Students from the UNM Anderson School of Management won the fourth annual Daniels Fund Consortium Business Ethics Case Competition over the weekend in Denver, Colo.
The UNM team, which consisted of Justin Fouts, Mercedes Pratt, Austin Tidwell, Lauren Wade and Phillip Doerges, was mentored by Anderson Professors Harry Van Buren, Shawn Berman, O.C. Ferrell and Linda Ferrell. The UNM Anderson team was dedicated and professional in their win over nine other consortium schools said UNM mentors.
Student teams from the University of Wyoming came in second and the University of Northern Colorado was awarded third place.
The UNM team was given a case in advance of the competition and presented their analysis Friday, April 24. They could use any and all guidance that was made available through UNM. Immediately after their presentation, the students were given Part B of the case and had four hours to respond to a crisis that developed related to the original case, this time with no outside guidance.
Teams were evaluated on principles established in the Ethics Initiative by late Colorado businessman Bill Daniels. They include integrity, trust, accountability, transparency, fairness, respect, rule of law, and viability.
Linda Ferrell, Bill Daniels Professor of Business Ethics at UNM Anderson, praised the team. “The members were polished, professional, innovative and creative, and had a presence that 'raised the bar' for the case competition,” she said. “The team told a story and abandoned traditional bullet-pointed Power Point slides to create a more memorable and impactful analysis.”
Interim ASM Dean Craig White was in Denver when the results were announced. “Anderson’s first place honors speaks to the quality of Anderson students and their professors,” said White.
This is the fourth year of the Daniels Fund Consortium Case Competition and UNM Anderson is the only school to finish in the top three all four years. UNM earned second place honors last year and is the first school in the consortium to win outside of Colorado. Colorado State won the first two years, while CU-Colorado Springs won last year.
The competition is part of the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative that supports student leadership and principal-based ethical conduct in business. The Daniels Fund has committed $2.5 million in support to the Anderson School of Management’s support of principle based business ethics education.
The case competition involves all of the consortium schools; University of Denver, Colorado State, University of Colorado-Denver, University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, University of Northern Colorado, Colorado Mesa University, University of Wyoming, University of Utah, University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University.