Attention all Fordham undergraduate students:

We invite you to participate in the

2018 Fordham University Undergraduate Business Ethics Case Competition!

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Sponsored by the Gabelli School of Business, the purpose of the Business Ethics Case Competition is to encourage student teams to consider how business, legal, and ethical elements interplay and align when applied to a current issue.

Cash and travel prizes for best papers and presentations:

Winning Team: $1,000 and the chance to represent Fordham University at IBECC, the International Business Ethics Case Competition, in Boston, Massachusetts, April 18-20, 2018. Learn more here: http://ibecc.net/
First Runner-Up: $500
Second Runner-Up: $300

About the Case Competition:

Each team must consist of 3 to 5 undergraduate students from any school at Fordham University.

Teams will submit a presentation and brief written case analysis essay (4-6 pages).

Essays should raise questions and issues related to business, law, and ethics.

Essays used for prior class projects may be submitted (with consent of all original members).

Teams are encouraged to register and have their topics approved by December 15, 2017. To register, email Dean Jason at jason@fordham.edu with: A) team member names, B) case analysis essay topic, and C) answers to the questions listed under the topic guidelines section below.

All teams must submit written case studies by January 22, 2018.

Finalist teams will be selected from the case analysis essay submissions and will be notified by January 31, 2018. Finalist teams must submit presentations by February 13, 2018.

The Case Competition will occur on Wednesday, February 14, 2018 at 3:00 p.m. in Flom Auditorium, Walsh Library.

Topic Guidelines

Teams registering for the Business Ethics Case Competition must submit answers to the following questions in their submission to Dean Jason by 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, December 20:

What is your decision-point (What should s/he do?… It should be a moral dilemma about business)?

Who is the decision-maker (Who is in charge of this decision? The decision-maker should be a for-profit business firm and/or its managers/executives)?

What is the point in time (It may be an ongoing case or something that happened in the past and is described by the students in present tense)?

Written Case Essay Analysis Guidelines

The written case analysis essay should be 4 to 6 pages in length. If you are submitting a written case that was prepared for a class that is longer than 4 to 6 pages, it should be shortened to 4 to 6 pages before submission on January 22, 2018. It should not present the entire case; rather, it should focus on the theoretical underpinnings of resolving the business, legal, and ethical elements of the dilemma. The format is as follows:

Presentation of the Case Essay Analysis or Business Problem

Problem

Decision point

Background Information

Product

Company

Industry

Decision Maker

Decision Point: Moral Dilemma

Identification of stakeholders

Identification of key ethics issues/principles

Outline of alternatives

Barriers to reaching decisions

Selected Course of Action

Assessing each course of action: What should the decision-maker do and why?

Identification of the Business, Legal, and Ethical Dimensions

Stakeholder Analysis: How are the major stakeholders affected by the selected course of action and what can be done to minimize possible negative effects/harms resulting from the implemented decision?

Resources

List the material you have used to write your case

Presentation Guidelines

Each group will present its case analysis essay for 10 minutes. There will be questions and answers after each presentation. Group presentations will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria:

Creativity

Appropriate use of evidence

Organization and structuring of the material

Clarity and effective use of visual aids

Description of Alternatives

Appropriate use of ethical, legal, and business theories to analyze and provide recommendations

PRIOR IBECC UNDERGRADUATE WINNER INFORMATION:
2016 Winners & Runners-up: http://ibecc.net/2016-competition/2016-results/