Isenberg Ethics Competition

You are invited to participate in the seventh annual Isenberg Ethics Competition, to be held on Saturday, November 5, 2022 (schedule). This competition allows students to participate in the case competition experience while developing slide design and public speaking skills. Student competitors will get the case a week before the competition and will be asked to prepare a presentation of between 20 and 25 minutes discussing the ethical implications raised by the case and providing recommendations to the business that are ethical, as well as being financially viable and legally compliant. The presentation will be followed by questions from the judges, along with their feedback to the competitors.

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 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 of teams of two participants.

Winners of the Undergraduate Open Division will be recognized at the closing ceremony. Winners of the Undergraduate Competitive Division will be invited to join the Isenberg Ethics Team and will be eligible to compete for Isenberg in external competitions. The competitions we attended in 2021-2022 are indicative of the ones we plan to attend for 2022-2023.

The event will take place in the Alfond Atrium at the Isenberg School of Management.

Last year the Isenberg Ethics Team competed in the following competitions: 

• Eller College of Management Collegiate Ethics Case Competition (October);
• The Ethics Bowl (November);
• The Inter-Collegiate Business Competition (I.C.B.C.)*;
• The Templeton Business Ethics Case Competition (February);
• The International Business Ethics and Sustainability Case Competition (IBESCC);
• and The International Business Ethics Case Competition (IBECC).** 

Students who participate as competitors must be available to participate in at least one of the external competitions and make a commitment to compete in one or more of these competitions.

Winners of the Graduate Competitive Division of this internal ethics case competition will be automatically considered to compete in the International Business Ethics Case Competition (IBECC).** 

*The Preliminary Round for I.C.B.C. is in October. 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 the delivery of the case (around October 6th) 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 in January 2023 (more information to follow). 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 the 2022 Isenberg Ethics Competition will be competing in I.C.B.C. in Fall 2023.

**IBECC will be held will be held April 19-21, 2023 at Le Méridien hotel in Cambridge, MA. 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 2023 semester.

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.) Individual applications are welcome!  We will try to match you up with a teammate for the competition but will allow individual competitors if necessary. All Isenberg students are encouraged to compete. 

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. If you are chosen to compete, then you will receive your ethics case problem, along with your scheduled case competition time, one week prior to the competition. Competitors should also register here.   

The application deadline is noon on Friday, October 28, 2022. 

No previous experience is needed to participate in this competition. 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!

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 keynote speaker and/or the ethics panel event, and watch teams compete with their ethics presentations!  Register here to be an observer.

Claudia E. Mott, CFP®, CDFA™

Epona Financial Solutions, LLC

Claudia is the Principal at Epona Financial Solutions LLC, a fee-only financial planning and investment management firm.  Her 13 years of Wall Street experience enable her to offer unique skills in developing custom solutions for her clients. As a sell-side analyst, she regularly appeared on CNBC and was frequently quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Investors’ Business Daily and Money Magazine.  She has published research in the Journal of Portfolio Management and was named to Institutional Investor magazine’s All-Star team for nine consecutive years.

As a Certified Financial Planner® practitioner, Claudia is a regular contributor to the financial website NJMONEYHELP.com and NJ.com.  She is also licensed as a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst and has been specially trained to assist individuals in all stages of the divorce process. 

Claudia earned her undergraduate degree cum laude from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and her MBA from Boston University.  She is a founding member and past-President of the Long Hill Library Foundation and is the Treasurer of the Blinknow Foundation. She is a member of Impact100 Garden State and is on the Women United Steering Committee for United Way of Northern New Jersey.

She is a member of the Financial Planning Association, National Association of Personal Financial Planners (NAPFA and the New Jersey Center for Collaborative Divorce and Mediation.

She lives in the Millington section of Long Hill Township, is the mother of three adult children and one horse.   Her other interests include golf and gardening.

Ethics panel subject and panelist TBA.

The Isenberg Management Association is co-sponsoring the event with the Management Department and the Isenberg School of Management.