UA News

The seventh annual Eller Ethics Case Competition pits student teams from more than two dozen college and universities on moral issues that businesses face.

Teams of business students from more than two dozen colleges and universities around the country are at the University of Arizona for the seventh annual Eller Ethics Case Competition.

The contest, sponsored by the Eller College of Management, runs Oct. 22 through 24 at the Marriott University Park Hotel in Tucson.

The event, which has become the nation's premier ethics competition, exposes students to a thought provoking business ethics case similar to what they might encounter in the course of their professional careers.

The teams will collaborate analyze, present and respond to questions posed by a panel of judges. The experience promises to challenge students' moral reasoning, provide a wonderful networking opportunity, and in the end, raise students' awareness of the importance of corporate social responsibility, said Paul Melendez, the EthicsPoint Distinguished Lecturer in Business Ethics and director of the Eller Ethics Program at the UA.

The case this year's group of students will ponder revolves around a fictional automobile company based in India that has produced the lowest priced vehicle in the world.

Students will be asked to consider, among other things, the advantages the new vehicle has for helping lower socio-economic groups find both mobility and a way out of poverty, and the accompanying costs of millions of new cars consuming petroleum reserves and adding to air pollution and global climate problems.

Each team will be asked to identify stakeholders, financial, legal and philosophical considerations, and offer recommendations on how to proceed. How well they do depends on the depth of their analyses, persuasiveness of their arguments and how well their recommendations address both ethical and practical issues in a business context, and their responses to questions from judges.

The keynote speaker for the conference knows first-hand about ethical business behavior. Former stock broker Patrick Kuhse was convicted and sent to prison for conspiracy and money laundering. He'll recount his experiences at the wrap-up dinner on Friday at 5:30 p.m. in McClelland Hall.

Students who participated in past events have been enthusiastic about the format of the competition, citing both the cleverness of the format and the caliber of the competitors from other schools.

The event closes with a Saturday tour of the UA's Biosphere 2 in Oracle, Ariz.