K-State students have earned scholarships for their performance in the Phillips 66 Business Ethics Case Competition, which gives students the opportunity to present a solution to an ethical dilemma.
Ten teams across the university competed against each other in a previous competition; from those 10, five were selected to be finalists. Team Integrity took first place and received a $1,000 scholarship, while Team Transparent and Accountable placed second and received a $750 scholarship.
All scholarship money was donated by Phillips 66, who sponsored the event.
“The competition was well-organized, mentally stimulating and allowed us to meet other business minded students, as well as business leaders from different parts of the country,” said Gavin Koester, senior in economics. “It’s difficult to create value in an industry without integrity and compliance.”
Team Integrity members include Koester, Alex Severance, senior in history, economics and political science, and Mark Holton, graduate student in architecture.
Each team was given a business ethics case study, and was required to write a four-page solution in regard to the dilemma that was presented within a 15-minute time frame.
“We thought it would be neat to submit a solution that incorporated some of our shared principles. We were confident we could submit a strong argument, but weren’t sure how it would be received by the judges,” Holton said in a Nov. 19 K-State press release. “All thanks is due to Phillips 66 and the College of Business Administration for making this unique experience possible. We recommend it to anyone interested in developing their reasoning and communication skills.”
Severance thought the experience was educational and said it got him involved with something new to him.
“I learned a lot,” Severance said. “It took me out of my comfort zone and overall, it was a great experience.”
Team Transparent and Accountable members included Krisha Stoss, junior in accounting, Jordan Misunas, senior in marketing, and Shuwa Zhang, senior in finance.
Along with the first and second place winners, Team Charland received a scholarship for $500 with a third place finish.
Team Ethos and Hedgepath and Mulder Consulting both received honorable mentions and a $250 scholarship from Phillips 66.
Each team that competed in the competition received scholarship money.
Olivia Law-DelRosso, director of professional advantage in the College of Business Administration, said she thought that the students are now well-prepared for future encounters with employers and job interviews.
“Having the
experience of giving a presentation and answering [judge’s] questions is very important
in future job interviews,” Law-DelRosso said. ”It is real
world experience with judges that could realistically be a future employer.”