Pitt Business: Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business & College of Business Administration

Press Release

January 29, 2007

Fourth Annual Katz/Berg Center Ethics Case Competition Required MBA Students to Participate in Team-based Ethics Case Discussions

PITTSBURGH—Full-time Master of Business Administration (MBA) students from the University of Pittsburgh’s Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business competed Jan. 25–26 in the school’s fourth annual Ethics Case Competition. The annual competition was organized by the Katz School’s David Berg Center for Ethics and Leadership. This year’s winners included Katz full-time MBA students, Chenchun Liao, Aaron Santavicca, Ying Pin Wang, Christopher Williams, and Ying Nee Yap.

The first round of the competition had students analyzing a case study in which an airline performed unauthorized genetic testing of its pilot employees and the dilemma that unfurled when one pilot was found to have a dangerous genetic defect. The genetic defect had a 50 percent chance of presenting itself and if it were to present while the affected pilot was flying an aircraft, a crash would likely result. After analyzing this case from different ethical perspectives, teams presented their findings to a panel of corporate, community, and faculty judges on Jan. 26.

Five finalist teams analyzed a second case study that involved a diversified company that planned to liquidate its bicycle manufacturing unit in three months. The company’s new CEO insisted that managers of the unit not disclose plans to discontinue the bicycle line to preserve the value of the unit’s inventory. One of the unit’s employees, who had signed a nondisclosure agreement, is greatly concerned that the company’s actions will adversely affect a small, family-run supplier in Brazil and the town that relies on the supplier’s revenue. In fact, if the supplier were to continue producing specialized parts for the bicycle manufacturer, the excess inventory would certainly put the supplier out of business.

The five finalist teams made presented their analysis of this second case study to an audience of their fellow competitors, judges, and Katz faculty. Teams’ final scores were aggregative of student evaluations (33 percent) and those of corporate and community judges and Katz faculty (67 percent).

The winning teams were announced following a keynote address from L. Patrick Hassey—chair, president, and chief executive officer (CEO) of Allegheny Technologies. When Hassey became CEO of Allegheny Technologies in October 2003, the specialty materials company had a stock price near $6; its stock price is now near $100. Hassey gave told student what he thinks it takes to be a great company. And he remarked, "There’s a difference between doing things right and doing the right thing."

The Katz/Berg Center Ethics Case Competition, an integration of ethics into the MBA Curriculum, is the final requirement of the one-credit Transition Module.

The David Berg Center for Ethics and Leadership carries out the annual MBA Ethics Case Competition by assembling the team of judges, providing the cases to be analyzed, and aiding in logistical support.

For more information about the Fourth Annual Katz/Berg Center Ethics Case Competition, call 412-648-2169.