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Graziadio School Students Win National Ethical Leadership Case Competition

Pepperdine Graziadio School of Business and Management (GSBM) MBA students Alina Topala, Nicholas Merriam, Elizabeth Passaretti, and Zachary Pond earned first place honors, and a $2,500 purse, in Baylor University's National Case Competition in Ethical Leadership last week. The team triumphed over University of Florida in second place, Baylor University in third place and six other business schools.  

Over a three-day period, the teams studied an ethical business dilemma and were given the opportunity to present their solutions before a panel of judges. The case focused on the company Acme, Inc., a group purchasing organization that had been criticized in the media for "conflicts of interest" in their purchasing behaviors.

"The Pepperdine team did an excellent job of identifying the issues both business and ethical and then went on to recommend a restructuring of the organization that would address those issues, being certain that they were 'doing the rights things' ethically whilst making certain that they 'did things right' (financially) for all stakeholders," said Samuel Seaman, GSBM professor and the MBA students' faculty advisor.

A number of faculty advisors from the other schools complimented the Pepperdine presentation, Seaman added, and praised the presenters for being confident, well-informed, and "delightfully elegant."

Students representing Clemson University, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, University of Arizona, and University of Washington also competed.