Credit is often assigned to a few, maybe only one person - the fewer the persons, the more prestige. A successful dissertation also requires sufficient results. At the same time, it is vital that the research group work well together. What this case really gets at is the issue of ownership of ideas. In many cases, interpersonal relations within the group are not a sufficient mechanism to solve these subtle ownership issues.
Research groups have many implied social and professional arrangements.
It is important to know who is in charge and to what degree they control the work before one begins a research project. Swen's action, while it seemed innocent enough to him, has harmed members of the group. Discussion should involve the consequences of Swen's decision, which should help to illustrate the potential problems. One obvious problem is that Jeremy will now receive credit for part of Beverly's original idea. This acclamation is valuable and raises the issues as to what type of value can be used to qualify work at the university.