IMA^® (Institute of Management Accountants) is now accepting submissions for its prestigious Carl Menconi Ethics Case Writing Competition. The competition, sponsored jointly by the IMA Committee on Ethics and IMA’s new Professor-in-Residence, Laurie Burney, Ph.D., CMA, CSCA, works to develop and distribute teaching cases focused on business ethics. Submissions must focus on business ethics, with specific application to management accounting and finance issues, and reference the IMA Statement of Ethical Professional Practice. The competition is open to academics as well as practitioners, and joint submissions are encouraged. The deadline is January 26, 2022.

Winners of the competition will be featured in IMA’s flagship publication, Strategic Finance, and the case author or team will be recognized at IMA’s 2022 Annual Conference & Expo, scheduled to take place in Austin, Texas, in June 2022. Winners will also receive free Conference registration and a $500 cash prize. Full submission requirements can be found on the IMA website.   

Earlier this year, two professors from Western Carolina University, Thomas D’Angelo and Marco Lam, Ph.D., won the 2021 competition with their entry titled “Disclosure Strategy: A Case of Ethics in Financial Reporting.” The case, featured in the July 2021 issue of Strategic Finance, describes the fictitious dilemma of Nick Alexander, a CFO and one of the first employees hired in the early stages of Logistics Exchange Market (LEXM) Corporation, which has experienced explosive growth since its IPO five years ago. D’Angelo and Lam also received a $500 cash prize and were recognized by IMA.

Congratulations and Thanks, Student Judges

The judging for this year’s competition was a little different than in the past due to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Typically, students who are selected as part of the Student Leadership Experience (SLE) serve as judges for this case competition as an important part of their learning experience. This year, with the cancellation of the SLE, students from schools recently endorsed by the IMA Higher Education Endorsement Program were invited to apply to serve as student judges. Six accomplished students were selected, and they each performed thorough case reviews, offered their insights, and helped the Committee on Ethics select the winner. 

Congratulations go to the following students who were selected as student judges, and thanks from IMA for contributing to advancing management accounting education:

• Sydney Andersen, BBA student, Texas A&M University-Commerce
• Grace Gallagher, BS/MBA student, The University of Scranton
• Kalliopi Karamboulas, BA student, Assumption University
• Lauren Robichaud, MBA student, Assumption University
• Madison Studley, MBA student, Assumption University
• Tia Thomason, BS student, Morgan State University

IMA expects the SLE to resume in 2022, and those students selected will once again be able to participate in this learning and networking opportunity.

For questions or additional information about the Carl Menconi Ethics Case Writing Competition, please contact research@imanet.org.