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Leadership Crisis Challenge

Currently organized by the Sanger Leadership Center, the Leadership Crisis Challenge partly came about based on Sue Ashford’s vision as the then head of the Ross Leadership Initiative and the enthusiasm of students wanting to create more venues to discuss complex and problematic business issues, such as the role of business in addressing society's most difficult problems and how businesses and other leaders might think about tensions between financial and environmental goals. Additionally, there was an interest in understanding how students, as future leaders, might best think about issues of corporate social responsibility. The LCC was intended to address those student interests by putting students in groups of four and asking them to exercise their courage, judgment, and integrity in response to a complex crisis situation and under strict time pressure. In the crisis challenge, students are confronted with a complex case for which there is no right answer or winning position – there are just tradeoffs. Built into the case are some of the most vexing questions of the day, including: What does a company “owe” the community in which it does business? Should the natural environment be sacrificed for shareholder wealth? Can companies admit wrongs in today’s aggressive legal climate? With the input of previous participants, the Net Impact club, and members of the faculty, a new case is prepared every year and overseen and judged by Michigan Ross community members, business leaders, and alums.