RULES

Student Teams

  • All teams must consist of four students.
  • Every team member must attend the educational institution that signed on for the competition.
  • At least three of the students on each team must be MBA students; one of the four students may be a masters-level graduate student in a similar course of study (e.g. M.Sc. in Management).
  • Each student team must include at least one first-year student.
  • Teams may include part-time and/or 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 response must be 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.
  • The response must be written in English.
  • 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 presentations in New York. To be clear, student teams may not alter their written responses from Round One at any time in the remainder of the competition.
  • During Rounds Two and Three, all student submissions will be stripped of school names to assure fairness. Finalist teams should not announce school affiliations in their presentations nor list school names in their PowerPoint presentations.

Timeline & Process

  • Visit the process page for more information.

Round Three

  • The presentation order will be selected at random.
  • The presentation must be in English.
  • Each team will be given just ten minutes to present in Round Three, followed by five minutes of questions from the judges. Time limits will be strictly enforced.
  • Teams will be permitted to watch other teams' presentations only after they have completed their own presentation.
  • In Round Three, judges 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 2010 Business & Society International Case Competition website.
  • Besides primary transportation and hotel costs, finalists in Round Three will receive:
    • First Place (Grand Prize) receives $20,000 and $3,000 to donate to a charity of their choice
    • Second Place receives $10,000
    • Third Place receives $5,000
    • Other teams each receive $1,000

Other Aspen Institute Programs

The 2010 Business & Society International MBA Case Competition in no way biases or is biased by other Aspen Institute programs and projects, including the Beyond Grey Pinstripes survey and alternative ranking.