The Entrepreneurial Mind

As a professor, I could not let this idea at ideablob.com go by without offering some advice:

People would become members of the site, and sell the copy write of a term paper they have written. Not as to be copied as plagiarism but as a foundation for their own paper. The seller would provide a brief description of their paper including length, synopsis and assignment. Students would build a reputation depending on how good of an idea they had, as according to the purchasing student.

What will you do if you win $10,000 for this idea?

To establish the website, and promote it. I would make sure everyone knows it wouldn't be just a way for student to cheat out on writing a paper. Sometimes the hardest part of writing a paper is getting the ball rolling, by buying someones paper and using it as a foundation it would get the ball rolling and help students write more complete essays.

My advice:

As a college professor -- and one who has written on business ethics from time to time -- I could not let this opportunity pass me by.

One of the entrepreneurial virtues that my co-author Prof. Michael Naughton from the U of St. Thomas and I write about in our soon to be released book is prudence. To be a prudent entrepreneur one pursues good ends while being careful stewards of the limited resources that are available for the venture.

The entrepreneur who pursues morally good ends, but does not employ effective and efficient means given the resources they have is "well intentioned."

The entrepreneur who pursues "bad" ends, and does not employ effective and efficient means is "incompetent."

The entrepreneur who pursues "bad" ends, but is effective and efficient is "cunning."

Finally, the entrepreneur who pursues good ends with effective and efficient means is "prudent." That is the desirable state for those who strive to be morally good entrepreneurs.

Let's look at this idea using this framework.

It sounds like the people behind the idea have thought through many of the logistics. They are on their way to effective and efficient means.

However, I worry about the ends. While they do not encourage cheating or plagiarism, they sure will facilitate it. Rather than selling papers, could they not find a business model that creates a writing tool that helps students to "get the ball rolling" on writing without giving them an actual term paper?

If their ends are really to help students become better at writing papers, perhaps they should go back to the drawing board to find a new method that does not tempt their customers to be unethical and break all academic codes known to man.