• Your presentation should last between 20 and 30 minutes. Running long will be considered a serious weakness. Be prepared for an additional 20 to 30 minutes of questions from the judges (a combination of faculty and men and women from area businesses).

• Click here for a copy of the judging form used in the competition.

• Every member of your team must speak at some point during the presentation.

• Dress in appropriate business attire. Suits are preferred.

• Barring unforeseen technical difficulties, you will have access to a computer system (with PowerPoint) that projects a large image onto a screen. If you are using a file larger than will fit onto a disk, be certain that you know how to access it. If you need help with this or if you want any other equipment (overhead projector, VCR, etc.), please call Justin Goodkind at 310-338-7596 as soon as possible. Given the unpredictability of technology, you should be prepared to give a "low tech" version of your presentation using only transparencies.

• You must prepare at least a one page handout that contains: the names of a speakers; an outline of your presentation; and a one or two paragraph executive summary of the content of your talk. Identify which particular group your audience should imagine themselves as (senior managers, etc.). Specify this on your handout and announce it at the start of your presentation. Bring at least 10 copies. You may, of course, use any other handouts you desire. There is a file on reserve in the LMU library of sample handouts from groups in the past.

• There are videos of the top presentations from the last three years' competitions on reserve in the LMU library. We can supply tapes to teams from other schools.

• We recommend that you think about your presentation in either of the following two ways:

• A) You describe a problem that some business is facing, and you then propose a solution. Your description of the problem should include its business, legal and ethical dimensions. BE SURE TO EXPLAIN HOW THIS PROBLEM HAS AN ETHICAL DIMENSION. (See the section on "handling the ethical issues" below.) Explain how your solution: is legal, makes sense financially, and is ethically defensible. BE SURE TO EXPLAIN WHY YOUR SOLUTION IS ETHICALLY ACCEPTABLE.

 

• Your overall goals are: to illuminate the financial, legal and ethical dimensions of the problem, and to recommend a solution (or analyze how a corporation handled a situation) that makes sense financially, legally and ethically.  Here are some suggestions for covering these three areas.

• HANDLING THE FINANCIAL ISSUES. Identify the financial impact of the problem and the financial implications of the solution.  This isn't so much an exercise in detailed financial analysis (although feel free to do so, if you like that sort of thing) as much as an explanation of: how (and to what extent) the problem raises or lowers the company's costs or profits; how expensive your solution is; whether the company is in a position to afford your solution; and the like.

• HANDLING THE LEGAL ISSUES.  Identify laws, regulations or court cases that effectively restrict what the company may do.  Obviously, significant fines or settlements are important financial issues.

• HANDLING THE ETHICAL ISSUES. One-third of your score will depend on how well you handle the ethical dimensions of your case. You will be expected to operate within a framework that discusses ethics in terms of a) the tangible good and/or harm experienced by those affected (humans and, if appropriate, nonhumans) and b) the "rights" or fundamental moral principles involved. (In other words, you are expected to utilize a secular, philosophical framework.) This can be done by answering the following series of questions:

1. Does the problem/solution harm anyone?
2. Are there ways that those harmed (or others) are benefited in a way that justifies the harm? Does the good outweigh the harm?
3. In thinking about these benefits and harms, are you taking into account that some goods are qualitatively better than others and that some harms are qualitatively worse than others?
4. Completely apart form the tangible impact of the problem/solution on those affected, is everyone involved being treated appropriately? That is, are there specific "rights" or "duties" that are a part of this case that must be respected?  Is there a conflict of rights, duties or obligations? How should the conflict be handled?

• If you are competing in the optional "biathlon," at least 3 members of your team must run the LMU Run for the Bay on Saturday, April 8. (You must register for the race separately. Print out this PDF version of the form and mail directly to Thomas White, Center for Ethics and Business, Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90045. BIATHLON PARTICIPANTS ARE EXEMPT FROM THE ENTRY FEE, BUT YOU MUST MAIL THE FORM TO T. WHITE.) The presentation competition and the run count 50% each. Your score in the run will be based on your team's best 3 scores (based on place in gender).

• Click here for an entry form.  If you have questions or problems about any aspect of this competition, please contact Professor Thomas White.