Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/62913
idea exchange The Amazing Case The Competition Idea Design a multi- location case competition in the style of the reality television program "The Amazing Race" Location University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania Last October, the University of Pittsburgh's Katz Graduate School of Business orga- nized its inaugural "Great Case" business ethics case study competition, open to gradu- ate students in business, law, and public policy. The competition was sponsored by the Katz School's David Berg Center for Ethics and Leadership, the Greater Pittsburgh Compliance Roundtable, and Pitt's School of Law. The school invited participants from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as nearby Carnegie Mellon University and Duquesne University. The competition, which involved 31 teams of two students each, was conducted in three rounds. In the first, held in the School of Law's moot court room, students had to identify potential ethical issues in a fictitious corporate memo. In the second, held at the Katz School, they examined the company's ethics policy for conflicts of interest and presented evidence for any conflicts they found. For the final round, at the school's University Club, the teams wrote five-minute briefs that recommended one of four courses of action to shareholders. Here, the judges—who included compliance officers, law and business professors, and financial investment professionals—questioned the teams before choosing a winner. They scored each team based on the content, clarity, and creativity of their responses. Teams had 45 minutes to complete each round—those that arrived late received a five-point penalty. The winning team from Carnegie Mellon received $3,000. The top three teams were invited to attend the 2011 Pittsburgh Financial Services Symposium the next evening. The Case A student team presents its brief at the last round of the Great Case competition. The Inspiration Katz faculty modeled the competition after the television show "The Amazing Race," in which two-person teams race to destinations around the world and com- plete a challenge at each stop. "We mimicked the 'Amazing Race' model to bring energy and a bit of chaos to the event," says Audrey Murrell, lead planner for the competition and director of the school's Berg Center. The school engaged undergrad- uate business students as volunteers to help coordinate the competition and guide visiting students to each building. 80 May/June 2012 BizEd Teams reviewed an existing case study from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona, which explores the ethical and legal ramifications of joint venture investments made by homebuilder Lennar Corp. in 2008 during the housing crisis. Future Plans The school will hold the "Great Case" competition again in October 2012. For the second run, fac- ulty plan to use an origi- nal case study and invite students from a larger number of schools.