Student wins IBE essay competition
A Leeds postgraduate has won the Institute of Business Ethics (IBE) Student Essay Competition.
Gary D. Rubin (Interdisciplinary Ethics Applied) received a
£1,000 prize (donated by the Gordon Cook foundation) for his paper which
explored the title “Does the Fact the Financial Sector is Heavily Regulated
Leave Any Place for Ethics?”
Gary’s paper begins by looking at the nature of regulation
and ethics in financial firms and discussing how ethical behaviour leads to
trust, stating it is through trust that society grants businesses their license to
operate. The paper argues that regulations alone are no substitute for ethics and
the ability to think critically through ethical dilemmas.
The Undergraduate winner was Babatunde Valentine Obanabajo
from Cardiff University for the paper “The Mortal Case for Ban the Airbrush”.
The competition aims to encourage student interest in
business ethics and the integration of discussions on corporate responsibility
into the core curricula of business schools.
The winning essays were decided by Professor Geoff Moore,
(Durham University) who judged the papers on topicality, clarity of expression,
analysis, use of theory and research and application to practice.
The Director of IBE, Philippa Foster Back CBE, said: “These
students have shown the impressive level of debate on these issues taking place
in the UK’s Universities and Business Schools.”
Entries are now open for the 2015 competition.