Chris Dalton's Personal Development Blog

This morning in my inbox there was an unsolicited email from a company called “MBAWinner.com”, with the subject line ‘MBA Winner newsletter’. It turned out that the pdf attachment was not a newsletter at all, but a glossy brochure for a company which offers (for an hourly fee) MBA tutor advice and/or “custom” writing of assignments for MBAs.

While it might be one thing for a student to pay another person to tutor them (it’s a free country), as you can imagine I am very opposed to getting others to write your assignment for you – because it’s plagiarism.

I thought them stupid for sending this to a faculty member, and I wrote back telling them so. The reply I got surprised me as I think I hurt their feelings. So I spent a little longer looking at their website (www.mbawinner.com), which did not result in me revising my opinion.

Here are the emails as they came:

“—-original Message—–
From: support@mbawinner.com [mailto:support@mbawinner.com]
Sent: 22 January 2012 15:16
To: Chris Dalton
Subject: MBA Winner Newsletter

Dear Chris

Please find our latest MBA Winner newsletter attached here Kind Regards Peter

MBA Winner

Expertise Shapes Your Future

———————-

www.mbawinner.com

Tel: 0800 756 6411

196 High Road

Wood Green

London

N22 8HH

——————————————————————————–

IF YOU ARE NOT THE INTENDED RECIPIENT OF THIS EMAIL, ANY REVIEW, USE, DISCLOSURE OR DISTRIBUTION BY YOU OF ITS CONTENTS IS PROHIBITED” (since I am the intended recipient, I reckon I’m ok disclosing this here…).

“—–Original Message—–
From: Chris Dalton
Sent: 23 January 2012 11:17
To: ‘support@mbawinner.com’
Subject: RE: MBA Winner Newsletter

Hello,

This appears to be an advertisement (not a newsletter) for an assignment writing service? I find it hard to believe that you would be stupid enough to send this to a tutor in a top UK Business School, but you have, so I should probably let you know that this would go against everything we teach and everything we expect from our MBA students. But I think you already know this.

I would, however, like to ask how you included my email in your list.

Chris Dalton”

So what I got back was:

“—–Original Message—–

From: support@mbawinner.com [mailto:support@mbawinner.com]

Sent: 23 January 2012 14:22

To: Chris Dalton

Cc: support@mbawinner.com;

Subject: RE: MBA Winner Newsletter

Dear Mr Dalton

First of all I would like to apologise for you receiving this newsletter.

This was sent to you by accident and  you should not have received it. So apologies.

As for your comment about being stupid you might want to be more considered in your formal as well informal communication and correspondence.

Kind Regards

Dr Adam Robson”

Here’s my reply:

“—–Original Message—–
From: Chris Dalton
Sent: 23 January 2012 15:05
To: ‘support@mbawinner.com’
Subject: RE: MBA Winner Newsletter

Dear Dr Robson,

Thanks for the prompt reply. I am glad that the original unsolicited email was in error, though you do not answer my question how my name got on to your list. I am assuming that your target audience are current or future MBA students who are looking for someone to write their assignments for them, so it must indeed be a bit embarrassing to have sent it to “the other side”, as it were.

I am a bit concerned that I have been harsh in describing your sending me this as stupid (actually, it’s not clear who sent me the first email since it is signed somewhat enigmatically only by ‘Peter’). Perhaps I was being unfair. So I decided to check out the web site. I must say that your site is clear, uncluttered in its layout and contains a great number of reassuringly neutral stock photographs. However, after having had a closer look at the business,  I think I will defend my use of the s-word, and for the following reasons:

1. Your home page outlines what your company does. One line of business is advising students on how they might do better in their assignments, how they can become unstuck and how what sorts of things they might do to get better grades. There is an undisclosed hourly fee for this ‘Professional Consultation’. It’s hard to argue with this, of course, as anyone is free to offer advice. In fact, we already offer a very similar service as this to our students, only we call it tutoring and it’s included in the fees. Since the tutors may also be the markers, there’s a strong likelihood that the advice given will be succinct, germane and impactful.

2. The other area of your business, and since one suspects this may actually be the bit MBA students can’t get from the tutors in their schools my sneaking feeling is that this is your bread and butter, is ‘Custom Writing Service’.

I quote your home page here, because it’s quite brazen:

” Our custom writing service is aimed at students who simply require an expert to undertake their work and guarantee to produce first grade results. There is no plagiarism involved and all assignments are research based. This service is targeted at MBA students who for unforeseen reasons or circumstances have been unable to produce the required academic work.”

I don’t know how paying someone to undertake the writing of your coursework, assignment or dissertation does not constitute plagiarism since the student must surely be passing off the work of one of your staff as their own. I think that does count as plagiarism. If what you mean when you say “there is no plagiarism involved” is that your tutors are not themselves cutting and pasting the words or (heaven forbid) getting someone else to write their work for them, then I think you may be missing the point.

3.  There are no testimonials on your site. Nor are there any tutor profiles. Neither fact creates a sense of being educationally bona fide. You do publish your office location and invite people to visit, if they wish, and this is admirable. I did have a look on Google Maps (Wood Green is a nice area, actually), and wonder whether I should ask for you in the Dry Cleaners on the ground floor, or the accommodation agency upstairs?

A good MBA is never about the grades, it’s about the learning. That learning may not be easy, and an MBA’s life balance may be difficult, especially when they are studying part-time, but that’s part of the process. The value of working through this oneself, without resorting to cheating, is what we would argue is the main benefit of the study – not

You will forgive me for not pulling any punches here. What ghost writing MBA assignments does is demean and devalue the point of calling it education. I know you won’t agree – after all, your web site says the following, “Our service is aimed at making a difference to your personal development by fulfilling your course requirements.” But Personal Development is professionally very close to my heart, so I do think the use of the word stupid is, in this case, defendable.

That is all,

Chris Dalton”

For the sake of completeness, I should mention that I did find some testimonials on the website (sorry). Clearly, the tutoring side of the business is what it is, but I suspect the school where ‘Peter A Jones, Leeds’ did his MBA may want to check his work… Also, I did not ask MBA Winner whether it would be OK to blog this but, you know what? I  did my MBA all by myself and I’m proud that it wasn’t easy, and that I learnt as much through my own errors as through the rewards of good grades, so I don’t care. Grrr.

Up-date- this story continued for a part two