UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Students in Penn State's Smeal College of Business explored the ethical challenges of the wellness industry in the 2025 Business with Integrity Case Competition.
Every fall, the Tarriff Center for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility hosts the competition, where students examine the role of ethics in business and put their ethical frameworks to the test.
Over two weeks, participants write an executive summary with recommendations, a digital presentation and a two-minute video pitching the idea.
Nine teams advanced to the semifinals, picked by a committee comprised of alumni, faculty and a student representative. Each team received alumni mentorship to update their presentation and adapt their pitch. Semifinalists presented in-person on one day in October, then finalists presented the very next day.
The case
The case, “Not All is Well in the Wellness Industry,” pushed students to analyze how companies can use responsible practices around their wellness products and services. From energy drinks to weight loss products, students were left to select their own topics and explore the ethical considerations behind their chosen company.
Michelle Darnell, director of the Tarriff Center for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility and Smeal’s director of Honor and Integrity, writes the case and has been running the competition for eight years now.
She said she was inspired by a previous case that Smeal’s Business Ethics Team’s had written.
“It got me thinking about how there are products out there that walk this very fine line between being good for you and being bad for you,” she said.
The winners
The winning team, the Keystone Consultants, included:
- John Papadopoulos (senior – finance)
- McKenna Schrenk (senior – supply chain and information systems)
- Isabella Fernandes (senior – finance)
- Samuel Marshall (senior – finance)
The students said they selected the company Drunk Elephant to analyze.
“The company was facing declining revenues due to a loss of brand credibility tied to concerns about marketing to younger audiences," said McKenna Schrenk. "Our proposal focused on a company-wide transformation to reestablish trust by returning to its roots: science- and results-based skincare for adult consumers."
From business fraternities, internships and the Nittany Lion Consulting Group, the team members were able to use their previous experience in the Smeal College of Business to create creative solutions to the ethical problems.
“To launch this transformation and rebrand, we recommended a pop-up experience that would bring the new brand positioning directly to customers in an engaging, educational way,” she said.
They earned $1,000 each in scholarship money.
The Business Builders Consulting Group came in second, earning $750 each in scholarships.
- Cindy Wang (freshman – intended business administration)
- Jayoung Kim (freshman – intended business administration)
- Phireachmony (freshman – intended business administration)
- Thai-Fi Heng (sophomore – intended business administration)
FC Consulting came in third, earning $500 each in scholarships.
- Clarissa Garcia Monteverde (senior – corporate innovation and entrepreneurship)
- Federica Roo (senior – marketing)
- Luciana Lavarreda Sanzogni (senior – industrial engineering)
- Luis La Rosa Sosa (senior – economics)
Darnell explained how the finalists put in tremendous amounts of time and effort into their cases.
“Those students who won really took the time to invest in that research process and know the problem and think critically about the solutions at a very high level,” she said. “An openness to feedback was a really critical part in helping them improve their presentations, but it also is a great example of what it means to be responsible in business.”
The changes this semester
While the competition has been held each fall over the last eight years, there were various additions this year.
First, the Tarriff Center added a bootcamp to engage students and teach them the skills necessary to improve their chances of succeeding.
Darnell and Business Ethics Team Captain Palmer Moore led the eight-session bootcamp over four weeks.
Moore said that during the bootcamp he wanted to answer some critical questions for students, including how best to conduct their ethical analysis.
“The focus of that was to teach students … how do you actually do an ethical analysis? What does that look like? What are main ethical frameworks which we use in business? And how do you take a concept, like deontology that's really philosophical, and apply it to business, where a shareholder will actually care what you're talking about?” said Moore.
The bootcamp, although a different initiative than the competition, did help teams who participated.
“One team, the Business Builders Consulting Group, began their journey in the bootcamp and went on to earn second place in the competition,” Darnell said. “Overall, the bootcamp was a tremendous success, and we look forward to offering this opportunity again next year.”
Student leadership was also incorporated into the competition.
Two members of the Business Ethics Team, Moore and Adam Lieb, were able to assist with the competition. While Moore aided with the bootcamp, Leib ran the competition, ensuring a smooth submission process for participants, proper placement for volunteers and clear communication with the judges.
“This was the first year that we introduced a more student-led perspective in terms of administration. Dr. Darnell had a goal to make this something that we could help run, help facilitate and make our own thing, from a student’s perspective,” said Lieb.
Reactions from students seemed to confirm that the new initiatives produced the desired effects.
“This experience reinforced the importance of approaching business decisions through an ethical lens,” Schrenk said. “It reminded us that long-term success depends on integrating ethics into every aspect of company strategy.”