During the global recession of 2008 and 2009, there were many accusations of unethical behavior by Wall Street executives, financial managers, and other corporate officers. At that time, an article appeared that suggested that part of the reason for such unethical business behavior may have stemmed from the fact that cheating had become more prevalent among business students, according to a February 10, 2009, article in the Chronicle of Higher Education. The article reported that 56% of business students admitted to cheating at some time during their academic career as compared to 47% of nonbusiness students.

Cheating has been a concern of the dean of the College of Business (COB) at Bo Diddley Tech (BDT) for several years. Some faculty members believe that cheating is more widespread at BDT than at other universities, whereas other faculty members think that cheating is not a major problem in the College of Business. To begin to address these issues, the dean of COB commissioned a study to assess the current ethical behavior of business students at BDT. As a former college athlete herself, the dean believed that the spirit of fair play students developed as part of participating in athletics would make them less likely to cheat.

As part of this study, an anonymous exit survey was administered to a sample of 1,440 students from this year’s graduating class, half of whom were business students and half of whom were not. The survey asked various questions, including the student’s college (business or nonbusiness) and if the student was an athlete or a nonathlete. Responses of the various questions were fed into a computer algorithm (advance data analytics) that made a quantitative determination as to whether the student should be considered a “cheater” or not. The results are in the attached Excel spreadsheet, “Benchmark – Ethical Behavior of Business Students at Bo Diddley Tech.” Utilize the data set in the Excel spreadsheet and select a randomized 100-unit sample from the original 1,440 exit surveys.

You will use the DCOVAS framework. Reference readings in The Statistician In You: Simple Everyday Life-Hacks (TSIY).

• Define the problem.
• Collect data from the appropriate source(s).
• Organize data using tables.
• Visualize data using a chart or graph.
• Analyze data using a tool and/or calculation(s).
• Solution: Provide a conclusion and solution.

Detailed Directions:

Prepare a managerial report as part of your submission to the dean of the College of Business that summarizes your assessment of the nature of cheating at BDT. Be sure to include the following items in your written report.

Submit the Excel data calculations (Alpha 0.05).

1. Make a pivot table with “Business Student” (Rows), “Athlete” (Rows), “Cheated” (Columns), and “Cheated” (Summed Value).
2. Create a bar chart showing cheating by athletes and business students.
3. Determine whether there is a statistical difference between nonathlete BDT business students and the national average for business students as reported by the Chronicle of Higher Education (test for a proportion).
4. Determine whether there is a statistical significance to business athlete students at BDT cheating less than the national average for business students as reported by the Chronicle of Higher Education (test for a proportion).
5. Determine whether there is a statistical difference between BDT business students and the national average for business students as reported by the Chronicle of Higher Education. (test for a proportion).
6. Determine whether there is a statistical difference between BDT nonbusiness students and the national average for nonbusiness students as reported by the Chronicle of Higher Education (test for a proportion).
7. Determine whether there is a statistical difference between BDT business student-athletes and nonathletes (test for two sample proportions).
8. Determine whether there is a statistical relationship among the four groups of business athlete students, nonbusiness athlete students, business nonathlete students, and nonbusiness nonathlete students at BDT (chi-square test of independence).

Utilizing the data you have analyzed, write a managerial report of 600-1,000 words for the dean. The managerial report needs to include an introduction, analysis, conclusion, and a minimum of three supporting references.

1. Introduction (define): In your own words, explain why you are providing this report and the problem(s) you are trying to solve.
2. Collect: Describe the data set you used.
3. Organize: Describe your pivot table.
4. Visualize: Include and describe your bar chart and initial perceptions of outcomes.
5. Analyze: Provide a summary of your conclusions based on the four population proportion tests, a two-sample proportion test, and test for independence (refer to Chapter 5.2 in TSIY). Begin with the statement of Ho and Ha and whether it is an upper-, lower-, or 2-tailed test. Use the model results and decide whether to reject Ho using the critical values approach, p-value approach, and confidence interval estimation approach to hypothesis testing. Create a summary table of each the six tests.
6. Ethical Summary: The dean has expressed a concern related to the amount of cheating currently taking place at BDT and has strongly suggested that you “tweak” the statistical data such that they favor the image of the university. Discuss the potential use of unethical manipulation of statistical data to provide a biased outcome as well as the ethical counter proposal you would offer the dean in this scenario.
7. Conclusion: What advice would you give to the dean based upon your analysis of the data? Include your “SummaryResults” table.
8. Reference page: Include at least three references to support the “Ethical Summary” section of your managerial report.

You are required to submit your Excel data analysis along with your written report.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required but appropriate headers and sub-headers based on the 8 sections must be included.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. A link to the LopesWrite technical support articles is located in Class Resources if you need assistance.

Benchmark Information

This benchmark assignment assesses the following programmatic competencies:

BS Business Information Systems,

2.2 Use quantitative techniques and tools to analyze data relevant to business decision making. [MC3]

BS Business Administration; BS Business Information Systems; BS Accounting; BS Business Analytics; BS Business Management; BS Entrepreneurial Studies; BS Entrepreneurial Studies, Engineering Management; BS Entrepreneurial Studies, Technology Management; BS Finance; BS Finance, Financial Planning; BS Finance and Economics; BS Hospitality Management; BS Sports Management; BS Supply Chain and Logistics Management; BS Risk Management, BS Sports and Entertainment Management

2.3: Use quantitative techniques and tools to analyze data relevant to business decision making. [MC3]

BS Business for Secondary Education

7.3: Use appropriate computer applications to perform mathematical calculations relevant to solving business problems.

Attachments

BUS-352-RS-Benchmark_BoDiddleyTech