Isenberg Ethics Competition

The Event

You are invited to participate in the third annual Isenberg Ethics Competition, to be held on Saturday, November 3rd, 2018 (view schedule).  This competition will enable students within Isenberg to participate in the case competition experience. 

This year, we will have three divisions:  an Undergraduate Open Division, an Undergraduate Competitive Division, and a Graduate Competitive Division.  Teams in the Open Division may consist of between 2-4 students and are open to all UMass Amherst and Five College Students.  Teams in the Competitive Divisions (both undergraduate and graduate) are only open to Isenberg students and must be comprised of teams of two.

Winners of the Undergraduate Open Division will be recognized at the closing ceremony.  Winners of the Undergraduate Competitive Division of this internal ethics case competition will become members of the Isenberg Ethics Team and will be eligible to compete for Isenberg in external competitions.  For academic year 2018-2019, we will be competing in the Inter-Collegiate Business Competition (I.C.B.C.)* and in the International Business Ethics Case Competition (IBECC).**  Students who participate as competitors must be available to participate in at least one, but preferably both, of the two external competitions and make a commitment to compete in one or both competitions. Winners of the Graduate Competitive Division of this internal ethics case competition will be automatically considered to compete in the Aspen Case Competition, as well as the International Business Ethics Case Competition (IBECC).** 

How to Apply

To apply for the Open Division of the competition, competitors should form teams of between two and four students (students can be from Isenberg, UMass Amherst, or the Five Colleges).

To apply for the Competitive Divisions (both undergraduate and graduate) of the competition, competitors should form a two-student team (both students should be in Isenberg, but the competition is open to any combination of majors within Isenberg.) Preference for the Undergraduate Competitive Division will be given to Juniors and Seniors within Isenberg. 

For both the Open and the Competitive Divisions, teams should submit resumes for all team members, along with a statement of interest from the team, to Jennifer Merton at jfmerton@isenberg.umass.edu.   Once your application materials have been received, you will get a confirmation e-mail.  Additionally, you will receive your ethics case problem, along with your scheduled case competition time, one week prior to the competition.  

The application deadline is 5 pm on Friday, October 19th, 2018 and the competition materials will be distributed via e-mail by 5 pm on Friday, October 26th, 2018.

This is a great opportunity to work on your analytical and presentation skills while also having a great time!  You are all encouraged to apply!

Information Sessions

• WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19th at 4:30 - 5:15pm in Isenberg Room 108
• THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20th at 5:15 - 6:00pm in Isenberg Room 237

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU DO NOT NEED TO ATTEND AN INFORMATION SESSION TO APPLY.

Aren't ready to compete?

If you aren’t ready to compete, but want to learn more about ethics and cheer on your classmates, then you are welcome to attend as an observer.  Come for the networking breakfast and lunch, join us for the workshops, and watch teams compete with their ethics presentations!  Register here to be an observer.

Sponsors

The Isenberg Business and Law Club and the Isenberg Management Association are co-sponsoring the event with the Management Department and the Isenberg School of Management.

*The Preliminary Round for I.C.B.C. runs from October 9th-October 26th, 2018.  A two-student team will be given a case with supporting documents (10-20 pages of materials) and must prepare a report with their ethical analysis and recommendations (5 pages of text and 5 pages of exhibits.)  Once the team receives the case, then no outside help is permitted, although general questions can be answered.  Preparation prior to October 9th will, therefore, be necessary.  If the team is among the top five competitors in the preliminary round, then the team will advance to the Final Weekend at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, which will be held on January 17th-19th, 2019.  During the Final Weekend, teams are given five hours to prepare a 15 minute power point presentation with the team's recommendation, which is followed by 5 minutes of questions from the panel of judges.  Keep in mind that winners from this year's Isenberg Ethics Competition will be competing in I.C.B.C. in Fall 2019.

**IBECC will be held somewhere around April 17th-20th, 2019 in Los Angeles/Santa Monica, California.  For this competition, the team gets to identify a business problem with an ethical component from the "real world".  The team then prepares a 25 minute power point presentation outlining the business, legal, and ethical considerations raised by the problem, as well as the team's recommendation.  This is followed by 10 minutes of questions by the panel of judges.  In addition to the primary presentation, two members of the team must present a 10 minute presentation without power point which focuses on the ethical concerns of the business problem.  Lastly, one member of the team must present a 90 second pitch about the centrality of ethics to the problem.  Preparation for IBECC begins at the start of the Spring 2018 semester.