INTRODUCTION

The Competition is intended to provide a learning experience for the students that will encourage healthy competition, professionalism, and interaction among our future business leaders, both amongst themselves and with our business community. The Rules and Guidelines are not all-encompassing and situations may arise that have not been covered. It is the expectation of the Organizers and of the Board of Directors that any issues or disputes will be resolved in the spirit of the Competition.

ELIGIBILITY

The competition is open to undergraduate and graduate schools offering an MBA or equivalent program deemed acceptable by the Board of the competition committee. A group of students who are registered in at least one course in such a program at his/her university can take part in the competition.  

THE TEAMS

Each school must be represented by three to four students. A student alternate may be included as a fifth member of the team at the discretion of the competition committee. The alternate may only participate for his/her school in extenuating circumstances and with the approval of the case competition committee.
 
THE CASES

The cases used in the competition will, to the best of the Organizers’ knowledge, be unpublished and untested. Some of the cases will be selected from submissions made to an annual international case writing competition arranged by the Organizers.

COMPETITION FORMAT

All the participating teams will be assigned to three to four/five divisions. Divisions will be established by a random draw. Each team will compete with the teams within the division during the round-robin phase of the competition against the other teams in their division, as scheduled by the Organizers. The divisional winners will be the team with the highest number in their respective divisions. Three to four division winners come will advance to the finals.
 
CASE PREPARATION

CASE PRESENTATION

Presentations may be made in English. Each team will have a strictly enforced maximum of 15 minutes to present, followed by a 10–15 minute question and answer period with the Judges’ panel. There will be a five-minute break before the second team’s presentation. The second team will not be allowed in the presentation room until after the question period for the first team ends. The first team may remain in the presentation room during the second team’s presentation. The Organizers will set the order of presentation and each team will present first at least twice during the round-robin phase of the competition.
 
In the final rounds, there will be team presentations followed by question periods. The team in each grouping with the highest number of points accumulated during the round robin will have the option of selecting if it wishes to present first, second or third in its grouping. The team with the second highest point total will be given the second choice. As in the round robin, a team cannot attend another team’s presentation until it has completed its own presentation and question period.
 
Each member of a team is required to participate in the team’s presentation but not necessarily in the question period following the presentation. The teams may not interact during the presentations nor should there be any communication with the audience. Teams may record their own presentations. The Organizers may record any presentation for purposes of promoting the Competition.

JUDGES

Judges are members of the business community selected by the Organizers and the Board of Directors. Panels are constituted at the discretion of the Organizers and will include at least three Judges, one of whom will be designated, the Lead Judge. The Lead Judge will chair the question period, lead the deliberations, cast the decisive vote in the event of a split panel, and during the round robin phase, prepare an evaluation sheet for each team’s confidential use once the result has been determined. Each team in the finals will receive a summary evaluation from the Judges’ panel after deliberations have been completed. Judges have a maximum of one hour to render their decision in the round-robin phase. There are no deliberation time limits in the finals. The panel’s decision is final.

SCORING

During the round robin, Judges are required to allocate twenty points between each team. If the Judges agree in selecting a winning team (2 Judges on a 3 Judge panel). The winning team will also be awarded a 30-point bonus.
 
In the event, the panel is split (2-1 on a 3 Judge panel), the winning team will be awarded six of the eleven points plus a 20-point bonus. The losing team will be awarded 5 points plus a 10-point bonus.
 
Any team that has not arrived at the preparation room at its appointed time will be disqualified from that round. The competing team will make its presentation and be allocated seven to eleven points by the Judges’ panel plus the 30-point award for the win. The defaulting team will receive no points.
 
There is no point allocation in the semifinals and finals. The Judges will declare a winner in each of the semifinal contests. The three winning teams will then participate in the finals. The Judges' decision regarding the first, second, and third place winners will be announced at the closing banquet.

THE PRIZES