Case competition

In a case competition, participants strive to develop the best solution to a business or education-related case study within an allocated time frame, typically with teams of two or more individuals pitted against each other in a head-to-head or broader relative ranking.^[1][2] Teams deliver presentations for judges and, while competitions vary in composition, a standard format and purpose exists.

History

The case competition concept originated in the United States and originally included participants from domestic universities. The notion of expanding to include international competitors emerged later, with the concept eventually taking hold across North America and Western Europe. Today, a wide range of international competitions are hosted in various countries in North America, Europe, and Asia,^[1] with the phenomenon enjoying particular popularity in Canada.^[3]

More recently, case competitions have begun to enjoy increasing popularity in other parts of the world. One example is the Middle East & North Africa Regional Case Initiative (MENARCCI) at the American University of Beirut (AUB). MENARCCI's goal is to serve as a depository of all necessary knowledge about the case method, sources of cases and publishing outlets, and the links to all cases on the Region available on-line. In the Middle East, cases competitions are conducted by the American University of Beirut and the American University in Cairo.

Purpose

Participants exercise skills and knowledge on a "real world" case for an actual organization, with the support of representatives who can provide professional advice.^[1] Other competitions select an issue based on its degree of importance, and employ the competition as a means to both highlight the issue and create potential solutions through the efforts of the competitors.^[2] Participants can also be assessed as potential candidates for analysis-based jobs.

Description

Teams in case competitions are tasked with assessing the situation facing the organization, analyzing available information, crafting a solution, and defending their recommendations. Each team is judged independently. In general, teams adhere to a time limit and specific rules. The judges' decision is final and a confidential summary evaluation is generally provided.^[3]

Competitions can be internal to a business school, or they can involve teams from multiple schools. Sometimes the competition includes several rounds, with the final round typically judged by outside company executives (sometimes the panel consists of executives from the actual company in the case). For example, the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business' 2010 round of its Global Business Case Competition featured a customized case on the Boeing Company^[4] and Boeing executives acted as judges.

Formats

Formats vary according to a number of dimensions. The following dimensions are often used to classify and compare competitions:

• Host: corporate versus educational institution
• Participant selection: "by invitation" versus "by application"
• Level: undergraduate, graduate,...

Formats may vary along practical dimensions, including:

• Case specificity (whether the case has been written especially for the competition or not)
• Number of teams
• Organization (student-run, professional etc.)
• Rules, e.g.:
  • Time (common formats are 3-4 or 24 hours)
  • Material
  • Degree of access to expert advice (either from within the competition or externally)

Format variations

Some competitions add complexity to create a more interesting challenge. For example, Ohio State University (OSU)'s Center For International Business Education And Research (CIBER), in its annual Case Challenge, created teams from the overall pool of participants, regardless of school, dissolving the usual school-based team format. For the Ohio State scenario, once the students are assigned to teams, a full day of team-building exercises is run for competitors.

Notable competitions

Invitational competitions

Competition	Country	University	Level	Teams	Inaugural Year
WBS Case Challenge	United Kingdom	Warwick Business School	Graduate	8 teams	2013
CBS Case Competition[5]	Denmark	Copenhagen Business School	Undergraduate	12 teams	2002
Belgrade Business International Case Competition - BBICC [6]	Serbia	University of Belgrade	Undergraduate	12 teams	2013
Engineering and Commerce Case Competition[7]	Canada	Concordia University	Undergraduate	12 teams	2013
Asian Business Case Competition @ Nanyang (ABCC)[8]	Singapore	Nanyang Technological University	Undergraduate	12 teams	2007
CaseIT MIS Case Competition[9]	Canada	Beedie School of Business	Undergraduate	20 teams	2004
Champions Trophy Case Competition[10]	New Zealand	University of Auckland	Undergraduate	12 teams	2008
Citi International Case Competition[11]	Hong Kong	HKUST	Undergraduate	20 teams	2003
APU ICC - Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University International Case Competition[12]	Japan	Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University	Undergraduate	16 teams	2015
TUBC - Thammasat Undergraduate Business Challenge[13]	Thailand	Thammasat University	Undergraduate	16 teams	2007
Global Business Case Competition[14]	United States	University of Washington	Undergraduate	15 teams	1999
International Graduate Competition[15]	Canada	HEC Montreal	Graduate	8 teams	2012
John Molson Undergraduate Case Competition[16]	Canada	John Molson School of Business	Undergraduate	24 teams	2009
Marshall International Case Competition (inactive) [17]	United States	University of Southern California	Undergraduate	30 teams	1997
McGill Management International Case Competition[18]	Canada	McGill University	Undergraduate	12 teams	2001
McIntire International Case Competition[19][20]	United States	University of Virginia	Undergraduate	6 teams	1982
UOB-NUS Case Competition[21]	Singapore	National University of Singapore	Undergraduate	12 teams	2009
RMA Credit Risk Case Competition[22]	Canada	Sobey School of Business	Graduate	8 teams	2013
Sauder Summit Global Case Competition[23]	Canada	Sauder School of Business	Undergraduate	12 teams	2013
UNICC (University of Navarra International Case Competition)	Spain	University of Navarra	Undergraduate	16 teams	2013

Competitions by application

Competition	Country	Associated Institution	Level	Participants
APEX Business-IT Global Case Challenge[24]	Singapore	Singapore Management University	Undergraduate	90 (30 teams)
Business Masters[25]	Germany	Karlsruhe Institute of Technology	Mixed Undergraduate/Graduate	27 (9 teams)
Changellenge >> [26]	Russia		Undergraduate	2,500
Hult Global Case Challenge[27]	United Kingdom	Hult International Business School	Graduate	150 teams
Oliver Wyman Iberia Case Competition[28]	Spain	Oliver Wyman[28]	Graduate	150 teams
Inter-Collegiate Business Competition (I.C.B.C.)[29]	Canada	Queen's School of Business	Undergraduate	102 (48 teams)
KPMG Case Competition [30]	Hong Kong	KPMG	Mixed Undergraduate/Graduate
L'Oreal Brandstorm	France	L'Oreal	Undergraduate	135 (45 teams)
Network of International Business Schools (NIBS) Worldwide Case Competition[31]	Canada (2015)	Sprott School of Business, Carleton University (2015)	Undergraduate	64 (16 teams)
Pitt Health Innovation Case Competition (PHICC)[32]	United States	University of Pittsburgh	Graduate	60 (12 teams)
Purdue Human Capital Case Competition [33]	United States	Krannert School of Management	Graduate	36 (9 teams)
Rubicon Contest [34]	Germany	b.one, BiTS Iserlohn	Mixed Undergraduate/Graduate	96
Suitable for Business Case Competition[35]	Denmark	Suitable for Business	Mixed Undergraduate/Graduate	48
Gadjah Mada Business Case Competition [36]	Indonesia	Gadjah Mada University	Undergraduate	24 (8 Teams)
ModelOff International Case Competition [37]	New York	Professional Services Champions League	Mixed Undergraduate/Graduate	4,000
Schulich International Case Competition [38]	Canada	Schulich School of Business	Graduate	70 (9 Teams)

References