Carl Menconi Ethics Case Competition
IMA’s Committee on Ethics, in cooperation with IMA’s Academic Research Fellow, proudly offers the annual Carl Menconi Ethics Case Writing Competition. The program is named in memory of Carl Menconi, who held leadership positions within IMA for many years and served as chair of IMA’s Committee on Ethics. He also valued education and taught part time at his alma mater, Northern Illinois University.
The overall goal of this program is to develop and distribute teaching cases focused on business ethics with a specific application to management accounting and finance issues. Specifically, the program’s objectives are to:
- Increase awareness of ethical issues in today’s business environment among management accounting and finance students.
- Increase awareness and the importance of the IMA Statement of Ethical Professional Practice (the IMA Statement) and other IMA ethics initiatives.
- Provide management accounting and finance educators with the opportunity to synthesize ethical situations and help students better understand ethical situations through additional teaching material.
- Provide a publishing opportunity for the winning case author(s). The winning case will be published in Strategic Finance magazine, and the author(s) will also have the opportunity to present the case at an IMA Faculty Friday webinar.
The winning case will be selected by IMA’s Committee on Ethics and featured in Strategic Finance. The case author (or authors) will each receive a free registration to the IMA 2025 Americas Accounting & Finance Conference, to be held June 22-25, 2025, at the Westin Kierland Resort and Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz. Additionally, the winning case will win a $500 cash prize.
Submission Guidelines Requirements: Accounting Ethics Case Competition
- Utilize the IMA Statement as an integral guidance tool/reference in both the case and the teaching notes.
- Be suitable for either graduate or undergraduate classroom use and/or IMA chapters' continuing education programs.
- Be suitable for feature publication in Strategic Finance magazine.
- Be submitted in English.
- Be original, not have been previously published, and not be available to any other publishers.
Format Guidelines
Cases should be submitted in three files:
Cover Page
Include the case title, contact information for all contributing authors, including name, title, academic affiliation, mailing address, phone, fax (optional), email address, and IMA membership status. If there is more than one author, please designate a primary contact author. Do not give any author-identifying information except on the cover sheet as the cases are blind reviewed.
Case Study
The case, including a description of the ethical situation and discussion questions, should be approximately five to six pages in length. Cases must utilize the IMA Statement, as noted above. The case length should follow the editorial guidelines for Strategic Finance feature articles (2,500 to 3,000 words).
Teaching Notes
Cases must include accompanying teaching notes, which must reference the IMA Statement and at least some of its principles and standards in some way and should follow the guidelines provided on IMA’s Educational Case Journal website.
Deadline for Submissions: January 20.
To apply for this competition, please visit this link. The winner(s) will be notified by March 1.
Carl Menconi Ethics Case Competition Examples: Past Winners
Wonder, Thunder, Blunder, and Plunder! A Case of Goodwill Impairment in a Family-Owned Business was named the winner of the 2024 Carl Menconi Ethics Case Writing Competition by the IMA Committee on Ethics.
Prior year’s winners include:
› Ethics and Controls at Accountable Coffee Co.
› Disclosure Strategy: A Case of Ethics in Financial Reporting
› Painful Dilemma at Southwest Hospice
› Break Ships or Not to Break Ships