work has been conducted
specifically focusing on plagiarism. The predominant
categorization scheme employed for general cheat-
ing has been Sykes’s and Matza’s Neutralization
Techniques (Sykes and Matza, 1957). It is main-
tained that delinquent behavior is based on justifi-
cations that are valid to the delinquent – but not the
legal system, and that these justifications can precede
the act. Thus, potential violators are tempted to
perform the unethical act, recognize that the act is
wrong, use one of the techniques to justify the act

and then perform the act. It is the enticement of gain
or pleasure that instigates the neutralization tech-
nique (Vitell and Grove, 1987). For example, one
technique of neutralization is Denial of Victim,
wherein the delinquent behavior is justified, as the
perpetrator believes that the victim deserved it
(rightful retaliation). Both LaBeff et al. (1990) and
McCabe (1992) classified students’ reasoning on
cheating according to the different neutralization
techniques. While some similarities between the
theories of ethical reasoning and neutralization
techniques exist, theories of ethical reasoning are
broader and, therefore, more useful for analysis. For
example, among the neutralization techniques,
deontology has no equivalent.

Ethical philosophies and plagiarism

After reviewing several key ethics journals and texts
(Loe et al., 2000), as well as examining past research
on the types of ethical reasoning students had used in
different ethical contexts (Ashworth and Banister,
1997; McLafferty and Foust, 2004; Nickell and
Herzog, 1996; Swinyard et al., 1989; Webster and
Harmon, 2002), we decided to include six ethical
theories. Below, each of the different theories will be
discussed in detail, along with examples of how
plagiarism would be considered wrong under each
theory. Then we will suggest what type of reasoning
students would use to justify plagiarism (if they
subscribed to that theory) and present extant
research pertaining to each theory.

Deontology

Deontologists subscribe to the belief that ‘‘human
beings have certain fundamental rights and that
should be respected in all decisions’’ (Cavanagh
et al., 1981, p. 366). Duty is the basis of morality,
and the locus of right and wrong is in self-directed
adherence to one’s moral duty by helping others
without regard for personal consequences (Ashmore,
1987; De George, 1990; Kant, 1959; Laczniak and
Murphy, 1991).

Deontology extends to an individual’s personal
rules (what he or she thinks is right), rules of an
organization (i.e., corporate codes of ethics), or to
religious deontology (one’s moral duty is to follow
g–d).

296 Neil Granitz and Dana Loewy

Under deontology, plagiarism is a morally wrong;
perpetrators are stealing and presenting someone
else’s work as their own. If students subscribe to this
theory, they can only plagiarize if they misunder-
stand or are unaware of the theory (e.g., ‘‘I didn’t
know what plagiarism was’’/‘‘I didn’t know that
plagiarism was wrong’’).

In a study focused on ethics towards animals,
Nickell and Herzog (1996) found that whether
students followed deontology accounted for varia-
tion in their reasoning. Bugeja (2001) reports a rise
in ignorance pleas and defenses invoking a lack of
intent among journalism students who thus imply
innocence when they are caught cheating. Altsch-
uler (2001) cites a Rutgers University focus group
that noted that many students seemed to be ‘‘blasé’’
about plagiarism – not seeing it as a true transgres-
sion (p. 15). Faculty members does not seem to offer
clear guidelines to help struggling students figure out
how to use the Internet in an acceptable fashion. At
least this is McCabe’s conclusion from two studies of
‘‘cut and paste’’ plagiarism (CAI, 1999, 2005). In the
former study, 77% of the students did not consider
such behavior a serious problem at all. In other
words, they did not understand what plagiarism was,
what the deontology was.

Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism holds that an individual should weigh
the costs versus the benefits and act to provide the
greatest happiness for the greatest number of peo-
ple. A moral decision is one that creates the greatest
total utility (De George, 1990; Frankena, 1973;
Mill, 1861/1957). Individuals who follow a utili-
tarian philosophy could only justify plagiarism if the
outcomes were good (e.g., ‘‘Plagiarism leads to
better learning or higher grades’’/‘‘Nobody gets
hurt’’).

Utilitarian philosophies used by students were also
identified by several researchers in a business context
(Swinyard et al., 1989). A transgression may present
an ‘‘irresistible challenge’’ (Ryan, 1998) to vulnera-
ble students, or cheaters may experience a certain
thrill when they get by without the professor
noticing (‘‘Preventing Plagiarism,’’ 2004). In a class
exercise where students had to decide what to do
with critical information about a coming earthquake,
Mallinger (1997) found that American MBAs were
most likely to appeal to utilitarianism.

Rational self-interest (social contract theory)
One acts to benefit oneself; however, no sacrifice is
involved – people should relate to one another
strictly on a trading basis, exchanging value for value
in all endeavors (Rand, 1964). From a capitalistic
perspective, an implicit agreement exists between a
society and corporations that society will allow the
corporations to exist and profit as long as they satisfy
consumers, employees, etc. (Donaldson and Dunfee,
1994; Hasnas, 1998; Rawls, 1971). Under this
theory, plagiarism could be justified only if the
plagiarists felt they were engaging in a fair exchange
(e.g., ‘‘I’m publicizing the author’s work’’/‘‘The
teacher doesn’t put much effort into this, so why
should I?’’).

Rational self-interest is discussed in a study by
Ashworth and Bannister (1997). Taking a transac-
tional view, students believe that plagiarism is justi-
fied if the assignment is boring and irrelevant.

Machiavellianism (ethical egoism)
Individuals embracing this philosophy have no
qualms about sacrificing others for their own benefit.
They are always motivated to act in their own
perceived self-interest. Therefore, for students sub-
scribing to Machiavellianism, plagiarism could be
justified if they managed to get away with it and did
not get blamed or caught (e.g., ‘‘Look how clever I
am… I can plagiarize, do well, and not get caught’’).
If caught, they’ll blame others (e.g., ‘‘It’s the tea-
cher’s fault’’).

In a longitudinal study, Webster and Harmon
(2002) discovered that college-age students had be-
come more Machiavellian over a 30-year period. In
studying student attitudes regarding plagiarism,
Ryan found denial, lack of remorse and shame, even
defiance (1998).

Cultural relativism

Words such as right, wrong, justice, and injustice derive
their meaning from attributes of a culture (Donald-
son, 1989, p. 14). Ethical standards are different
across cultures and an act that is ethical in one cul-
ture may be considered unethical in another culture
(Robertson and Fadill, 1999; Vitell et al., 1993).
Students justifying plagiarism with the help of this
theory would focus on how plagiarism is acceptable
in their culture (e.g., ‘‘It’s allowable in the country
where I come from’’).

Applying Ethical Theories 297

Demonstrating a relativistic approach, McLafferty
and Foust (2004) recount anecdotal information
about students who admit that they have never had
problems in other classes when cheating this way.
With regard to computer issues, Hay et al. (2001)
found that cultural background was an important
determinant of ethical behavior among undergrad-
uate business students.

Situational or contingent ethics
Ferrell and Gresham (1985) introduced a ‘‘contin-
gency’’ framework of ethics specifying that indi-
vidual (knowledge, values), social (significant
others), and organizational (opportunity, rewards,
punishment) situational elements could affect an
individual’s response to an ethical dilemma. Pratt
(1993) established that the most important variable
was the specific scenario related to the dilemma. To
avoid overlap with other categories, situational
ethics has been restricted to instances when students
justify an act due to circumstances beyond their
control (i.e., external locus of control); as in Pratt
(1993), the focus is on specific scenarios surrounding
the ethical dilemma. Students who plagiarize using
this theory of ethics would cite a situational element
as a justification (e.g., ‘‘My kid was sick’’/‘‘My
boyfriend just dumped me’’).

It should be noted that under deontology and
cultural relativism there is not necessarily an
awareness of a transgression. In other words,
perpetrators may not realize that they are doing
anything wrong. For utilitarianism, rational self-
interest, Machiavellianism and situational ethics, an
awareness of wrongdoing exists; however, it is
rationalized away by the circumstances of the
situation.

In general research that focused on the ethics of
business students, Galbraith and Stephenson (1993)
and Grover and Hui (1994) found that situational
influences affected the type of reasoning students
used. When studying general cheating behavior,
McCabe (1992) and Labeff et al. (1990) arrived at
similar findings.

Finally, in one of the few studies contrasting
several types of ethical theories in a general ethical
context, Brinkmann (2002) found that 51% of the
students used deontological arguments, 42% resorted
to utilitarian arguments, and 7% of the students
advanced Machiavellian reasoning.

Methodology

As our research focuses on ethics, it is necessary to
choose a realistic methodology (Aronson et al.,
1985; Mathison, 1988). Therefore, to identify and
understand the different types of reasoning that
students use to justify plagiarism, we conducted a
content analysis of past plagiarism cases at a large
West Coast university. Well suited for this study,
content analysis is, ‘‘an observational research
method that is used to systematically evaluate the
symbolic content of all forms of recorded commu-
nication’’ (Kolbe and Burnett, 1991, p. 243).

With the help of our university’s dean of students,
this analysis was conducted examining the rationales
offered by students caught plagiarizing. Once faculty
members discover that their students have plagia-
rized, they bring these individuals before the dean of
students where the offenders are formally charged
with plagiarism, given the chance to explain their
behavior, and then may receive a punishment, such
as writing an essay on plagiarism, suspension, course
failure, etc. All of this information is recorded in a
confidential file.

These files were categorized using the ethical
reasoning philosophies described above. One limi-
tation of this study is that students may not be
revealing their true justifications for plagiarizing
since they have been caught. In most cases, it does
appear as if the students are just coming clean and
telling the truth; however, even if some students are
not revealing the actual reasoning that they used to
justify the act of plagiarism, they are still exposing
the logic that they use to defend plagiarism – and
being able to understand and counter that logic is
valuable for faculty.

To avoid researcher bias, two judges were re-
cruited to independently evaluate and categorize the
reasoning of students (e.g., Kolbe and Burnett,
1991). For each case, the primary reasoning used by
the student was classified under one of the ethical
theories. Coders were given strict guidelines and
trained on how to classify reasoning. Before evalu-
ating the cases used in this study, each judge classi-
fied 20 identical ads. Their ratings were compared
and reasons for any disagreement were discussed and
resolved among the judges and the authors to help to
ensure a sufficient level of inter-rater reliability.
After the data collection was complete, the authors

298 Neil Granitz and Dana Loewy

independently evaluated a random sample of the ads
(10% of the total). The independent judges’ ratings
were compared with the authors’ ratings (e.g.,
Dilevko and Harris, 1997), and using Holsti’s (1969)
formula, the inter-rater agreement was 83.6%,
indicating a high degree of reliability (Kassarjian,
1977).

Results

Students invoked all six ethical theories (Table I).
The most commonly followed ethical theory was
deontology; 41.8% of respondents referred to
deontological reasoning. Students acknowledged
their adherence to the code by clearly apologizing
for violating it or by providing statements revealing
that they did not realize they were breaking it. Some
typical justifications include: ‘‘Yes, I did plagiarize
and I’m sorry;’’ ‘‘I accidentally left out some cita-
tions;’’ and ‘‘I didn’t know this was plagiarizing.’’
Not knowing falls under deontology because it
suggests that they were following the rules; they just
did not know that this was one of them.

The second most frequently invoked theory of
ethical reasoning was situational ethics (19.9%).
Individuals subscribing to this theory believe that
different conditions warrant different treatment.
Some typical quotations focused on extenuating
circumstances, such as, ‘‘I came to the U. S. with
nothing and I don’t know anybody;’’ and ‘‘I have to
support my brother.’’

The third most likely type of reasoning used was
Machiavellian, as 18.4% of students used it as a
rationale. Machiavellians are opportunists, lacking
concern for others (Christie and Geiss, 1970). When

caught, they blame others or deny the charge. Some
typical claims such students made were: ‘‘It was the
professor’s fault because he/she didn’t talk about it in
class;’’ ‘‘I accidentally handed in the wrong version of
my paper;’’ or ‘‘the other person had plagiarized
them.’’ Finally, they denied that they had plagiarized,
even in the presence of incontrovertible evidence.

Bound by the level of multiculturalism in the
sample, cultural relativism was used by 8.5% of
students to justify their behavior. Some characteristic
statements included: ‘‘I did it in community college
and it was OK;’’ ‘‘Everybody does it in Asia;’’ and
‘‘Everybody does it where I come from.’’

Finally, 5.7% of students called upon utilitarian
reasoning. Some representative rationales were, ‘‘I
didn’t think there was any harm being done;’’ and ‘‘I
was falling behind and doing poorly, so I thought
this would help.’’

The theory used the least was rational self-interest.
This is a position that takes the form of equal ex-
change. Some of the typical justifications included,
‘‘My friend gave it to me so that I could learn’’;
‘‘The instructor doesn’t use original materials – why
should I?’’ and ‘‘I got help online.’’

To determine potential differences across demo-
graphic variables, we ran several chi-square tests on
the demographic variables (Table II). No differences
emerged across sex (p = 0.123), ethnicity
(p = 0.173), GPA (p = 0.667), school or division
(p = 0.319), class status (p = 0.454) or repeated of-
fenses (p = 0.520). However, for the type of pla-
giarism (plagiarism from the Internet as opposed to
other types of plagiarism), a p-value of 0.008 was
found. Internet plagiarists were more likely to rely

TABLE I

Theory of ethical reasoning used

Theory used Percentage

Deontology 41.8
Utilitarianism 5.7
Rational self-interest 5.7
Machiavellianism 18.4
Cultural relativism 8.5
Situational ethics 19.9

TABLE II

Chi-square test of theory used versus demographic and
behavioral variables

Cross tab of theory used and … p-value

Sex 0.123
Ethnicity 0.173
GPA 0.667
School 0.319
Class status 0.454
Repeat offense 0.520
Type of plagiarism 0.008*

*Significant at 0.05 level.

Applying Ethical Theories 299

on situational ethics and utilitarianism. They were
less likely to call upon cultural relativism and
Machiavellianism (Table III).

Discussion and recommendations

The findings of this study strongly correlate with past
research. The most prevalent theory of ethics used
by students to justify plagiarism was deontology. In
accordance to Bugeja’s findings (2001), the key plea
students entered was that they were uninformed and
lacked intent to plagiarize. This recalls the observa-
tions of Altschuler (2001), who documented that
students appeared confused about the meaning of
plagiarism and were lacking in malice, as well as
McCabe’s conclusions (CAI, 2005) that faculty may
not be providing clear guidelines to students.

The second largest category was situational ethics,
under which many of the students cited situations
beyond their control (i.e., need to support brother;
having been adopted; coming home to house on
fire; grandmother died). This corresponds to
McCabe’s research (1992) that found that the most
prevalent technique used (68% of the time) to justify
general cheating was Denial of Responsibility. This
technique refers to cases when the individual cites
circumstance beyond his or her control. Addition-
ally, this is consistent with the observations of Zack
(1998), who found that a student under pressure may
be tempted by the effortless supply of information.
Given that Internet plagiarists were more likely to
call upon situational ethics, the ease of retrieval from
the Internet may be triggered by the slightest

external pressure. Relativism emerged at several
levels; consistent with McLafferty and Foust (2004),
students admitted that they had plagiarized in other
classes of the same institution, and parallel to Hay
et al. (2001), students from different nations and
cultures claimed that copying was acceptable in their
countries of origin. It is unclear whether they knew
that their transgression was wrong.

Machiavellianism was the third highest category at
18.4% of offenders. As expected, students who were
caught were quick to blame others, such as their peers
or the professor and often simply denied the trans-
gression. This was similar to McCabe’s research
(1992), where the second largest neutralization strat-
egy found was Condemning the Condemner (28%).
Skeptics may believe that many Machiavellians are
simply hiding behind deontological ignorance pleas.
In any case, the recommendations will address both of
these areas.

Utilitarianism was low at 5.7%. However, unlike
the thrill or lack of fear of detection proposed by
several researchers (Ryan, 1988; Swinyard et al.,
1989), justifications appear innocent (‘‘I didn’t think it
would hurt anyone’’). Internet plagiarists were more
likely to resort to utilitarianism and situational ethics.
Higher rates of utilitarianism may lend credence to the
beliefs of Zack (1998) and Turnitin, who have stressed
that the negative consequences to others are mini-
mized. Finally, offenders who subscribe to rational
self-interest indirectly or directly balance the trans-
gression with the actions of the professor.

Below are several recommendations that respond
directly to each of the different ethical philosophies.
Before implementing any of these solutions, faculty
and administrators must resolve several issues.

First, from this and previous research, evidence
exists that professors do not always agree on their
definition of plagiarism and that different professors
are allowing different practices in their classes (Roig,
2001). Therefore, common ground must be estab-
lished at the institution.

Second, whose responsibility is dealing with pla-
giarism, the faculty’s or the administration’s? Evidence
suggests that instructors are overloaded with higher
priority issues and often unsupported by administra-
tion (Boyer, 1990; Eble and McKeachie, 1985), par-
ticularly when it comes to writing instruction (Plutsky
and Wilson, 2001). Since faculty members are the
principal agents in detecting plagiarism, faculty

TABLE III

Cross-tab percentages of theory used versus type of
plagiarism

Theory Type of plagiarism

Internet Other

Deontology 40.8 42.1
Utilitarianism 9.9 1.4
Rational self-interest 4.2 7.2
Machiavellianism 12.7 24.5
Cultural relativism 4.2 13.2
Situational ethics 28.2 11.6

300 Neil Granitz and Dana Loewy

incentives and instructional materials are needed to
explicitly address integrity at the class and university
levels (Hair, 1991; Ives and Jarvenpaa, 1996; Mason,
1991; Padgett and Conceicao-Runlee, 2000).

The recommendations below are essential to
creating an ethical culture at our schools and to
instilling ethical values in our students; however,
there are also positive implications for the ethics of
organizations. Researchers have documented the
association between cheating in college and cheating
in business (Sims, 1993; Smith et al., 2002). Several
researchers studying student cheating or the link
between ethics education and business ethics have
called upon business schools to teach students what is
ethical behavior and what are its consequences for
the organization and society (Crane, 2004; Jennings,
2004; Lawson, 2004; Luthar and Karri, 2005; Smyth
and Davis, 2004).

The recommendations to answer each type of
reasoning follow (Table IV). As some philosophies
justifying plagiarism require similar steps, the action
is only explained the first time it is presented. Sub-
sequently it is just listed.

Deontology

Our recommendations focus on ensuring that stu-
dents understand what plagiarism is and that it is
wrong.

Contract honor
Most universities have honor codes, which cover
plagiarism. If they do not, the professor can easily
develop one for the department or class (for
examples please go to http://www.academicinteg-
rity.org). Much like organizations that protect
themselves from rogue employees with written
ethical codes (Stevens, 1996), academics should
attach the honor code to the syllabus and have
students read and sign it (Cole and Kiss, 2000).
Research by McCabe involving 12,000 students on
48 campuses indicates that educational institutions
with honor codes face significantly fewer breaches
of academic integrity. On campuses without honor
codes, 1 in 5 students self-reported more than three
incidents of cheating. On campuses with honor
codes, only 1 in 16 students reported such levels
(CAI, 2005).

Teach proper citation and documentation techniques
Rather than merely insisting that students cite
materials properly, instructors must concretely teach
them how to do it. This includes practicing para-
phrasing and assimilating sources into one’s text.
Additionally, faculty can distribute examples from
previous classes as well as materials on the correct use
of sources.

Act as a role model
One of the strongest determinants of ethics is peers
and superiors (Granitz, 2003). As role models to
students, professors should properly document all
course materials they develop, including presenta-

TABLE IV

Recommendations for each ethical theory

Theory Recommendation

Deontology Contract honor
Teach proper citation and
documentation techniques

Act as a role model
Avoid standardized general
assignments

Use anti-plagiarism software
Utilitarianism Explain and emphasize surveillance

Institute clear, severe penalties
Enforce penalties

Emphasize learning impairment and
other negative consequences

Rational
self-interest

Highlight inequitable exchange
for the original author

Highlight inequitable exchange for
the plagiarist

Stress professor’s effort
Machiavellianism Explain and emphasize surveillance

Institute clear, severe penalties
Enforce penalties
Contract honor
Teach proper citation and
documentation techniques

Cultural relativism Define plagiarism as wrong
Contract honor
Teach proper citation and
documentation techniques

Use anti-plagiarism software
Situational ethics Adopt zero tolerance approach

Institute clear, severe penalties
Enforce penalties

Applying Ethical Theories 301

tion slides, handouts, and exercises (Kienzler,
2004).

Avoid standardized, general assignments
Faculty need to design assignments that are chal-
lenging and difficult to plagiarize (Sokolik, 2000).
Many faculty members give rather broad research
topics to students, for example, a situational analysis
of Wal-Mart. Assignments can and should be made
more specific. For instance, if the class has focused
on strategic competitive responses, instructors may
have the students list and evaluate how Wal-Mart
has responded to competitive actions from K-Mart
and Target. Hence, students will need to synthesize
several sources. Under no circumstances should
instructors give the same assignment semester after
semester.

Use anti-plagiarism software
Rather than employing it as a fear-inducing deter-
rent, faculty should put anti-plagiarism software like
turnitin.com to better use. The software can be used
as a pedagogic tool, allowing students to submit a
draft version of their final project before submitting
it to faculty.

Utilitarianism

The recommendations focus on making the negative
consequences of plagiarism clear and significant.

Explain and emphasize surveillance
Students may evaluate the chances of getting caught
as very low and, hence, the consequences as very
low risk. Therefore, the professor must ensure that
students understand that they can be easily caught.
First, professors using anti-plagiarism software should
ensure that students know that the software is used in
their course. Second, if applicable, professors can
give examples of the different ways that students
were caught. For instance, in our study, instructors
had caught students by recognizing that the quality
of the paper was different from the students’ previ-
ous work. Third, faculty must keep abreast of new
technological trends and resources to combat aca-
demic dishonesty effectively.

Institute clear, severe penalties
Punishment must be strict (for example, failing the
class, suspension, or dismissal from the school), and
clear (Harris, 2002). To ensure that the negative
consequences are clear, the ‘‘contract honor’’
recommendation can apply.

Enforce penalties
If students only receive a slap on the wrist and the
promised penalty is waived, the offenders are
receiving a misleading message about cheating that
they will take with them to their next classes and
then into the working world.

Emphasize learning impairment and other negative
consequences
While it did not appear in this study, it is conceiv-
able that students subscribing to utilitarianism may
believe that their learning is maximized through
plagiarism (Harris, 2002). In that case, the professor
can demonstrate to them that learning is lost by
testing students on the plagiarized material.

Rational self-interest

In this case, responses must address how plagiarism is
not a fair trade for the authors of the original
material:

Highlight inequitable exchange for the original author
This recommendation focuses on accentuating
negative consequences to others. Since much of the
plagiarism is Internet-related, the professor can cover
the developing Internet copyright laws. For exam-
ple, researching the Napster case could be an
assignment.

Highlight inequitable exchange for the plagiarist
To prevent students from buying work from an
online term-paper mill, such as http://www.chea-
ter.com, http://www.schoolsucks.com, instructors
should explain to them that identical essays are sold
to thousands of their peers and are easily identifiable.
Hence, offenders are receiving an unfair exchange.
For the price, they obtain a document that will be
easily identifiable as a plagiarized text.

302 Neil Granitz and Dana Loewy

Stress professor’s effort
For the students who contend that their instructor is
not putting much effort into the class (So why
should they?), the efforts of this faculty member, if
indeed found to be questionable – which may not
be easy – must be investigated. At the same time,
professors must do a better job in communicating
their efforts to the class. Additionally, accentuating
the plight of other stakeholders (see Highlight ineq-
uitable exchange for the original author above) may
balance the scales against plagiarism. The trickiest
area here is the implicit understanding of hierarchies.
Ideally, the students should grasp that even profes-
sors who may seem uninvolved in their teaching
have significantly greater institutional authority than
their pupils do and that assuming equal right to
dereliction of duty will put the students at a disad-
vantage.

Machiavellianism

The faculty’s response must focus on making stu-
dents aware of how they can be caught and ensuring
these students learn and acknowledge what plagia-
rism is, so they cannot blame others for a ‘‘misun-
derstanding.’’ The following recommendations
apply:

(1) Explain and emphasize surveillance.

(2) Institute clear, severe penalties.
(3) Enforce penalties.

(4) Contract honor.
(5) Teach proper citation and documentation.

Cultural relativism

Since these individuals think that plagiarism is per-
missible, the professor should concentrate on
explaining why it is wrong and what exactly it is and
then teach proper behavior. The following recom-
mendations are offered:

(1) Define plagiarism as wrong. Explain why pla-
giarism, defined both as lying and stealing, is
wrong in the mainstream culture in the
U.S.

(2) Contract honor.

(3) Teach proper citation and documentation tech-
niques.

(4) Use anti-plagiarism software.

Situational ethics

Professors must communicate to their classes that no
leeway will be granted for situational excuses for any
course requirement. For example, does the instruc-
tor allow students to hand in papers late? And if yes,
does he or she impose a penalty? It is up to the
professors to maintain an atmosphere that will allow
the student to approach them if they have a genuine
situational problem, hopefully before the offense is
committed. In the context of these views, the fol-
lowing recommendations can be followed:

(1) Adopt zero tolerance approach. Ensure that
students know what plagiarism is. Assure
students that they will be ‘‘prosecuted’’ after
one infraction and that everyone will be
treated identically with regards to plagiarism
– regardless of the circumstances.

(2) Institute clear, severe penalties.
(3) Enforce penalties.

Conclusion

This study examined how students justify plagiarism
once they are caught. The recommendations ten-
dered can be employed to preempt any justification
of plagiarism. Future research can focus on the
changes that may have been wrought on the ethical
perceptions of the users of the new media. Likewise,
it would be difficult, yet intriguing to examine sys-
tematically whether the underlying reasons why
students plagiarize have changed as well.

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Department of Marketing and Business Communication,
Cal State Fullerton,

College Park 900, 800 North State College Boulevard,
Fullerton, CA, 92834-6848, USA

E-mail: dloewy@fullerton.edu

306 Neil Granitz and Dana Loewy