From left: MBA students Joey Tripodi, Alexis Hightower, Bailey Hackler and Jacob Fincham-Dukes with their coach and MBA program manager, Rodrigo Tello.

Oklahoma State University MBA students take third in a national ethical leadership case competition

Monday, November 22, 2021

Media Contact: Bailey Stacy | Marketing and Communications, Coordinator | 405-744-2700 | bailey.stacy@okstate.edu

Oklahoma State University MBA students Alexis Hightower, Bailey Hackler, Jacob Fincham-Dukes and Joey Tripodi won third place and $1,000 in the 15th Annual Dale P. Jones Business Ethics Forum MBA Case Competition in Ethical Leadership hosted by Baylor University in November.

It was the first time in OSU’s MBA history, students placed in the top three in this national case competition.

Fincham-Dukes was also recognized with the award for the Best Presenter.

The competition took place in-person after conducting the competition in a 100 percent virtual environment last year due to COVID-19. This year’s competition was launched Thursday, Nov. 11, and students had until Friday, Nov. 12, to finalize their presentations before presenting to a panel of judges. Hightower, Hackler, Fincham-Dukes and Tripodi worked non-stop for more than 16 hours on this year’s case, which discussed the ethics surrounding TikTok.

The MBA team from Oklahoma State was selected to advance to the final round, where they were awarded third place for their presentation.

“It is hard to explain what I was able to witness behind the scenes,” said Rodrigo Tello, MBA program manager for the Watson Graduate School of Management. “Witnessing their involvement and commitment backstage and 24 hours later seeing them performing the way they did during the first round and the finals it is hard to describe. I am beyond proud of this group of MBA students and am looking forward to bringing home the win from the Big XII Case Competition at Iowa State University in late March 2022.”