Students pitch winning Net Impact Case Competition vaccine distribution plan to state COVID response leaders

This spring, teams of MBA students from around the world devised solutions to one of the most pressing questions of the moment: how to create a vaccine distribution plan that could achieve herd immunity, and address vaccine hesitancy, as part of CU Boulder's. A team of students from the University of Denver created the winning solution that considered both short and long term implications and contingency plans in the case of unforeseen challenges. This week, they shared that solution with Colorado leaders working on the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The students came up with innovative solutions to the crucial challenges around vaccine distribution,” said Julie Waggoner, Interim Director of the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility (CESR) at the Leeds School of Business. “We wanted to connect them with leaders from Colorado’s COVID response in case their fresh perspective can help our society respond to this problem in an ethical and inclusive way. We were thrilled with the enthusiastic interest from our leaders in hearing these ideas.”

Meeting with State leaders

The students spoke with , Policy Director for Governor Polis, , Chief Of Staff to the Executive Director of Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and , Deputy Commissioner of Affordability Programs - Division of Insurance, Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies.

Students from the winning team shared how their focus on the economic benefits of being vaccinated allowed them to side-stepping politically divisive debates about free speech while emphasizing benefits for all members of society. They recommended funding the plan through bonds, and demonstrated that their vaccination campaign would be cheaper than the financial costs already imposed by the pandemic. 

Discussion touched on the ways policy discussions at the state level have grappled with similar questions, and some of the controversial and unique issues that impact decisions on how to implement public health strategies for Colorado. , Corporate Social Responsibility Director, Higher Education at AT&T, thanked the state leaders for meeting with these emerging business leaders and making time to hear from young people who have been deeply impacted by the Coronavirus.

This opportunity came about through the , run by MBA students working with the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility at the Leeds School of Business at CU Boulder. NICC is the longest running graduate student competition exploring ethics and business. Since its inception 20 years ago, NICC has challenged graduate students from across the world to develop solutions with real world social impact to pressing business issues. This year’s case, “Economic Recovery in Response to a Global Pandemic,” was especially timely.  

“NICC gives students practical experience in thinking about the needs of all stakeholders and creates connections between sustainability-minded leaders from top business schools around the world,”

said Waggoner

What it took to win

Ultimately, the strength in the winning team’s approach was a focus on the immediate need to save lives and get the economy back on track while keeping an eye on how strategies implemented today could support long term positive social change.

“What stood out for me with the winning team was their plan addressing each type of unvaccinated individuals with a targeted carrot/stick solution,” said judge Kerri Webster, VP Children’s Hospital Colorado. “I loved how they thoughtfully applied and highlighted the core values addressed throughout each phase of their decisions that were made. And I genuinely appreciated the data-driven decision making approach.”

Read more about this year's NICC and the winning proposal here.
 

Teams from DU take first and second place in the 2021 Net Impact Case Competition hosted by Leeds MBA students.

Now in its 20th year, the is the longest running graduate student competition exploring the balance between ethics and finance in business. NICC gives graduate students from across the globe the opportunity to create real world solutions to business challenges focused on the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit. It has been run by MBA students at the Leeds School of Business since its inception and has hosted thousands of students presenting their solutions to pressing business issues.

“NICC gives students practical experience in thinking about the needs of all stakeholders and creates connections between sustainability-minded leaders from top business schools around the world,” said Julie Waggoner, Interim Director of the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility (CESR) at the Leeds School of Business. “This year, the student leaders achieved a particularly extraordinary task in running a very successful competition during the pandemic. NICC is an important part of the Leeds legacy, and we are excited to continue supporting it and seeing it grow into the future.”

The 2021 NICC was made possible through a partnership with AT&T which supported development of the case and provided financial prizes for the top four teams. The winning team may have the opportunity to present their proposals to the Colorado Vaccine Task Force.

The case

This year’s case challenge was “Economic Recovery in Response to a Global Pandemic.” In November, 85 registered teams from seven countries were invited to devise a vaccine distribution plan that created a path to recovery for a fictional country in the midst of a global pandemic. Students were asked to develop and pitch a system for ranking who to give the vaccine to first while balancing social and economic considerations in their approach.

The goal was to reach a 75% vaccination rate. Judges focused on the ethical reasoning behind students’ solutions.

The top 20 teams moved on to the finals where they were given a twist. New information required teams to address vaccine hesitancy and develop a set of proposals that would achieve country-wide herd immunity.  The best solutions considered both short and long term implications, contingency plans in the case of unforeseen challenges, and the ethics behind the proposal. While the case presented a hypothetical situation, it was based on a real world scenario so judges evaluated feasibility considerations like cost and timeliness, as well as the measurability and security of plans.

The top four teams then moved on to the championships where they presented their solutions to a panel of three judges who selected the winning proposal. To win the competition, teams needed a clear presentation, a persuasive road map to implementation and be able to articulate how their solution addressed financial, social and environmental impacts. The solutions students came up with for their fictional country were based in real world scenarios, and have implications for creating a more just and sustainable future.

The competition

In both the final and championship rounds students were given 20 minutes total time for their pitch. They gave a presentation with slides for the first ten minutes, followed by ten minutes for questions from the judges. The finals were held in the morning of March 6, 2021, with the championships following that same afternoon.

“We are so grateful for the way that the sustainable business community has supported NICC over the years,”

said Julie Waggoner, Interim Director of the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility (CESR).

“This competition is a wonderful example of incredible student leadership, community support and connection building that engages so many passionate people around using business to make the world a better place.”

Nearly 40 business leaders participated as judges across the three rounds of competition. For the championship round, the three judges all had professional backgrounds connected to the delivery of healthcare from a variety of industries. The championship judges included Joe Cutrell, Director of Strategy & Innovation, AT&T Healthcare Solutions, Adeeb Khan, VP Corporate Social Responsibility & Executive Director, Delta Dental of Colorado Foundation, and Kerri Webster, MS, RN, VP/Chief Analytics Officer Children’s Hospital Colorado.

Left to Right: Julie Waggoner, Interim Director of CESR; Blair Simpson, NICC Co-President; Joe Cutrell, Director of Strategy & Innovation, AT&T Healthcare Solutions; Noah Kobayashi, NICC VP; Chelsea Myntti, NICC Co-President; Kerri Webster, MS, RN, VP/Chief Analytics Officer Children’s Hospital Colorado; Adeeb Khan, VP Corporate Social Responsibility & Executive Director, Delta Dental of Colorado Foundation; Shay Cardenas, NICC VP; Justine Roberts, CESR Program Manager; Cate Griffin, NICC judge coordinator

The winning solution

All four championship teams used a mix of incentives and penalties to convince citizens that vaccination was in their best interest. The winning team outlined five guiding values with which to align their plan: civic responsibility, community care, national urgency, discipline and patience, and public trust. They used this framework to develop their initial distribution plan. For their response to the twist, the team built on the success of their original vaccination drive and proposed a public engagement process to identify the roots of vaccine hesitancy in the remaining population. They then proposed using that data to guide future decisions made in partnership with local governments.

“The case was well designed and really forced the teams to think in real time about the current COVID-19 pandemic and its long term economic repercussions,”

said Adeeb Khan, VP Corporate Social Responsibility & Executive Director, Delta Dental of Colorado Foundation.

The winning solution focused on the economic benefits of being vaccinated, and the financial cost of the pandemic, while side-stepping debates with the political opposition about free speech. They proposed funding their plan through bonds, and demonstrated that their vaccination campaign would be cheaper than the costs already imposed on the economy by the pandemic.

“Early in our research we realized there are too many different forms of vaccine hesitancy to use a one-size-fits-all strategy,” explained winning team member Hasib Nasirullah. “We also realized some of the reasons people are hesitant are symptomatic of greater underlying societal challenges. So we tried to think of strategies that would address these over the long term, and at their root cause.”

Specific proposals included a tax credit to companies to pay for employees to get vaccinated, and the threat of a potential future penalty if an unvaccinated employee creates a spreader event at the workplace. This approach was designed to make it possible for a company to insist on vaccination as an economic issue rather than a moral one. The team also identified, as a long term societal goal, reducing the number of people who were against vaccination on ideological grounds by emphasizing the costs of not vaccinating rather than arguing against their political views.

Another strategy the team proposed was creating an on-line dashboard with both public- and government-facing functions. This dashboard would include locations where individuals could access vaccinations, and an online health passport, among other information. The data collected by this system would help public health officials identify lags in vaccine uptake and other community-wide issues.

The team also recognized the real fear among some populations about vaccination based on historical discrimination and mistreatment. Their solution included the creation of a network of local ambassadors whose ability to listen to, and address, specific concerns could lead to systemic changes in the way the health care system cares for these communities.

Overall, their approach to the case focused on the immediate need to save lives and get the economy back on track while keeping an eye on how strategies implemented today could support long term positive social change.

“What stood out for me with the winning team was their plan addressing each type of unvaccinated individuals with a targeted carrot/stick solution,” said Webster. “I loved how they thoughtfully applied and highlighted the core values addressed throughout each phase of their decisions that were made. And I genuinely appreciated the data-driven decision making approach.”

Final results

• 1st place – University of Denver, Daniels College of Business: $10,000
• 2nd place – University of Denver, Daniels College of Business: $5,000
• 3rd place – University of Utah: $2,500
• 4th place – University of Maryland: $1,000

This fall, Leeds staff and students hosted two case competitions for graduate students: the and the Natural and Organics Case Competition (N&OCC). These competitions challenge students to apply concepts of social responsibility, sustainability and ethics to business dilemmas while proposing solutions that are profitable and feasible. Students who elect to participate gain exposure to the industry, expand their network and apply their education to business problems. 

Net Impact Case Competition 

The preliminary round of the NICC was held on Saturday, November 16th. This year’s case focused on topical and important questions of how to improve diversity and inclusion in a corporation with a bad track record for considering these issues. This annual competition brings together graduate students, executives and businesses that are committed to sustainable business practices and is the only student-run case competition. Leeds students have run the competition for almost twenty years.

This year, a record-breaking 55 teams participated in the preliminary virtual round, allowing more students around the world and with various degrees to participate. For the first time, Leeds students were allowed to participate in the competition thanks to the implementation of security measures to ensure that they do not receive an unfair advantage. Typically, around five teams are international, five are local to Colorado and the rest are from other locations within the United States. The judges are sustainability professionals in the Boulder and Denver area and sponsored this year’s competition. 

Leeds second-year MBAs Mike Hilgendorf and Evan Peleaux, co-presidents of the Net Impact Case Competition, oversaw this year’s competition. 

“The Net Impact Case Competition is an incredible professional development opportunity for our students, and all participants. The student leaders have done a particularly impressive job organizing the event this year and driven great results,” says Julie Waggoner, associate director of the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility. 

Mike Hilgendorf was interested in running the competition before he started his MBA at Leeds and quickly became involved with the Net Impact leadership. Aside from the competition’s complementary nature to his focus in clean energy, Hilgendorf was interested in NICC’s international reach and title as the longest running sustainability case competition. This year’s case was about creating a financially sustainable initiative regarding diversity inclusion in the workplace. According to Hilgendorf, this competition “provides students with the opportunity to create solutions to real world business problems that businesses provide, and it is mutually beneficial for the students who gain exposure to these critical issues and the companies to whom we showcase our graduate level talent.” It also familiarizes students with the triple bottom line, which Hilgendorf believes will become increasingly important in the business world. 

If these issues of sustainability are of interest to you, NICC finals will be held on February 29th here in Boulder, Colorado, and all are encouraged to come watch the competition!

Natural and Organic Case Competition 

The 2019 MBA Natural and Organic Case Competition (N&OCC), sponsored by and , featured sustainability and social responsibility challenges in the palm oil industry and involved addressing the IPO, supply chain and overall sustainability of the business. The initial round was focused on accessing additional financing given a lack of available capital required for this company to expand into Malaysia. Teams were asked to assess the benefits and risks associated with becoming a public company to fund their expansion. Students were given market information and data surrounding their projected IPO to evaluate the situation. From this preliminary round, judges Zack Donohew, Nancy Shoemann and Jay Waddell selected six of the eight teams to progress to the final round to be in the running for the $7,500 prize.  

The N&OCC finals were hosted on the 5th of November, followed by a networking night for students and local leaders in the natural products industry. The teams were presented with a twist in the case, involving a whistleblower that identified discrepancies with what the palm oil company had promised and what they intended to do as they expanded into Malaysia. Students presented their recommendations to judges Catherine A. Walsh, Director of Brand Development at and the Co Vice-President of the Board of Directors, Steve Savage, Founder and CEO of , and Rochelle Kwiatkowski, Western Region Key Account Manager at who later announced the winning team at the networking reception. Several students commented on their enjoyment of the experience, even if they did not win. They found it both challenging and rewarding to analyze a case in the natural industry with respect to maintaining a sustainable business with ethical practices. 

For more information, visit our website and learn about past years’ competitions. For undergraduates interested in participating in case competitions or community members interested in judging or sponsoring, the Business Ethics Case Competition (BECC) is coming up this February and details can be found here.