Carl Menconi Ethics Case Writing Competition

The IMA (Institute of Management Accountants) Committee on Ethics, in cooperation with the IMA Academic Research Fellow, is proud to announce the Carl Menconi Ethics Case Writing Competition. This annual program is named in memory of Carl Menconi, who held leadership positions within IMA for many years and also served as chair of  the IMA Committee on Ethics. He also valued education and taught part time at his alma mater, Northern Illinois University.

The overall goal of this program is to develop and distribute teaching cases focused on business ethics with specific application to management accounting and finance issues. Specifically, the program’s objectives are to:

• Increase awareness of ethical issues in today’s business environment among management accounting students.

• Increase awareness of the IMA Statement of Ethical Professional Practice and other IMA ethics initiatives.

• Provide management accounting educators with the opportunity to synthesize ethical situations and help students better understand ethical situations through additional teaching material.

• Provide a publishing opportunity for the winning case author(s).

The winning case will be selected by the IMA Committee on Ethics, will be featured in Strategic Finance, giving your work visibility across the profession. As the author (or co-authors), you'll also receive: 

• Complimentary registration to the IMA 2026 Americas Accounting & Finance Conference, taking place June 14-17, 2026, at the JW Marriott Tampa in Tampa, Florida.
• A $500 cash prize (split between multiple authors). 

General submission guidelines

Cases must use the following guidelines:

• Utilize the IMA Statement as an integral guidance tool/reference in both the case and the teaching notes.
• Must not be created using Generative AI.
• Be suitable for either graduate or undergraduate classroom use and/or IMA chapter continuing education programs.
• Be suitable for feature publication in Strategic Finance.
• Be submitted in English.
• Be original and not have been previously published.

Format guidelines

Cases should be submitted in three files:

Cover page

Include the case title, contact information for all contributing authors (including name, title, academic affiliation, mailing address, phone, e-mail, and IMA membership status). If there is more than one author, please designate a primary contact author. Do not give any author-identifying information except on the cover sheet as the cases are blind reviewed.

Case study

The case, including a description of the ethical situation and discussion questions, should be approximately five to six pages in length. Cases must utilize the IMA Statement of Ethical and Professional Practice. The case length should follow the editorial guidelines for Strategic Finance articles.

Teaching notes

Cases must include an accompanying teaching notes. The teaching notes must reference the IMA Statement of Ethical and Professional Practice and should follow the guidelines provided on the IMA Educational Case Journal webpage.

Submission details

Complete the online application by January 20, 2026. 

You will need to login or create an IMA account to access the application.