Dale P. Jones Business Ethics Forum

Participants in this year's Dale P. Jones Business Ethics Forum, held Oct. 24-Nov. 7, convened to study conflicts of interest. 
Speakers such as Walt Palvo, a former MCI executive who pleaded guilty to embezzling $6 million, and Sharon Allen, chair of the Board of Directors of Deloitte & Touche, spoke to their experiences and the temptations found in high-level positions.
For students, however, the Forum's competitions held center stage. The MBA case competition featured teams from across the country, including schools such as Clemson, Notre Dame, Pepperdine, Texas A&M, the University of Arizona, the University of Florida and the University of Washington.
"Our goal was to get national recognition for Baylor and to launch at a high level with nationally recognized schools," says Dr. Anne Grinols of the invitation-only event. "We wanted to make sure it was general, public and private, religious and non-religious competition."
Prior to the MBA case competition, Baylor students--both undergrads and graduate students--competed in teams in their own internal competition. In fact, Grinols said her students so enjoyed and benefited from the internal contest that she plans to hold an in-class competition in the spring so that all her students have a chance to participate. 
Approximately 500 freshman business majors competed in an Ethics Slam, each writing a one-page response to an ethical situation; members of Baylor's Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) organization then chose about a dozen to go onstage in front of their peers and respond to another scenario. The audience voted, and finalists moved on to a final round where the audience voted on their responses to two more scenarios to declare a winner.
The Forum's namesake, Dale P. Jones, served on Hankamer's advisory board and was a Baylor regent from 1994 until his death in 2004. His wife, Anita, BA '61, decided to show her family's support by naming it in memory of her husband, an Alumnus by Choice.
"We want students to go beyond a passive approach to really wrestle with the problems themselves," says Dr. Mitchell Neubert, the Chavanne Chair of Christian Ethics in Business and H.R. Gibson Chair in Management Development. "Recruiters are looking for evidence of ethics in action, where people stepped out and did something more than just talking a good game.
"We're teaching students to be good servant leaders, to leave positive legacies."

Read more about the Business Ethics Forum at www.baylor.edu/business/ethics.