Isenberg Ethics Competition

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 teams of between two and four students (at least two of the 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 years are welcome! 

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 using this form. 

Send any questions to Jennifer Merton at jfmerton@isenberg.umass.edu.

Once application materials have been received, applicants will get a confirmation e-mail. If chosen to compete, competitors will receive an ethics case problem, along with scheduled case competition time one week prior to the competition. 

The application deadline is 5 p.m. on Friday, October 31, 2025.

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!

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.

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

*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 recorded presentation with their ethical analysis and recommendations (supported by PowerPoint slides and an executive summary). 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 6) 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 2026 (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 2025 Isenberg Ethics Competition will be competing in I.C.B.C. in Fall 2026.

**IBECC will be held in April 2025. 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 2026 semester.