RULES

Student Teams

  • All teams must consist of either 3 or 4 students.
  • Every team member must attend the educational institution that signed on for the competition.
  • For teams of four, at least three of the students must be MBA students; for teams of three, at least two of the students must be MBA students. One student on each team may be a masters-level graduate student in a similar course of study (e.g. M.Sc. in Management).
  • Teams may include any combination of part-time and full-time students.
  • Teams may have no more than one executive MBA student participant.

Written Responses

  • Student teams may submit only one final response to the case study, which should address all questions asked.
  • The written response must be submitted in Microsoft Word format.
  • The response must have reasonable spacing and font size.
  • The response must not exceed six pages of text, with two additional pages in charts, graphs or exhibits.
  • First place on-campus responses from Round One must be submitted in English to the Aspen Institute for Round Two review.
  • Students may not solicit assistance from faculty; however, student teams that reach the finals (Round Three) may integrate the feedback received in the on-campus competition (Round One) into their final PowerPoint presentations in New York. To be clear, student teams may not alter their written responses from Round One at any time during the remainder of the competition.
  • During Rounds Two and Three, all student submissions will be stripped of school names and made entirely anonymous to assure fairness. Finalist teams should not announce school affiliations in their presentations nor list school names in their PowerPoint slides.

Timeline & Process

  • Visit the process page for more information.

Round Three

  • The presentation order will be selected at random.
  • The presentation must be given in English.
  • Each team will be given just ten minutes to present in Round Three, followed by up to five minutes of questions from the judges. Time limits will be strictly enforced.
  • Slide decks will be printed out and distributed in advance to each of the judges. No supplemental handouts may be distributed to judges.
  • Teams will be permitted to watch other teams' presentations only after they have completed their own presentation.
  • In Round Three, the judging panel will consider both the written analysis and oral presentation when determining winners.

Prizes

  • Each first place team in Round One will receive a trophy and recognition on the 2013 Business & Society International MBA Case Competition website.
  • In addition to commemorative trophies, finalists in Round Three will receive:
    • First Place (Grand Prize) - $15,000 and $1,000 to donate to a charity of the team's choice
    • Second Place - $8,500
    • Third Place - $5,000
    • Fourth and Fifth Place teams will receive $1,500 each
    • Primary transportation to New York City (e.g. economy-class flight) will be arranged by the Aspen Institute, and paid for up to $1,200 per finalist student.
      • For the evening of Friday, April 19th, two hotel rooms per finalist team will also be arranged and paid for by the Aspen Institute.

    A Note on Program Funding

    The Aspen Institute's Business & Society International MBA Case Competition does not accept sponsorship from the company that is the focus of that year's case study.

    Other Aspen Institute Programs

    The 2013 Business & Society International MBA Case Competition in no way influences or is biased by other Aspen Institute programs or projects.