The Second Annual Isenberg Ethics Competition

A Business Ethics Case Competition at the
Isenberg School of Management

You are invited to participate as a competitor in the second annual Isenberg Ethics Competition, which will be held on Saturday, November 4th (view schedule).  This competition will enable students within Isenberg to participate in the case competition experience.  This year, we will have two divisions:  an Open Division and a Competitive Division.  Teams in the Open Division may consist of between 2-4 students and is open to all UMass-Amherst and Five College Students.   Teams in the Competitive Division are only open to Isenberg students  and must be comprised of teams of two.  Winners of the Open Division will be recognized at the closing ceremony.  Winners of the 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 2017-2018, 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.

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 Division 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.)

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.  Preference for the Competitive Division will be given to Juniors and Seniors within Isenberg.  Once your application materials have been received, then 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 will be at 5 pm on Friday, October 20th, 2017 and the competition materials will be distributed via e-mail by 5 pm on Friday, October 27th, 2017.

INFORMATION SESSIONS:

• WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20th at 4:30 - 5:15pm in Isenberg Room 122
• THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21st at 5:15 - 6:00pm in Isenberg Room 126

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

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!

*The Preliminary Round for I.C.B.C. runs from October 11th-October 28th, 2017.  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 11th 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 18th-20th, 2018.  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.

**IBECC will be held on April 18th-20th, 2018 in Boston/Cambridge, Massachusetts.  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 2017 semester.

Sponsors:  The Isenberg Business Law Club and the Isenberg Management Association, as well as the Social Entrepreneurship Club, are co-sponsoring the event with the Management Department and the Isenberg School of Management.