Teams from 26 universities within the United States and Canada will be competing in the seventh annual Eller Ethics Case Competition Oct. 22 through Oct. 24.

Two students from each university will compete in teams by arguing a case presented to them. 

“”(The competition) has grown in size every year,”” Paul Melendez, the Ethics Point Distinguished Lecturer in Business Ethics and director of the Eller Ethics Program at the UA said. “”When I started it in 2003, it was just a competition within the college. The next year it was statewide, then western regional, then national, then international.””

“”It gets student(s) to focus on the importance of ethical decision-making done in a way where they get to work on teams, do research and critically analyze,”” Melendez said.

The winning team will be chosen in the final round today between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. in McClelland Hall’s Berger Auditorium, he said.

“”They compete during the day, and in the end four teams advance into the final four. We call them the ‘ethical four,'”” he said.

The event will be judged by a panel of 20 top executives throughout the nation in the business, government and nonprofit sector, he said.