UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. –– The Penn State Smeal College of Business Ethics Case Team placed first in one category of the International Business Ethics and Sustainability Case Competition held at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
Five students, all members of the Ethics Case Team sponsored by the Tarriff Center for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility, collaborated to win the 10-minute presentation. Those students were:
- Carter Ellis, senior, risk management
- Joseph Li, junior, finance
- Jayant Gupta, junior, finance and information systems management minor
- Rohan Rastogi, senior, computer science
- Adam Lieb, sophomore, integrative science, legal studies, government service, public policy option
In the IBESCC, teams are asked to analyze the moral imperatives of sustainable development, targeting at least one specific United Nations Sustainability Development Goal. In an executive summary submitted before the competition, teams submit their chosen topic and their audience, which is the specific business they chose to target.
Through various presentations, they act as a consulting firm and present their problems and solutions to a panel of blind judges who represent the business’s senior management and board of directors.
Teams compete in three categories:
- A 25-minute presentation, during which teams break down the ethical, legal and financial implications of the selected topic, accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation, which is followed by a question-and-answer session.
- A 10-minute presentation that does not include the PowerPoint and solely focuses on the ethical issues.
- A 90-second presentation that is structured as an elevator pitch, in which the presenter acts as an employee of their chosen company tasked with convincing the executive board of the significance of the sustainability issue.
The case focused on Water Asset Management, a hedge fund based in New York that invests in global water public equities and private equity tied to water resources and farmland in the southwestern United States.
The team analyzed how WAM’s current business model impacts its key stakeholders — primarily farmers who rely on the Colorado River — and how it potentially could trigger a ripple effect of legal, ethical and financial challenges, ultimately threatening the creation of a long-term, sustainable business model.
The team identified an untapped opportunity for WAM to partner with solar power plants and invest in hybrid cooling systems, which can reduce water consumption by up to 75%. It emphasized that by implementing this solution, WAM could expand its responsibilities to not only enhance its financial returns but also ensure the longevity of the Colorado River and support the communities that depend on it.