Warrington students excel in International Business Ethics and Sustainability Case Competition
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Undergraduate and graduate students from the University of Florida Warrington College of Business took top honors at the 2019 International Business Ethics and Sustainability Case Competition (IBESCC). IBESCC is the nation’s oldest and most prestigious event of its kind. Undergraduate and graduate students from around the world participate in the annual competition to identify problems and present solutions to some of the most pressing ethical issues in global business today. Warrington’s graduate student team came in first place in the 25-minute presentation among graduate teams. The undergraduate team came in second place in the 10-minute presentation.
“The International Business Ethics and Sustainability Case Competition attracts some of the best university students in the world,” said Dr. Brian Ray, Director of the Poe Business Ethics Center. “It is tremendous to see Warrington students achieve such tremendous success competing against prestigious institutions like Bentley University, George Washington University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the University of Illinois, the University of Melbourne, University of Minnesota and the University of Oxford.”
From left: Warrington undergraduate students Danielle Jones, Carly Ritterband and Ariana Acree.
The graduate team, Stephanie Barahona (BSBA Marketing, MIB ’19), Suzy Dabage (BABA General Business, MIB ’19), Natalia Leal (BSBA Finance, MS-ISOM ’19), Olivia Piatkowski (BSBA Finance, MSF ’19) and Justin Schlakman (BSBA Finance, MS-ISOM ’19), presented on the ethics involved with the sales practices and actions of JUUL, the market leader for e-cigarettes. The team recommended that JUUL rebrand its product to target the correct audience, adults, and minimize potential harm to key stakeholders by partnering with FlySense, a vaping detection system, as part of a youth initiative to target the teen vaping epidemic in schools.
“The most rewarding aspect was doing our case on something that is prevalent in the news and in our generation,” Dabage said.
Finishing his last competition, Schlakman added, “The Ethics Case Competition Team has been a capstone in my collegiate career. Being able to apply all the skills you learn in class on an international level is incredibly rewarding. Hard work really does pay off.”
The undergraduate team, Ariana Acree (BABA, BA Economics ’19), Jeanie Hoang (BSBA Marketing, BA Economics ’20), Danielle Jones (BSBA Finance ’19), Jared LeVine (BSBA Finance, BA Economics ’19), and Carly Ritterband (BA Economics ’20), presented on the same topic, but offered a different solution. In their second-place winning presentation, the team recommended that the company initiate a two-pronged marketing campaign focused on generating appeal among adult cigarette smokers while actively discouraging adolescents from using the product.
“The International Business Ethics and Sustainability Competition was a great way to round off my college career,” said LeVine, who is graduating in May. “This competition differs from other ones I’ve been to in that each team gets to choose its own topic. E-cigarette usage among adolescents is a particularly relevant topic to both teams, since all of us have witnessed the product’s growing popularity among our peers.
“Developing solutions to dilemmas like this is essential to ensuring that businesses can operate both successfully and sustainably. We look forward to incorporating the skills gained at this competition into our professional and personal lives.”
“The hard work and success of these students should be a tremendous source of pride for the Gator Nation,” said Dr. Ray. “It is wonderful to see that the Poe Business Ethics Center is making a big impact in the professional development of our graduate and undergraduate students. GO GATORS….GO ETHICS!”
