Choosing a Topic
Teams choose their case and topic related to one of the seventeen United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. (See our SDG Resources page for more details.) The best topics are current issues or those just on the horizon. We encourage teams to choose topics that they find personally compelling. Please see the Past Topics page for more information on prior topics that were in earlier competitions.
Crafting a Strong Solution
Your presentation should describe the ethical, financial, and legal aspects of a problem that an organization is facing, with an emphasis on the ethical/sustainable dimensions, and propose a solution that is acceptable on all counts. Please keep the following in mind when conducting your analysis and crafting a solution:
- What is the mission statement of the business involved? Do they have an employee ethics code or a vendor code of conduct? Are they a signatory to the UN Global Compact or a similar alliance?
- Who are all the parties involved, and does the problem/solution harm anyone? How will you address that issue?
- Are there specific "rights" or "duties" that are part of this case that must be respected? Is there a conflict of rights, duties, or obligations and how should it be handled?
- What goals does your solution advance in relation to the organization’s goals and mission statement?
Your solution should be a logical outcome. It should make good business sense and be backed by the data and evidence in your presentation.
Your audience should feel that your proposed action is affordable, provides a clear benefit to the organization, and is ethically compelling.
You should also anticipate questions that the judges may ask concerning the validity or implementation of your solution.
What Do the Judges Look For?
Please note that the judges will be evaluating your team’s ability to present and answer their questions as a well-practiced, cohesive unit, as well as each individual’s preparedness, which includes the ability to present without reading from a script or relying heavily on notes.
Check out the For Judges page and the judging forms to see the required criteria that judges will use.
What Does a Winning Presentation Look Like?
You can watch videos of past presentations to study how winning teams structured their pitch/argument and presented their evidence. The videos will also give you an idea of the questions that judges will ask in the 25 Minute Presentation and how to handle them effectively. Note that we are expecting all participants to be in formal business attire for all of the presentations, as shown in these videos.
Read the Emails We Send!
We send out periodic emails to all teams to remind you of deadlines, pass along important logistical information, and provide helpful tips. Therefore, it is important to submit the names and emails of all team members in a timely fashion and to contact us whenever there is a change in the team roster.
Our periodic updates also include proposed presentation schedules. We do our best to accommodate your scheduling requests but need advance notice. So please check your emails and contact us in a timely fashion.
If you have questions about any aspect of this competition, please contact us at ibes@lmu.edu or call Chiray Koo at (213-268-0789)