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Faculty RFPs

General Request for Proposals, September 2006

The David Berg Center for Ethics and Leadership has sought to support education and research in ethics as well as the relationship of ethics and leadership. To that end, it has supported the Certificate Program in Ethics and Leadership in the College of Business Administration, supported a program of undergraduate research in ethics and leadership, and made occasional grants to support faculty work in this area.

In order to promote faculty research in ethics and leadership, the Berg Center is instituting a continuing program of faculty-research grants. I am pleased to invite you to submit proposals for funding of such research by the Berg Center.

Proposals should be submitted to my attention though Cathy Vargo, Coordinator, David Berg Center for Ethics and Leadership, 2809 Posvar Hall (412-648-2169; cavargo@katz.pitt.edu) by November 1, 2006. A committee will be created to review the proposals. Guidelines are as follows:

  • Proposals may be in any of the areas in which our faculty normally undertake research, but the project must relate to some dimension of ethics and/or of the interface of ethics and leadership.
  • The funds available for award during this first cycle total $12,000. No grant may be larger than $4,000.
  • Grants may be awarded for such expenses as acquisition of necessary equipment or data sets, payment to research assistants or data coders, travel for the purpose of data collection, and so on. No funds may be used for conference travel in order to present the results of the research.
  • The scale and scope of the project should not be such that it would require released time from teaching responsibilities under the School's course-teaching-reduction program.
  • Proposals should not exceed three pages and should be accompanied by a budget estimate.
  • Approved expenditures for this round of research grants must be completed by September 1, 2007.
  • Notifications of awards will be made as soon as possible after submission and approved expenditures may be incurred immediately after approval.

Examples of research questions or topics that fall within this grant program include:

  • What changes in organizational practices are likely to prevent or resolve crises involving dilemmas in ethical decision making?
  • Are some designs for corporate governance more or less prone to developing ethics problems in implementation?
  • What practices by auditors are more likely than others to detect and/or prevent the occurrence of improper accounting actions?
  • How can incentives be used to promote marketing ethics?
  • How does leadership shape ethical behavior in organizations?

Questions regarding this initiative should be directed to Barry Mitnick.

 

Request for Proposals for Evaluation of the CPLE Program

The Certificate Program in Leadership and Ethics (CPLE) in the College of Business Administration, supported by the David Berg Center for Ethics and Leadership, is now about to graduate its first class. This innovative new program includes a series of honors classes, specially-designed seminars and workshops, and internships. The program's coordinator is Ray Jones. One of the most important challenges facing business, ethics, and leadership education in general and the CPLE in specific is the evaluation of educational outcomes. Given the CPLE's design to increase students' leadership abilities, ethical behavior, and business understanding, proposals should include evaluation of each of these areas. It is of high interest, both pedagogically and for practical research knowledge, whether the CPLE program as it has been offered performs well

The Berg Center's original prospectus recognized the need for a careful evaluation of the CPLE. This RFP follows that original intention. We solicit proposals for the evaluation of the CPLE. Such proposals are to be designed as publishable research, as well as be conducted in a manner that will be useful in the formative modification of CPLE to improve its effectiveness.

Proposals should be submitted to my attention though Cathy Vargo, Coordinator, David Berg Center for Ethics and Leadership, 2R20 Posvar Hall (412-648-2169; cavargo@katz.pitt.edu) by December 1, 2006. A committee will be created to review the proposals. Guidelines are as follows:

  • The scale and scope of the project should not be such that it would require released time from teaching responsibilities under the School's course-teaching-reduction program.
  • Proposals should not exceed five pages and should be accompanied by a budget estimate.
  • The CPLE evaluation should be a multi-year project, with a term not longer than three years.
  • While the full year's research details should be available at the end of the project, initial findings from post-program evaluation should be available at the end of the first year of the project.
  • Approved expenditures for the first year of the grant must be completed by July 1, 2007.
  • By July 1 of each year, the grant recipient(s) must provide a report of progress in the evaluation.
  • The yearly grant size is open and can vary depending on project needs.
  • The work must be designed as a publishable research project with the level of rigor and publishing aims of modern social science research in the area.
  • Grant recipients must seek and obtain the appropriate IRB clearances for each part of the project each year for which IRB clearance is necessary.
  • Preference will be given to researchers located at the University of Pittsburgh or proposing to do this research with colleagues located at the University of Pittsburgh.
  • As an evaluation, the project should include reasonable and interesting comparisons. For example, the study may compare CPLE students to other CBA students, to other University of Pittsburgh students, and to students at one or more other universities exposed to various forms of ethics education.
  • The project should employ and/or develop measures applicable via standard research methods, but may also develop innovative measures of performance and achievement, such as performance on project or team activities.
  • The project should attempt to assess or develop measures for such constructs as: moral awareness, moral reasoning, moral intentions, values, leadership abilities, business knowledge and understanding, etc. These are examples—not directives—regarding what the evaluation would include. Proposals should describe the range of measures and the reasons for the choice of such measures.
  • Funds for the project may go toward any purposes consistent with performance of the necessary research activities, as explained and defended in the proposal.

Questions regarding this initiative should be directed to Barry Mitnick.