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Have you always been fascinated about the concept of case competitions? Is it something you have been wanting to take part in but you were never sure how to get started? Let’s take a look at how case competitions work.
What is a Case Competition?
A case competition revolves around solving a challenge being faced by an organization or a business. Essentially, participants compete in teams of 2-5 individuals and work on the given case/challenge in order to come up with a feasible recommendation to be implemented by the organization. Depending on the organization, the case can either be open ended, with lots of room for creative solutions, or it can be focused on a niche problem for which the company is looking to find a solution. From developing a marketing strategy to increasing customer trust in the electric vehicles market to suggesting a new organizational structure for vanishing Chinatown in the city, cases can be very interesting and insightful depending on the organization and their needs.
Once the case time has elapsed, teams are then required to submit their recommendations in a PowerPoint and/or PDF format followed by a 15-minute pitch to the industry professionals and the judges. The presentation time and format can range from competition to competition, however, in general it is 15 minutes of presentation time followed by a 10 minute Q&A. Upon successful presentation, teams are assessed on a number of factors including but not limited to the feasibility of their recommendation, analytical tools used, market research, slide deck and their overall presentation. Following the preliminary round, the competition then moves to the finals with the best presentations making it to the podium. Oftentimes, the winner receives an invitation to work with the company to implement their solution in the real world. Most internal competitions will also have some prize money ranging from $250 to even $2,000 for the top three teams.
How much time do we get to crack the case?
Most internal case competitions are held by student clubs at universities and they usually provide participants with ample amount of time to prepare. 5-7 days is quite normal taking the busy academic year into consideration. On the other hand, international case competitions require you to crack the case in a short period of time as teams travel from all around the world to compete and usually the competition concludes in a week. The most common time formats in international case competitions include a mixture of a short and a long case.
Short case
- 3-hour case time followed by presentations the same day, or
- 5-hour case time followed by presentations the same day
(A specific problem with a focus on creative ideas. Requires little research).
Long case
- 28-hour case time followed by presentations the next day, or
- 30-hour case time followed by presentations the next day
(A major problem that requires in depth research and analysis with an implementable solution).
I am not a business student, can I participate?
Yes, yes and a BIG yes!
A common misconception when it comes to case competitions is that students often think these competitions are restricted to business students. Most internal, and international competitions, require you to be an active undergraduate student and that’s all. You are good to go! There are some specific competitions for graduate and Masters’ students as well. The organization or the business sponsoring the competition is just looking for a way to enhance their operations and get an edge over their competitors. Whether the idea comes from a nursing or an accounting student is of little importance to them. I remember competing at a competition hosted by ICA in collaboration with Chinatown Transformative Collaborative Society (CTC) Edmonton and was amazed by the wonderful presentation of the winners, Swati Biswas and Amitoj Kaur, neither of whom belong to the business faculty, being in nursing and sciences respectively, but were also competing at their first in-person competition. They took home $1,500 along with an invitation to work with CTC Edmonton to revive Chinatown.
Do I need prior experience to compete?
Not at all!
There is always a first time for everything. I remember competing in my very first case competition in the Fall of 2020, my first semester at U of A, and it was a thrilling yet an amazing experience for me. Ever since, I have fallen in love with case competitions and have competed in over a dozen case competitions, with a recent international trip to Bangkok, Thailand to represent the Alberta School of Business at 25th Thammasat Undergraduate Business Challenge.
(TUBC 2022, Bangkok, Thailand)
Where do I learn more about Case Competitions at UofA?
The Alberta School of Business is famous for its involvement in case competitions and is feared among international universities as the U of A - The Great Canadian Rockies Team. Alberta JDC West, Alberta International Business Competition, Enactus UAB, Business Students’ Association, Interdisciplinary Consultation Association - are just a few of the student clubs that frequently host case competitions and are always looking for exceptional speakers to join their executive team. As one of the co-chairs of AIBC, I have experienced the joy of working on hosting a case competition where we invite 6 teams from Canada and 6 teams from all around the world to compete in a week-long invitational competition in Jasper, every fall reading break. You can learn more about AIBC here. You can learn more about upcoming opportunities by following these student clubs on Instagram and also looking for similar student opportunities at Students Competitions website.
What next?
Go check the Students Competitions page and see what’s happening. Find an upcoming opportunity, build a team, compete and share your experience! It’s so much fun! Right? 😊
Stay tuned for my next article, when I will talk about my latest case competition in Thailand!
