It is unethical and unprofessional to take credit for the work of others

May 28, 2022 Letters

Dear Editor,

I have reviewed the Guyana Development Initiative Project report and analysis led by Harvard University Professor Michael Porter, head of the Institute for Strategy and competitiveness (ISC) at Harvard School of Business. Below are excerpts from the attached article titled:

Guyanese scholar discredits Guyana’s Development Initiative report by the Harvard Institute for strategy and competitiveness team.

At best, the report is unscientific. While lacking originality, it reuses material from various earlier reports and sources without citing or incorrectly taking credit for the data. It is unethical and unprofessional to take credit for the work of others.

The report further asserts that Guyana last participated in the Global Competitiveness Index in 2015. However, there is a 2019 Edition of the Global Competitiveness Index where Guyana ranks 121 out of 140 Countries. The authors stated that researchers consulted with New York and Miami diaspora members. Leaders of several diaspora groups deny that statement. Again, the report’s authors took credit for research that they did not conduct used findings from a separate account from the Center of Strategic and International Studies. Lifting material from other sources without giving credit is unethical in all academic and professional circles.

Critics of Porter posited that Porter’s diamond model used in the report lacked scope and focused on select, non-service-related industries. While Porter used the diamond Model to predict the prosperity of the Korean economy and was less optimistic about Singapore, Singapore has been more successful than Korea. This difference in performance raises questions about the validity of Porter’s diamond model used in the report.

Warm regards,

Dr. Wayne Forde