Team Memos

TEAM MEMO #8

I'm not sure how prominent this is in the material on the website, but over the last few years, judges complained so frequently that teams were simply reading from scripts that we established the following rule last year. If any members of the team read from a prepared script in the preliminary round, that team can't advance to the final round on Saturday. (There may be some latitude on this for international teams.) The judges' point was that while reading one's comments may be appropriate in academics, it isn't in business. Using notes is fine, of course.

TEAM MEMO #7

1. Banquet RSVPs. I just wanted to confirm that we haven't received any banquet RSVPs from the following schools: New York University, United States Naval Academy, Westmont College, UCLA, and University of Kansas. If our information is inaccurate, or if you would like to attend the banquet but haven't replied, please contact Bryce Swihart as soon as possible at 310-338-7596 or bryce.swihart@lmu.edu.

2. Short videos. I've uploaded a few short videos for both judges and teams. You can find them on the left side of http://www.lmu.edu/Page22848.aspx.

3. PowerPoint deadline reminder. The deadline for the PowerPoint files is April 1. Teams will be allowed to bring a revised file. However, if it doesn't load properly onto the laptop in the room, you'll have to work with the version you'll have sent ahead of time.

4. Essay deadline reminder. The deadline for the two essay competition is this Friday. Details are contained in earlier memos. Essay length can be between 750 and 1,000 words.

TEAM MEMO #6

1. Banquet fees

Unfortunately, we aren't equipped to accept these by credit card. So please mail a check as soon as possible to Bryce Swihart, Center for Ethics and Business, Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90045. Please use the online RSVP form to indicate your choice of dinner by March 20. If you have problems with the form, please communicate directly with Bryce at bryce.swihart@lmu.edu or 310-338-7596.

2. Carol and Stanley Botts Servant Leadership Award

This new essay award, announced in memo #3, will carry a prize of $1,000. Like the Simone de Beauvoir essay competition, everything “counts”: persuasiveness, grammar, style, coherence, etc. Unlike the presentation, the team may not consult anyone outside the team (faculty, campus writing centers, etc.). Entries (Word file) will be due by 5 P.M. Pacific Time on Friday, April 4. They should be e-mailed to lmuethics@aol.com.

3. Executive Summary deadline

Please also remember that executive summary is also due on March 20. If you're having trouble with the online form, please contact Bryce directly.

TEAM MEMO #5

This memo is for those who have not yet booked reservations at the Marriott Hotel or who have been having trouble getting a discounted rate at the Marriott. For a reason we are still trying to determine, the Marriott may have run out of rooms at the original discounted rate. We have been able to secure a lower rate for 8-10 more rooms. This rate, which is otherwise unavailable to the public, is $149 a night.

This rate will not last long and within a day or two could become much higher. You will need to book your room(s) as soon as possible. You need to speak directly with Sandra Torres about getting this $149 rate. Her direct line is 310-337-5311.

If you have any more difficulties or questions about making reservations, please contact Bryce Swihart (310-338-7596 or bryce.swihart@lmu.edu.).

Please let me know if the higher rate produces any financial problems. If so, my office may be able to offset the higher rate.

Thanks for your cooperation.

TEAM MEMO #4

1. Marriott

We seem to be having a problem regarding the number of rooms available at the Marriott at the discounted rate. If you've run into this problem, please let me know. Also, if you haven't made reservations yet, please let me know as soon as possible how many rooms you'll need and for which nights.

2. New procedures

We are doing a couple of things differently this year. First, we’re adding a new component to determine which teams advance to the final round. In addition to the judging panels, which are made up of many different individuals, three experienced judges will staff the three rooms that we’re using throughout the three days of the competition. Each of the three will develop his own ranking of all of the teams he sees. This will supplement the scores in the hope that it will correct for some of the inevitable variability and subjectivity that comes from having to rely solely on scores coming from so many different judges.

Also, because the preliminary presentations will continue through Saturday morning, we will not be able to review the scores, meet with our three “super-judges” and determine divisional co-champions advancing to the final round until Saturday at noon. Accordingly, we are asking that everyone reassemble in Hilton 100 at 2 PM Saturday afternoon, when we will announce the four teams that are advancing. Then at 2:15, we’re adding a select two person panel discussing the challenges of operating ethically in a global economy. One panelist is Barney Rosenberg, Group Ethics and Business Conduct Manager for Meggitt PLC. The other is Bob Stone, a distinguished former civil servant who worked in the Pentagon and White House and consults internationally. This will be followed by a reception (3:15 to 4:15). The final round in the competition will be held at 4:30 PM in Hilton 100. The awards banquet will follow.

3. Reminder about final round

This year’s final round will operate the same as last year’s. Each of the four teams will have 15 minutes to give an abbreviated presentation that deals only with the ethical dimensions of the case. In the spirit of requiring excellence across the board, each of the four teams must also have met all of the deadlines leading up to the competition (executive summary and PowerPoint), must be working on a business case (as opposed to governmental or public policy case), and the intended audience for the presentation must be a business audience (senior managers, board, etc.).

TEAM MEMO #3

1. Executive summary

Don’t forget, the Executive Summary for your team’s presentation is due by March 20th. The Executive Summary forms are to be filled out in a specific format this year. There is a PDF form to be filled out and e-mailed on the Center for Ethics and Business website. Instructions and the PDF form can be found athttp://www.lmu.edu/Page27915.aspx. If the link above does not work, go to http://ethicsandbusiness.lmu.edu, then click on “Competitions” (from the top navigation bar) and then click on the third bullet on the left, “Team Competition Resources.”

Please note that the instructions are a little different from the past. We’re asking you to include an outline of your presentation as well as the summary. Also, on the outline, please note who is handling each section. If you click the “Executive Summary Example” link on http://www.lmu.edu/Page38666.aspx, you’ll see an example of a good summary from a couple of years ago. (Note that we didn’t require outlines then.)

2. New prize: Carol and Stanley Botts Award in Servant Leadership

Carol and Stanley Botts have established a new prize for the best essay of 750 to 1,000 words that explains how your team’s solution advances the principles of servant leadership. For the purpose of the competition, we’re using the principles of servant leadership as defined by the Alliance for Servant Leadership:

· Transformation as a vehicle for personal and institutional growth.

· Personal growth as a route to better serve others.

· Enabling environments that empower and encourage service.

· Service as a fundamental goal.

· Trusting relationships as a basic platform for collaboration and service.

· Creating commitment as a way to collaborative activity.

· Community building as a way to create environments in which people can trust each other and work together.

· Nurturing the spirit as a way to provide joy and fulfillment in meaningful work.

Entries (Word file) will be due by 5 P.M. Pacific Time on Friday, April 4. They should be e-mailed to lmuethics@aol.com. The award amount is still be to determined.

3. Corrected deadline

The deadline for the Simone de Beauvoir essay competition is Friday, April 4, not April 3, as mentioned in the last memo.

4. Travel funds procedure

If your team is receiving any travel funds, here’s how we’re handling things this year. We’ve received new instructions from the university’s budget office, so everything needs to be handled as a reimbursement. Please send us the original of the receipt indicating who paid the bill (and, hence, to whom the check should be made out), and we’ll forward that to the appropriate office for processing. Any teams getting assistance with airfare can send that portion as soon as it’s paid. Any teams getting assistance with the hotel will receive a stamped envelope from us so that you can mail us that receipt before you leave Los Angeles. Receipts should be mailed to: Center for Ethics and Business, College of Business Administration, Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90045, Attn: Bryce Swihart.

5. Banquet and banquet fee

Please complete the “Banquet Team RSVP Form” by March 20. You’ll find it at http://www.lmu.edu/Page38666.aspx. As I mentioned in an earlier memo, we’re forced to charge a $35 per person banquet fee this year. Please make all checks payable to the Center for Ethics and Business and mail payments to: Center for Ethics and Business, College of Business Administration, Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90045, Attn: Bryce Swihart.

TEAM MEMO # 2

Travel Accommodations

All reservations for the Los Angeles Airport Marriott must be made by Wednesday, March 19 in order to receive the discount rate. For further information please visit the "Travel Accommodations" page on our website at

http://www.lmu.edu/PageFactory.aspx?PageID=34083 .

Shuttle Bus

We have arranged for a bus that will operate on a regular schedule from the LAX Marriott to campus throughout the event. The Shuttle will leave on the hour from the Marriott Hotel and will arrive at LMU every half hour. This will be available to anyone in the competition and will obviate the need to rent a car.

3. Simone De Beauvoir Ethics Essay Prize $500

The ethics essay prize, funded by the Honorable Judge Ruth Kraft of the New York bench, is named the “Simone De Beauvoir” prize this year. Our goal is to rename it every year in recognition of a different female philosopher. The prize recognizes the best essay of 750 to 1,000 words about the ethical dimensions of the case. Thus, from a philosophical perspective (but put in simple terms): In precisely what way does the problem the team is working on raise ethical issues? Precisely why are these issues “ethical” in nature? How do the positive and negative results compare against each other (consider short term, long term, qualitative as well as quantitative differences)? What about the intrinsic character of the actions? Why is the team’s solution to the problem ethically acceptable? Everything “counts”: persuasiveness, grammar, style, coherence, etc. Unlike the presentation, the team may not consult anyone outside the team (faculty, campus writing centers, etc.). Entries (Word file) will be due by 5 P.M. Pacific Time on Friday, April 3. They should be e-mailed to lmuethics@aol.com. Last year’s winning essays are at: http://www.lmu.edu/PageFactory.aspx?PageID=35131.

4. Banquet fee.

This year, because we’re operating on a smaller budget, we are instituting a banquet fee of $35.00 per person. Fees and entrée selection are due by March 20. The banquet form can be found at http://www.lmu.edu/Asset23853.aspx on our website. Please contact Bryce Swihart at bryce.swihart@lmu.edu or 310-338-7596 for further information.

5. Deadlines

Please keep in mind the following deadlines: March 20, executive summaries and banquet form are due; April 1, PowerPoint files are due. These items should be sent to bryce.swihart@lmu.edu

If you have specific questions or concerns about the event, please use this email address (lmuethics@aol.com) to communicate with me about the competition.

More before too long.

TEAM MEMO #1

First, thanks for your interest and enthusiasm for the competition. The current field is posted on the web site.

As you should recall from my earlier note that Kirsten sent out late last fall, we’re having to do things a little differently this year. We have a much smaller budget to work with than in the past. Also, there’s so much construction on campus that we’re going to have to suspend the 5K/10K LMU Run for the Bay and the biathlon. We couldn’t find a way to reconfigure the course safely, so it seemed best to skip a year.

One of the consequences of the smaller budget is that it’s making it more difficult to figure out how to distribute travel funds fairly. I will have this finalized within a few days. Thanks for your patience.

Another of the consequences (which I suggested as a possibility in my earlier note) is that we’re going to have to institute a banquet fee of $35 per person. We haven’t determined the procedure for payment yet, but I wanted everyone to know as soon as this became a reality.

Because we aren’t holding the race on Saturday morning and because we had a difficult time getting the space we needed for sessions, we’re going to have the first round presentations run from Thursday afternoon through Saturday morning. We’re also going to be running three sessions at a time, instead of four (as we did last year). At the bottom of this note, you’ll find my first attempt at a tentative schedule. With teams coming from such varying distances, I’ve tried to take that into account. For example, we’re asking all of the western teams to present on Thursday afternoon. This is, as I said, a tentative schedule. So please let me know your reactions as soon as possible.

Here’s how the competition will work this year. There are two divisions: graduate (8 teams) and undergraduate (24 teams). The top two teams in the first round in each division will be named divisional co-champions and will advance to the final round on Saturday afternoon. Finalists will present an abbreviated (15 minute) presentation that focuses strictly on the ethical dimensions of the case. We will announce the four teams at 2 PM on Saturday and send them off to prepare. Following the announcement, we will have a presentation by a couple of experts in global business ethics. This will be followed by a reception. Then at 4 or 4:30 (we’re still working out the details), we’ll have the final presentations and then the awards banquet.

Information on the essay award and a new award will be forthcoming.

I’ll remind you of this, but keep in mind the following deadlines: March 20, executive summaries and banquet RSVPs are due; April 1, PowerPoint files due.

To ensure that your e-mails don’t get lost in the large number I ordinarily get, please use this address (lmuethics@aol.com) to communicate with me about the competition.