Most Recent Competitions

For the first time, The Ethics in Business Education Program at Providence College held the PC Business Ethics Written Case Competition. This new competition was held exclusively for Providence College students from all majors. Teams of two to four undergraduate students chose a current ethical business issue and submitted a PowerPoint presentation to the Ethics in Business Education Program. Submissions were reviewed by the Ethics in Business Education Program staff. The judges deemed it a close competition, too close to call, announcing a four-way finish for first place. Cash prizes were awarded to the four first-place teams.

The four winning teams are:

• Matthew Emmer, Ryan Sharp, & Jake Cresser – A.I. Generated Art
• John Hall and Ryan Varley – Unethically Sourced Cobalt
• Morgan Potter, William Schimek, & Anthony Renga – Food Insecurity in the United States
• Kassidy Howarth & Christopher Azar – ChatGPT: The Impact on Modern American College Campuses

The winning teams then had the opportunity to present their findings at the 14th Annual Celebration of Student Scholarship and Creativity.

On Saturday, February 25, 2023, the Providence College School of Business hosted the 2023 Michael Smith Business Ethics Case Competition. Named in honor of Michael Smith ’65, former chairman and CEO of Hughes Electronics Corp., the competition featured multiple teams of undergraduate students from several colleges and universities from the Northeast and beyond.

“I am delighted that this has turned into an international competition, with teams from the United States, Canada, and Mexico participating this year,” said Patrick Kelly, Ph.D., professor of accountancy and Director of the Ethics in Business Education Program.

Teams were instructed to examine a business ethics case over a two-week period and present their analysis and solution to a panel of judges consisting of corporate and ethics professionals. This year’s case revolved around a fictional professional services firm, ABC, Inc. Students were tasked with recommending whether or not ABC should require employees to install tracking software on their devices to monitor the employees’ productivity. The issue rose to prominence during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, where remote work became prevalent among the workforce.

First place was awarded to Rowah Ibnaouf, Massaran Konate, and Agalby Morel, who represented Boston College. The team argued in favor of installing software mainly for cybersecurity, but they also endorsed gentle tracking software to minimize the risks of lost productivity without losing employee trust. Second place was awarded to Nikki Agrawai, Adam Chessell, Nara Lee, and Hamza Bin Waheed, who represented the University of Toronto Mississauga. Representing Providence College in the competition were Bobby McGuire ’24, Tommy Ishimwe ’24, and Jacob Bazyk ’24.

On Saturday, October 29, the PCSB hosted the final round of the Business Ethics Case Competition. Four teams participated in the final round of the competition, which engages students to think critically about ethical issues in business.

This year’s topic was based on testimony provided by Frances Haugen, a whistleblower and former employee at Facebook, before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security. Haugen called for Congressional action, accusing Facebook of promoting psychological insecurity, misinformation, and division among its users. Teams were asked to address the subcommittee, identifying at least three ethical issues as they relate to Facebook’s practices, and to explain why they are important as the subcommittee continues its investigation.

The winning team was comprised of Bobby McGuire ’24, Tommy Ishimwe ’24, and Jacob Bazyk ’24. Referring to the ethical frameworks of deontology, Catholic social teaching, and virtue ethics, these students connected their chosen frameworks’ guidelines to Facebook’s alleged wrongdoings. After discussing the ethical theories, McGuire, Ishimwe, and Bazyk offered recommendations for Meta, Facebook’s parent company, to use.

The winning trio will represent PC at the 2023 Michael Smith Business Ethics Case Competition.

Read more about the 2022 PC Business Ethics Case Competition here.

The 2021 Michael Smith Business Ethics Case Competition was held virtually on November 6, 2021. “Last year the Covid pandemic required us to move our ethics case competition online,” noted Dr. Patrick T. Kelly, director of the Providence College Ethics in Business Education Program. “We discovered, though, that hosting the competition online allows for broader participation and the opportunity to grow the program beyond the region.”

This year’s case focused on Amazon’s human resource management policies and practices, which have been widely criticized in recent years. Teams examined the ethical and operational issues identified in the case and provided recommended solutions. Students were required to incorporate at least three ethical theories and could address the following:  virtue ethics, deontology, utilitarianism, justice, and Catholic social teaching.

Dr. Sylvia Maxfield, dean of the PC School of Business, presented the prizes to the winning teams. Congratulations to the first-place team from the University of Toronto Mississauga, who took home the first-place trophy and $2,400 prize, and to the Providence College team, who placed second and won a $1,200 award. Many thanks to all participating teams. The judges enjoyed the lively presentations and insightful recommendations from all teams!

The next Michael Smith Business Ethics Case Competition will be held in spring 2023.

First Place Team from the University of Toronto Mississauga
(Top Row): Dr. Patrick Kelly, Director, PC Ethics in Business Education Program; Dr. Sylvia Maxfield, Dean, PC School of Business
(Middle Row) Aoun Hafeez, Hamza Bin Waheed, Bharathi Srinivasan
(Bottom Row) Nguyen Minh Chau Luong

Second Place Team from Providence College
(Top Row) Dr. Patrick Kelly, Director, PC Ethics in Business Education Program; Dr. Sylvia Maxfield, Dean, PC School of Business
(Middle Row) Olivia Esper; Soleil Corvelo, Morgan Valente
(Bottom Row) Dr. Julia Camp, Team Advisor

This year’s PC Business Ethics Case Competition was held virtually on Saturday, March 19. The case study concerned the problem of foul ball spectator injuries at Major League Baseball games and how to make the stadiums safer. For the challenge, the teams assumed that they were hired by MLB to propose an ethical response to foul balls that have injured fans in the stands. As the case explained, the MLB has tackled this issue over the years, and baseball stadiums have tried several different solutions to make spectators safer. Each team presented three ethical issues in their proposals which included questions about ticket disclaimers about incidents, protective netting, the impact of foul ball related injuries, and more.

The teams were judged by Bob Driscoll, vice president and director of athletics at PC, Jacqueline Elcik, Ph.D., senior associate dean of the PCSB, Brad Gordon, senior vice president, chief general counsel, secretary, and chief ethics officer of Gilbane Construction, and Sean Reid, Ph.D., PC provost and senior vice president of academic affairs.

The first place prize was awarded to Soleil Corvelo ’22, an accountancy major; Matthew Keane ’22, an accountancy major; Matthew Michaels ’22, a finance major, and Michael Seelagy ’22, an accountancy major.

On November 7, Providence College hosted the Michael Smith Regional Ethics Case Competition. The competition was held virtually, due to COVID-19 safety considerations. Along with the case competition, the Ethics in Business Education Program offered the Teaching Business Ethics – Best Practices workshop for faculty interested in developing their teaching of business ethics. The workshop’s keynote speaker was Dr. Mary C. Gentile of the University of Virginia, author of Giving Voice to Values: How to Speak Your Mind When You Know What’s Right. Faculty participants were also invited to view the final round of the case competition at the conclusion of the workshop.

At this year’s Michael Smith Regional Ethics Case Competition, eight teams, each comprised of three to four members, participated. They included teams from Boston College, Fairfield University, La Salle University, Mount Wachusett Community College, Providence College, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, University of Toronto Mississauga, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The teams competed for a first-place prize of $2,400 and a $1,200 second place award, but everyone gained valuable experience.

The topic of the competition centered around contact tracing and technical solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic. The teams presented to a panel of nine judges, whose backgrounds ranged from internal medicine to real estate and marketing. One judge even had experience helping Rhode Island create its contract tracing app.

This year’s first place award was presented to the team from University of Toronto Mississauga. Boston College was awarded second place. Congratulations!

First-place team from University of Toronto Mississauga, shown with Ethics in Business Education Program director Patrick Kelly, Ph.D., PC provost Sean Reid, Ph.D., and School of Business dean, Sylvia Maxfield, Ph.D., included:

• (Left) Deepti Sanwalka, senior, management major & sociology minor
• (Center) Kirari Sasaki, senior, accountancy major & economics minor
• (Right Center) Raunaq Rohile, junior, finance major & economics minor

This team was advised by Dr. Rafael Chiuzi, assistant professor of management at the University of Toronto Mississa

In October 2019 the Providence College Business Ethics Case Competition was held to identify the team that would represent the college at the Michael Smith Regional Ethics Case Competition in the spring. Ten teams of three to four students competed for the chance to participate in the regional competition as well as first and second place cash prizes of $1,200 and $600, respectively. The semi-final round of the fall competition was held on Wednesday, November 6 and the final round was held on Friday, November 8.

The topic of the case examined whether the company should help pay its employees’ student loans. While this topic may look clear-cut to undergraduate students initially, various questions, such as the risk of alienating employees who would not benefit from student repayment, complicated the analysis.  Since this case was an ethics one, teams were recommended to address, in addition to the business elements, one or more of the following: Virtue Ethics, Deontology (right of individuals and the duties associated with these rights), Utilitarianism, Justice (procedural, distributive, compensatory, and retributive), and Catholic Social Teaching.

The winning teams of the 2019 PC Business Ethics Case Competition are:

First Place: Daniel Bonner ‘20, Alec DiCiaccio ‘20, Shawn Mcdermott ‘20, Nathan Perez ‘20

Second Place: Tom
Arbeiter ‘21, McGrath Bissaillon ‘20, Doug DeGolyer ‘20

Congratulations to all and best wishes to our first place finalists as they advance to the Michael Smith Regional Ethics Case Competition in the spring!

On April 6, the PCSB hosted the 2019 Michael Smith Regional Ethics Case Competition. In the past, the competition has been restricted to teams from Providence College. However, this year, the PCSB allowed teams from higher education institutions from across the northeast to participate. Teams from Johnson & Wales University, LaSalle University, Simmons University, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute joined PC in taking part.

For the competition, teams of three to four members analyzed a business ethics case over a two-week period before presenting a solution to a panel of judges. Teams were asked to analyze the opioid crisis from an ethical standpoint and make recommendations to the U.S. Congress on actions that might be taken to improve the situation.

Congratulations to LaSalle University, which placed first in the competition, and Johnson & Wales University, which came in second!

The 2018 Michael Smith Ethics Case Competition addressed the National Football League’s response to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). Thirteen teams of four students competed in the semi-final round on Wednesday, January 31, in the Ryan Center. Twelve alumni and faculty judges evaluated 15-minute student presentations followed by a brief question and answer session. They selected the four teams that advanced to the final round of the competition, held on Saturday, February 3. Providence College Senior Vice President/Chief Financial Officer John Sweeney, Philosophy Professor Timothy Mahoney, and Providence College Team Physician Dr. Mark Rosenberg served as judges for the final round of the competition.

The following were the winning teams.

First-Place Team:

Kerry Crepeau ’20, Thomas Kelly ’20, Zachary Aldieri ’20, and Jack Cassidy ’20; Finance Professor Marcin Krolikowski served as Team Advisor

Second-Place Team:

Nathan Perez ’20, Alec DiCiaccio ’20, Daniel Bonner ’20, and Shawn McDermott ’20; Father Bonaventure Chapman served as Team Advisor

Left to Right: Daniel Bonner ’20, Alex DiCiaccio ’20, Fr. Bonaventure Chapman, Nathan Perez ’20, Shawn McDermott ’20

The 2017 Michael Smith Ethics Case Competition, held at Providence College, addressed the ethical issues associated with driverless automobiles. Nineteen teams of four students competed in the semi-final round on Thursday, February 16, in the Ryan Center. Twelve judges from six academic departments, student affairs, and Fidelity Investments evaluated 15-minute student presentations and decided on the four teams that advanced to the final round of the competition, held on Saturday, February 25. Dean Sylvia Maxfield, Philosophy Professor Timothy Mahoney, and Elizabeth Jennes ’14 served as judges for the final round of the competition.

The following were the winning teams.

First-Place Team:

Michael Cruz ’19, Matthew Gould ’19, Mitchell Pitkin ’19, and Allison Post ’19

Second-Place Team:

Shawn Carlson ’18, Nicholas Coassin ’18, Allan Cuttle ’18, and Ryan Del Monaco ’18

The first-place team was awarded $2,000 and the second-place team was awarded $1,000. All of the finalist teams attended the Men’s Basketball game vs Marquette University (a Friar Win!) after the competition finals on February 25.