Making the case for business ethics
By Suelan Toye
Students from universities across the country are gathering at Ted Rogers School of Management today to compete in the second annual Ted Rogers Ethical Leadership Case Competition (opens in new window) , Canada’s largest undergraduate business ethics case competition.
“Case competitions are wonderful opportunities for students to show that they can apply their classroom learning to propose concrete, practical solutions to realistic business scenarios,” said Chris MacDonald, director of TRSM’s Ted Rogers Leadership Centre. “This ethical leadership competition gives students the chance to demonstrate their understanding of leadership, and what leadership means in the context of socially-aware business.”
Eight teams of four students were given a business case study of a video gaming startup in crisis and had one week to examine what the ethical issues facing the company are and develop a solid action plan for the CEO. This morning, they will present their plan to a team of judges.
Of the eight teams, four will advance to the finals where they will be given a “twist” – a new fact or turn of events on the business case. They will then have only a few hours to revise their plan of action before presenting to a new panel of judges that afternoon. The participating educational institutions are Ryerson University, York University, McGill University, University of Calgary, McMaster University, HEC Montréal and University of British Columbia.
The judges will then decide on the top three teams during a gala dinner event. The team that places first will win $4,000, while the second and third place winners will receive $3,000 and $2,000 respectively.
This year, the competition is being sponsored by SNC-Lavalin, a global professional services and project management company.
“We are proud to partner with the Ted Rogers School of Management to prepare future leaders in understanding the importance of business ethics,” said Hentie Dirker, chief compliance officer of SNC-Lavalin. “This competition is an opportunity for them to address difficult ethical situations encountered in the workplace and ascertain the sometime challenging decisions business leaders are faced with.”
Last November, eight teams of undergraduate business students developed a business ethics plan for a fictitious case involving bribery within a company. A team fromHEC Montréal won the inaugural competition and $4,000 in prize money.
