The following article was written by the 2019 Asper TRELCC Team of Lauren Slegers, Tara Flatt, Peirce Dickson and Abel Nyamori who recently competed at the 2019 Ted Rogers Ethical Leadership Case Competition at Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario.
The Ted Rogers Ethical Leadership Case Competition (TRELCC) is emerging as one of Canada’s leading student engagement opportunities. The competition challenges participants to take the theory of ethics learned in school and to apply those concepts to realistic cases filled with conflicts of interests, clashing incentives, and ambiguous paths to resolution. This is a uniquely beneficial competition as the world of commerce at large places a higher emphasis on ethical decision making. Participants are exposed to the common pitfalls that managers and team members face and will, therefore, be able to identify and navigate these issues more effectively.
Beyond the benefits of this exposure, students are also given the opportunity to apply their other course materials to the cases. They develop their ability to dissect and analyze a business case while navigating the latest research on ethics and leadership to lend credence to their recommendations. Furthermore, the participants must build a presentation and deliver it to a panel of industry professionals, after which they are grilled by the judges and challenged to defend their positions. All of these skills are crucial to being an effective business professional and are highly sought after by recruiters and managers alike.
The students were also introduced to other leading minds from universities across the country, with some of Canada’s top universities participating each year. Building relationships in Canada’s business environment is crucial to long term success, and this is a fantastic opportunity for students to develop a network outside the limits of their local cities. Beyond this inter-provincial network, Lauren, Tara, Peirce and Abel gained strong friendships with one another and had a very positive experience in both the work of the case and the social aspect of travelling in a group. This is the type of university experience that will be remembered fondly by all of the competitors.
The team’s key takeaways from this year’s competition include the fact that the most ethical path is rarely clear and always evolving due to the situation at hand and people involved. Furthermore, the key to integrating ethics in organizations is to empower the individual and allow each team member to take responsibility for themselves and for the organizations’ ethical goals. Any member of an organization, regardless of their role, can be a catalyst for ethical change. Lastly, the fact is that often it is not bad people that create ethical dilemmas, but systems that leave gaps and create incentives for unethical behaviour. Therefore, solutions need to be on the level of the organization and not focused on blaming individual actors.
The 2019 Asper School of Business TRELCC team fell just shy of the top 3 in the competition. After successfully making it to the final, the team placed fourth behind McMaster University, McGill University and HEC Montréal (1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively). While this was a painful shortcoming, the team and faculty advisor are very proud of their performance as this was only the second time an Asper team has competed, and the first time a team has made the final round. Additionally, the team received many compliments and positive feedback from other competitors and advisors, reinforcing the team’s confidence they had a strong performance and were competitive with the winners. All things considered, the team performed well and the data that was gathered about how the final round should be approached will be highly valuable for future competitors.
Lauren, Tara, Peirce and Abel are incredibly honoured and grateful that they were selected to represent the Asper School on the national stage, and that the university assisted with funding their participation.
Sincerely,
Lauren Slegers
Tara Flatt
Peirce Dickson
Abel Nyamori
2019 Asper TRELCC Team