Rules & Guidelines (7-10)
Section 7.0 – Stage Two
The second stage will focus on the students’ research abilities, where they will have twenty-four (24) hours to prepare before they are required to present their strategic solutions to a panel of business executives.
Section 7.10 – Case Preparation
Teams will have twenty-four (24) hours to analyze the case and prepare their slides using Microsoft PowerPoint 2007. Teams will NOT have access to their faculty advisor (either via email, instant chat, telephone, in person, or ANY other way). Any team caught communicating with their faculty advisor will be immediately disqualified from the competition, even if they were discussing something other than the case itself. Teams are also not allowed to discuss the case with anyone else other than their 3 team mates (unless otherwise told). Again, any team caught doing so will be immediately disqualified.
Note: this is a research case, as such, students are allowed to use the internet.”Once completed, the teams will be asked to present their recommendations in front of a panel of judges who will evaluate them.
At the end of preparation time, a final electronic copy of the PowerPoint Presentation will be given to the team monitor who will only return it to the team for presentation purposes.
A hard copy of the PowerPoint Slides, collected and printed by the team monitor fifteen (15) minutes before the end of the preparation period, will be given to the panel of judges at the beginning of the presentation. The judges will be well aware that this is NOT the FINAL version of the presenting university’s presentation. They will merely use the slides in order to assist them in their deliberations and to jot down notes.
Section 7.11 – Materials Allowed
For the second stage, each team will be required to work from their hotel room during the course of the preparation period. In addition, each team must supply its own materials during the twenty-four (24) hour research case study. This includes any of the following items:
• white boards and/or flip charts;
• paper, pencils, pens and/or highlighters;
• calculators, textbooks, and/or dictionaries;
• four (4) laptops with Microsoft Office 2007;
Each team member will be required to use their personal laptops. Should a university not be able to secure four (4) of their own laptops, it is expected that they notify the members of the Organizing Committee so that the necessary arrangements can be made ahead of time. However, it is not guaranteed that the Organizing Committee will be able to provide a laptop.
Section 7.12 – Time Limit
Each team has a maximum of twenty-four (24) hours to prepare for the research case study. Monitors in coordination with the Organizing Committee will ensure that these time limits are enforced.
Section 7.13 – Set-Up Time
Team members must ensure that their hotel room is appropriately arranged, confirm their computer equipment is working properly (including the Internet), and provide any additional materials.
Section 7.20 – Case Presentation
For the purpose of this competition, all presentations are to be made in English. Each team will have a strictly enforced maximum of twenty (20) minutes to present, followed by a ten (10) minute question period from the panel of judges. There will be a twenty (20) minute break between each team’s presentations. The next team will not be allowed in the presentation room until after the question period for the first team has ended. It is important to note that a team cannot attend ANY another team’s presentation for the twenty-four (24) hour case presentations. Once a team presents, it will then go to isolation. Faculty advisors may watch other teams present.
Each team member is required to participate in the team’s presentation, but not necessarily in the question period following the presentation.
The Organizing Committee may record any presentation, and take pictures during preparation time and presentations, for the sole purpose of promoting the competition itself in the future.
Section 7.21 – Presentation rooms
The presentation room will be set up with:
• one computer with Microsoft Office 2007
• one data projector;
• one overhead screen;
• possibly a photographer;
• possibly a cameraman recording the presentation on video.
Section 7.22 – Presentation Time
During the second stage, each team will have twenty-four (24) hours to prepare their formal oral and slide presentation of the case analysis. Each team will be required to present for a minimum of fifteen (15) minutes and up to a maximum of twenty (20) minutes. Each member of the team must participate in the oral presentation.
Every presentation room will be supervised by a presentation room coordinator. The presentation room coordinator will ask the team members to enter the presentation room once it becomes available. Upon entry, the teams will be given a maximum of one (1) minute to set up. Once ready, the presentation room coordinator will read the rules, the judges will introduce themselves and finally the presentation room coordinator will motion to begin the presentation and start the stopwatch.
The presentation room coordinator will show a sign when there are ten (10) minutes, five (5) minutes, two (2) minutes, and thirty (30) seconds remaining in the presentation time. When the twenty (20) minutes are up, the presentation room coordinator will end the presentation whether the team has finished or not.
Once the formal presentation is completed, a total of ten (10) minutes will be allocated for the judges to ask questions (also referred to as the ‘Question & Answer Period’). Teams may show new slides during the ‘Question & Answer Period’ should they be relevant to the question asked. However, team members may not continue the formal presentation during this period.
Upon completion, the presentation room coordinator will ask the presenters, as well as the members of the audience to exit the presentation room. The judges will then proceed to fill out their evaluation sheets before the next presentation.
The Organizing Committee may record any presentation, and take pictures during preparation time and presentations, for the sole purpose of promoting the competition itself in the future.
Section 7.30 – Case Evaluation
Each of the four presentations within a division will be evaluated by a panel of judges, all of whom will be assigned an evaluation sheet to provide adequate credentials when judging the presentations.
Section 7.31 – Judging Panel
The members of the Organizing Committee will select the judges from members of the business community, government leaders, university faculty members, and alumni. Each judging panel normally consists of at least five judges, one of whom will be designated as a lead judge.
The lead judge will chair the question period, lead the deliberation, cast the decisive vote in the event of a split panel, and prepare an evaluation sheet for each team’s confidential use once the result has been determined.
It is important to note that the formation of the judging panels is the sole responsibility of the Organizing Committee, and that all judges must be approved by the Board of Directors.
Section 7.32 – Scoring
All of the judges will receive a copy of the case, a summary of key points and a copy of the guidelines for case analysis to assist them in their evaluation of the presentations. The guidelines for case analysis will include a set of criteria, which the judges will be encouraged to consider in their deliberations.
The team with the highest score will receive 40 points; the second will receive 30 points; the third will receive 20 points; and the fourth will receive 10 points.
Section 7.33 – Feedback Session
Due to time constraints, there will be no feedback session. The judge panels will submit an evaluation sheet to the Organizing Committee, whereby the scores will be posted publicly. In addition, an evaluation sheet for each team’s confidential use will be distributed once the results have been determined.
Section 8.0 – Stage Three
The team that has the most points after the preliminary round (Stage 1 + Stage 2) will be declared the official winner of their respective division. As a result, each of the six (6) winning teams will advance to the final stage of the competition.
In the final stage, each team will present their twenty-four (24) hour case to the final panel of judges. It is important to note that teams will be starting with a clean slate, and that the best overall presentation will win the competition. To ensure fairness, teams will not be allowed to edit their PowerPoint presentation before the final round. The judges’ decision regarding first, second and third place winners will be announced at the closing ceremonies.
Section 8.1 – Presentation Time
During the third stage, the six (6) finalists will be required to present for a minimum of fifteen (15) minutes and up to a maximum of twenty (20) minutes. Each member of the team must participate in the oral presentation.
Once the formal presentation is completed, a total of fifteen (15) minutes will be allocated for the judges to ask questions (also referred to as the ‘Question & Answer Period’). Teams may show new slides during the ‘Question & Answer Period’ should they be relevant to the question asked. However, team members may not continue the formal presentation during this period.
The Organizing Committee may record any presentation, and take pictures during preparation time and presentations, for the sole purpose of promoting the competition itself in the future.
Section 9.0 – Tie Breaking
In the event that two teams in a division have the same number of points at the end of the preliminary round (Stage 1 + Stage 2); the team who won the “head-to-head” match will advance to the final round (Stage 3).
Section 10.0 – General Rules
The aforementioned rules and guidelines for the John Molson Undergraduate Case Competition have been designed to ensure fairness to all participating teams. The organizers retain the right to disqualify any team from the competition if the above rules are not respected or if a team does not maintain a proper standard of conduct in the professional and collegial spirit of the competition. Any concerns or disputes regarding the implementation of these rules must be brought to the immediate attention of the organizers. However, please note that the decision of the organizers is final, and not subject to review.
