At the NIU College of Business, business ethics are infused into every course in the college’s curriculum offerings. Students are encouraged to participate in programs and events centered on ethics as a necessary component for success in life. Indeed, encouraging students to factor in ethical issues when making decisions speaks directly to the college’s core values: Excellence, integrity and caring.
To that end, on Feb. 18, Frank Beecham and Patryk Nicieja, both student officers in the NIU Leaders in Ethics and Academic Discipline (LEAD) student organization, represented NIU’s College of Business in the Stetson University Ethics Competition.
This invitation-only event was held virtually this year, with 16 institutions invited to participate. Participating universities included: Northern Illinois University, Belmont University, Campbell University, Clemson University, Elon University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida State University, Georgetown University, Iowa State University, Pennsylvania State University, St. Petersburg College, Universidad Panamericana, University of Calgary, University of Florida, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and University of North Dakota.
The annual competition challenges students to think like consultants and provides a “case,” or ethics problem for them to solve using the ethics framework they’ve learned in classes.
“We worked as consultants for the International Code Council (ICC) and were asked to answer their questions about ensuring the release of safe and effective building codes that were directed toward tackling climate change while satisfying all ICC stakeholders,” said LEAD student Patryk Nicieja. Nicieja joined LEAD after his instructor Neil Doughty discussed the importance of ethics in business education. Doughty directs the college’s Building Ethical Leaders using an Integrated Ethics Framework (BELIEF) program and has recently been named as the internal college coordinator for the college’s newly launched Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiative.
BELIEF is dedicated to helping business students understand how to identify ethical dilemmas and how to construct solutions to those problems. LEAD is the student organization that supports BELIEF. Its members host talks on business ethics. They also participate in case competitions such as the Eller Ethics Competition, held during the fall semester, and the Stetson competition.
“Ethical business practice is essential. I used to overlook its importance prior to LEAD because I thought business was only about making money, but I learned otherwise from my time in LEAD,” said Nicieja. “Ethical business practices ultimately impact everyone including shareholders, employees and consumers. For example, during our case competition, we provided consulting for a company with unethical practices, and eventually, the dominoes started to fall for them. But if they had engaged in ethical practices from the start, they wouldn’t had been in this position.”
Nicieja and his partner Frank Beecham met three days per week for several hours to prepare for the competition. They also worked individually to prepare. In their final set of recommendations, they advised ICC to institute a Cabinet system like that used by the United States government’s executive branch. Under such a system, experts would be brought in from multiple fields, among them finance, law, energy and ethics. These experts could advise ICC on compliance issues in their areas and would have knowledge of best practices.
“The competition requires significant research and preparation, and Frank Beecham’s and Patryk’s participation reflects well on them. They truly represented both themselves and NIU very well in the competition,” said BELIEF Director Neil Doughty. “It’s a huge time commitment, and we’re very grateful for their efforts. These competitions not only sharpen students’ ethical training but also allow them to develop practical skills that are beneficial toward success in the business world, including presentation development, public speaking and critical thinking.”
Nicieja took pride in being a representative of NIU and emphasized the importance of involvement in student programs like LEAD as well as events like the Stetson competition.
“Frank and I put a lot of effort into this competition despite our busy schedules,” Nicieja said. “We felt it was our duty to represent the school and make time for it because students in the business college are known to be hardworking and ambitious. We wanted to show other schools across the nation what NIU is about. Through organizations like LEAD, I’ve met many individuals who became friends because we share similar interests. Competitions and extracurricular events like Stetson provide a great way to apply your academic skills and learn about real-world context outside the classroom.”
by Sam Serpe, journalism ‘20, 2L NIU Law, digital marketing graduate assistant for the College of Business Impact Lab; editorial oversight and writing collaboration by Michelle De Jean, director of marketing, NIU College of Business. University editorial oversight by Michael Mackey, editor-in-chief, NIU Institutional Communications.
