Business & Society Case Competition

In 2002, with the support of JPMorgan, the Aspen Institute created the Walter V. Shipley Business Leadership Case Competition to honor Mr. Shipley's dedication to ethical decision making as former Chairman of the Board of Chase Manhattan Bank. In that inaugural year, just three schools were invited to participate: Columbia Business School, NYU Stern, and The Wharton School.

 

The competition quickly grew in prestige and size, adding student teams from five additional top tier business schools over the following six years. The program also distinguished itself from other MBA case competitions in terms of its process, the size of its scholarship prize pool, and by being one of the few case competitions that focused explicitly on the intersection of business and society.

 

The last round of the Walter V. Shipley Business Leadership Case Competition was held at the Ritz-Carlton, Battery Park, in New York City in 2008.

 

In 2010, The Aspen Institute's Center for Business Education, with encouragement from many of the founding schools in the Shipley Competition, re-envisioned the concept of a prominent case competition focusing on the social, environmental, and ethical challenges that mainstream, for-profit business leaders face. By keeping the previous competition's "feel," but by augmenting the program to twenty-five business schools, the 2010 Business & Society International MBA Case Competition provided an unparalleled opportunity for future business executives to reflect on the significant influence of business in society. In April of 2010, the top five finalist teams were flown to New York City to present in front of senior industry executives and to compete for their share of a $40,000 prize purse.

 

Due to strong demand and overwhelmingly positive feedback from the 2010 participating schools, the Competition, in its current format, is now an annual event. The Aspen Institute's 2011 Business & Society International MBA Case Competition will take place in April, 2011.

 

More information can be found at the Competition’s official website: AspenCaseCompetition.org.