Full-time UST MBA Team Shines at Business Ethics Competition

A University of St. Thomas Full-Time MBA team received four of the six highest awards presented at the Intercollegiate Business Ethics Case Competition, held September 23-25 in Chicago, Ill. The competition was the first in cooperation with the Ethics and Compliance Officers Association, held during its 17th annual conference.

The team – including Kate Grudkovska, Erin Liddy, Grant Seipkes and Brian Slattery – gave their winning presentation about the challenges organizations face when marketing credit cards to college students. In the Chicago competition, the team won:

  • Highest overall score from the judges in its 30-minute presentation from last April at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
  • Highest overall score from the judges in its 30-minute presentation in Chicago.
  • Highest score from the judges for the ethical analysis portion of its 30-minute presentation in Chicago.
  • Runner-up for its 10-minute presentation in the final round in Chicago.

The same team had previously tied for first place in the Graduate Division with a team from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey, at the 11th annual Intercollegiate Business Ethics Case Competition April 16-18 in Los Angeles.

During the competitions, competitors give presentations in which they analyze a business problem’s legal, financial and ethical dimensions, then recommend a solution that must pass muster on all three counts. The idea of the competition is to help students see that it is possible to do business ethically as well as profitably.

The Full-time UST  MBA team was selected in February 2009 at the local Ethics Case Competition sponsored by the Center for Ethical Business Cultures, St. Thomas’ Opus College of Business and UnitedHealth Group. Its mentor was Dr. Kenneth Goodpaster, who holds the Koch Endowed Chair in Business Ethics at St. Thomas.

“They distinguished themselves throughout the competition,” remarked Dr.  Goodpaster, “and they also received numerous kudos from corporate ethics officers attending the conference.”