Tittletattle

        T.J, an undergraduate student in a business school is facing a dilemma about how to tackle a tricky situation with his group mates that could potentially land the entire group into trouble. Since this is a group assignment the onus of the work not only depends upon TJ but all the group members. Here it’s mentioned that the first assignment submitted by K.C also was devoid of proper citations. So probably the person who had the responsibility of compiling the report of the first assignment should have warned the group the first time it happened. It’s a sensitive situation now because of the upcoming final assignment which had 20% weightage. The group was neither in a position to antagonize K.C which could further jeopardize the situation nor could they complain to the authorities because it might land K.C in trouble.

        I would advise T.J to carefully assess the situation. As the plagiarism has been caught internally within the group no harm has been done till now. T.J should personally speak with K.C and try to make him understand the gravity of the situation. Since K.C has already apologized we can assume that he is not a stubborn person who won’t listen to anyone else’s viewpoint. T.J should also coordinate a group meeting where upon he should impress upon every team member the possible repercussions if they were caught. Perhaps other team members might reciprocate and the group would arrive at a consensus about how to work in future group assignments. T.J could try to impress upon his team members that they review their work before sending for the final compilation. They could also go for a peer review system where the article written by everyone would be reviewed by one or two team members before being sent for compilation. T.J is right in understanding the consequences of this mistake and he should take the initiative to impress upon his teammates the same.