The representation sent by School of Economics of the University of Navarra won second place in the IBECC (International Business Ethics Case Competition) organized by Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles, USA).

Cristina Aizpún Músquiz, Manuel Atencia Gross, Caterina Munar Cardero and Iñigo Navarro-Rubio, all students of the double bilingual Degree accompanied by Professor Ignacio Ferrero, analyzed the case 'Pepsi Next: a controversial way to achieve flavor'. In 2012, PepsiCo launched a new product on the market in which products derived from embryonic stem cells (HEK-293) had been used. This provoked a boycott in several countries that ended with an apology from Pepsi and the inclusion in their code of ethics that they will not experiment with stem cells.

The team analyzed the legal, economic and ethical implications of the decision, and then made a recommendation. Each team participates in three different presentations: the first, of a maximum of 90 minutes, includes the legal, economic and ethical parts. In the second, of 10 minutes, only reference letter can be made to the ethical part. And finally a 90-second exhibition in which a jury must be convinced of the importance of making the right decision.

Thirty teams from Europe, Asia and America participated in IBEEC 2013. In the student division of Degree, in which the University of Navarra participated, 15 teams competed. The winners of the Case Competition were the organizers themselves, Loyola Marymount University.

Iñigo Navarro-Rubio was especially happy to have achieved success in a competition that emphasizes the ethical and social responsibility dimension of business: "It's a very interesting area that is not given as much attention as perhaps it should be," he said. As Manuel Atienza Gross explains, the main thesis of the team's argument focused on the fact that "consumers' decisions count": "We can be more or less responsible as consumers, and that is a great way to put pressure on brands to improve their products and manufacturing processes".

Caterina Munar summarized the success of their arguments in that "despite dealing with such a controversial topic as topic , we managed to give valid reasons for people of any ideology". Cristina Aizpún highlighted the increasingly relevant ethical dimension of business in the global world, and urged "not to lose sight of it".

The IBECC held its first edition in 1997, when the Ethics & Compliance officer association), in partnership with Loyola Marymount University, began to hold a Case Competition for university students in parallel to one of its annual meetings with the goal to emphasize the importance of ethics in the business. Since then hundreds of teams and individuals have participated in the competition.