UW Teams Place in Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Case Competition

Teams of undergraduate and graduate students from the University of Wyoming’s College of Business took home trophies from the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Case Competition for the fourth year in a row.

The graduate team of Parker Lougee, of Casper; Morgan Kitchen, of Warner Robins, Ga.; Rudy Nesvik, of Glendo; Alyssa Piel, of Franktown, Colo.; and Robert Mitchell, of Napa, Calif., finished in second place -- the highest placing ever for a UW team in the graduate division.

The undergraduate team of McKenna Kail, Shane Dawson and Sarah Drewry, all of Lander; Bridger Stoddard, of LaGrange; and George Ristic, of Belgrade, Serbia, finished third.

The 12th annual event -- recently held in Aurora, Colo. -- challenged eight undergraduate and eight graduate student teams from business schools in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming as part of the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Collegiate Program.

This year’s competition featured a thought-provoking business ethics case about an electronics company in the defense industry, with the student teams taking on the role of a consulting firm. Their task was to analyze the ethical issues involved, such as safety, conflicts of interest, ethical supply-chain practices and employee misconduct. Teams then presented their recommendations to a panel of business and community leaders.

The UW teams’ presentations were judged against the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative principles of integrity, trust, accountability, transparency, fairness, respect, the rule of law and viability.

“The UW ethics program has established itself as a top contender at the annual Daniels Fund case competition. This year’s students were not intimidated by the performance expectations and carried the legacy,” says Chase Thiel, UW faculty adviser to the undergraduate team and the Bill Daniels Chair of Business Ethics. “I am incredibly proud of these teams and how they represented the University of Wyoming.”

The Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Collegiate Program, established in 2010, instills a high standard of ethics in students and strengthens principle-based ethics education in participating schools. The consortium consists of nine universities across four states.

To learn more about the Daniels Fund and the results of the competition, go here.

About UW’s Center for Principle-Based Leadership and Ethics

The Center for Principle-Based Leadership and Ethics is committed to developing the next generation of ethical leaders and organizations in Wyoming and beyond. The center’s higher purpose is to build principled leaders for a better tomorrow.