Stetson University students took home a first place and two second place wins at the International Business Ethics and Sustainability Case Competition (IBECC) held recently in Los Angeles. IBESCC is the nation’s oldest and most prestigious event where students from around the world compete to identify business problems and apply ethical solutions.

The Stetson team, comprising Mackenzie Nalven, Stewart Schmidt, Nathaniel Diamond and Jimmy Dean, competed against undergraduate teams from the United States, Spain, China, Australia and Kuwait in three different categories. Coaches are Areti Vogel, Ph.D., visiting assistant professor of management,Jim Beasley, Ph.D., professor of management, and John Tichenor, professor and chair of management.

“This was my second opportunity to compete at IBESCC, and this year we were more prepared than ever,” said Diamond. “One of the most important things I gleaned from the experience was the value of developing a strategic framework to guide both the team in crafting the presentation as well as the judges in evaluating it.”

Diamond is a management major from Verbank, New York, and won first in the 90-second division against University of Navarra, Marist College, George Washington University and Southern New Hampshire University.  

Two team members, Nalven, a management and psychology major from Palm Harbor, and Schmidt, a finance and accounting major from Uniontown, Ohio, won second place in the 10-minute division that included University of Miami, University of Melbourne, University of Illinois and Santa Barbara City College.

Stetson also walked away with second place in the full presentation category, in which all four team members participated, that included University of Florida, Texas State University, American University of the Middle East and Loyola Marymount University.

“Nathaniel, Mackenzie, Jimmy and Stewart did an outstanding job at every stage of the competition,” said Vogel, who accompanied the team to California. “The team thoroughly analyzed the case and the underlying issues, and delivered a polished and professional presentation. This event gave students the opportunity to make an impact in the area of business ethics, which is one of the salient goals of these experiences.”

-Marie Dinklage