Winners of IBE Student Essay Competition in Business Ethics 2016

The two winning essays of this year’s IBE Student Essay Competition in Business Ethics focus on the diverse subjects of corruption in the supply chain and the NHS.

The IBE Student Essay Competition in Business Ethics celebrates the best writing and thinking by undergraduates and postgraduates on business ethics. It aims to encourage student interest in business ethics and the integration of discussions on corporate responsibility into the core curricula of business schools.

Philippa Foster Back CBE, IBE’s Director said: “As the IBE celebrates its 30th anniversary, we look towards those born at the turn of the millennium to be the business leaders of the future. These students have shown the impressive level of debate on these issues taking place in the UK’s Universities and Business Schools. All those who entered are to be congratulated, and we hope that they will continue to consider ethical issues in their future careers.”

The Postgraduate category was won by Jonathan Webb for his essay Supply Chain Corruption: A Business Ethics Blind Spot from Queen Mary, University of London.

Jonathan said: "I'm delighted to have won the award. The Institute of Business Ethics is a highly regarded organisation and so it is an honour to have been selected. It also gratifying that an under-researched area such as supply chain corruption can be further highlighted by an award such as this."

The Undergraduate category was won by Eleanor Weston for the essay Should The NHS Be Free To Every Citizen Regardless Of Health Choices? From the University of Brighton

Eleanor said "I wrote this essay as I have a keen interest in the ethics of the NHS and am delighted to have won the competition. Having finished university, I am currently working at Kingston Smith, an accountancy firm in London. This award will greatly benefit me in the future as I work with multiple businesses. I am excited to attend the ceremony to liaise and network with people in the field, and to further develop my knowledge."

The winners were each awarded £1,000, thanks to a donation from the Gordon Cook Foundation.

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For further information, contact Katherine Bradshaw, Head of Communications, 07771 517700 k.bradshaw@ibe.org.uk

EDITOR’S NOTES

The Institute of Business Ethics (IBE) is a registered charity which promotes high standards of business practice based on ethical values. We help organisations to strengthen their ethics culture through the sharing of knowledge and good practice.www.ibe.org.uk

Undergraduate winner: Eleanor Weston for the essay Should The NHS Be Free To Every Citizen Regardless Of Health Choices? From University of Brighton

Tutor: Babak Sodagar

Postgraduate winner - Jonathan Webb for the essay Supply Chain Corruption: A Business Ethics Blind Spot from Queen Mary, University of London

Tutor: Professor Stephan Henneberg

The winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony on 13th October at 5pm, which also includes a panel discussion entitled: ‘You’ve got your degree – now how do you get a job in ethics?’.

Awards Ceremony

The winners – both post-graduate and undergraduate – will be invited to present their essays and prizes will be awarded by Ivor Sutherland of the prize sponsors, Gordon Cook Foundation and Professor Geoff Moore from Durham University, lead judge for the awards.

As part of the event, ethics practitioners from IBE subscriber companies and a recruiter will talk candidly about what they look for in new recruits.

More information and to register http://www.ibe.org.uk/forthcoming-events/56/48

About the IBE Student Essay Competition in Business Ethics

The competition is in two categories – Undergraduate and Postgraduate. Submissions must be current work from students who are based at Higher Education Institutions in the UK

Submissions may be up to 3,000 words. These can be either a piece of work submitted as an assignment, or an original essay or case study. Group submissions can be made

Essays are judged using the following criteria:

• Topicality – the extent to which the topic of the essay is subject to contemporary debate and relevance to ethical business practice
• Clarity of expression – the extent to which the essay is fluently written in accessible language, is coherently structured and uses a high standard of referencing
• Analysis - the extent to which the essay presents clear, well organised and well reasoned argument, judgment and opinion or conclusion, with relevant evidence, analysis, illustration, interpretation, evaluation, or application
• Use of theory and research – the extent to which the essay draws on appropriate academic literature and other data and relates it to the topic; and sets out and correctly employs relevant concepts
• Application to practice – the extent to which the essay addresses real-world challenges in business ethics and makes a contribution to the development of thinking and practice

The Lead Academic, Professor Geoff Moore, Professor of Business Ethics, Durham University co-ordinates the judging process, with first stage and final stage judges made up of academics, business leaders and any competition sponsors.

Sponsors
The total prize fund for the competition is £2,500, thanks to a donation from the Gordon Cook Foundation. The Foundation was established in 1974 to promote and develop values education in the British education systems. http://www.gordoncook.org/