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. In terms of cumulative number of participants, the HSBC/HKU Asia Pacific Business Case Competition is the world's largest case competition, with over 130,000 participants since 2008.^[3]

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] International case competitions have also begun expanding beyond the undergraduate level, as competitions like the Wharton China Business Society International Case Competition offer high school divisions.^[4]

Format

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"; and, 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), Materials, Degree of access to expert advice (either from within the competition or externally, and electronically or face to face).

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.

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,^[5] and Boeing executives acted as judges.^[6]

Participation

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 within the targeted companies.

Teams in case competitions are tasked with assessing the situation facing the organization, analyzing available information, crafting a solution, and defending their recommendations. In general, teams adhere to a time limit and specific rules. Each team is judged independently, and the judges' decision is final, although a confidential summary evaluation is generally provided.^[7]

Notable competitions

Invitational competitions

Competition	Country	University	Level	Teams	Inaugural Year
Alberta International Case Competition (AIBC)	Canada	Alberta School of Business, University of Alberta	Undergraduate	12 teams	2016
Asian Business Case Competition @ Nanyang (ABCC)	Singapore	Nanyang Technological University	Undergraduate	12 teams	2007
Australian Undergraduate Business Case Competition (AUBCC)	Australia	QUT, UNSW, University of Melbourne	Undergraduate	16 teams	2013
Belgrade Business International Case Competition - BBICC	Serbia	University of Belgrade	Undergraduate	20 teams	2013
BI International Case Competition - BIICC	Norway	BI Norwegian Business School	Undergraduate	12 teams	2016
CBS Case Competition^[8]	Denmark	Copenhagen Business School	Undergraduate	12 teams	2002
CaseIT MIS Case Competition	Canada	Beedie School of Business	Undergraduate	20 teams	2004
Central European Case Competition (CECC)	Hungary	Case Solvers & Corvinus University of Budapest	Undergraduate	20 teams	2019
Champions Trophy Case Competition	New Zealand	University of Auckland	Undergraduate	12 teams	2008
Chulalongkorn International Business Case Competition (CIBCC)^[9]	Thailand	Chulalongkorn University	Undergraduate	20 teams	2014
Citi International Case Competition	Hong Kong	HKUST	Undergraduate	20 teams	2003
Engineering and Commerce Case Competition(ENGCOMM)	Canada	Concordia University	Undergraduate	12 teams	2013
Global Business Case Competition (GBCC)	Japan	Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University	Undergraduate	16 teams	2015
Global Microfinance Case Competition (GMCC)	Australia	University of Melbourne (Melbourne Microfinance Initiative)	Undergraduate & Graduate	16 universities	2011
Global Business Case Competition^[10]	United States	University of Washington	Undergraduate	15 teams	1999
Grossman School of Business Family Enterprise Case Competition (FECC)	United States	The University of Vermont	Undergraduate & Graduate	24 teams	2013
HSBC/HKU Asia Pacific Business Case Competition	Hong Kong	The University of Hong Kong	Undergraduate	24 teams	2008
International Graduate Competition	Canada	HEC Montreal	Graduate	08 teams	2012
International Case Competition @ Maastricht	Netherlands	Maastricht University	Undergraduate	16 teams	2009
Japan MBA Case Competition	Japan	Tokyo-based MBA programs	Graduate - MBA	09 teams	2013
John Molson Undergraduate Case Competition (JMUCC)	Canada	John Molson School of Business	Undergraduate	28 teams	2009
John Molson MBA International Case Competition	Canada	John Molson School of Business	Graduate - MBA	36 teams	1981
Lazaridis International Case Conference (LazICC)	Canada	Lazaridis School of Business and Economics	Undergraduate	16 teams	2018
Marshall International Case Competition (MICC)	United States	University of Southern California	Undergraduate	20 teams	1997
McGill Management International Case Competition^[11]	Canada	McGill University	Undergraduate	12 teams	2001
McIntire International Case Competition^[12]^[13]	United States	University of Virginia	Undergraduate	06 teams	1982
NUS Case Competition	Singapore	National University of Singapore	Undergraduate	20 teams	2009
RMA Credit Risk Case Competition^[14]	Canada	Sobey School of Business	Graduate	08 teams	2013
Rotterdam/Carleton International Case Competition	Netherlands / Canada	Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences and Carleton University	Undergraduate	16 teams	2020
RSM STAR Case Competition^[15]	Netherlands	Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University	Undergraduate	16 teams	2012
Sauder Summit Global Case Competition	Canada	UBC Sauder School of Business	Undergraduate	16 teams	2013
Solvers' Cup	Hungary	Case Solvers	Undergraduate	09 teams	2016
Thammasat Undergraduate Business Challenge (TUBC)	Thailand	Thammasat University	Undergraduate	16 teams	2007
University of Münster Case Competition (UMCC)	Germany	University of Münster	Undergraduate - MBA	12 Teams	2017
University of Navarra International Case Competition (UNICC)	Spain	University of Navarra	Undergraduate	16 teams	2013
University of Technology Sydney Global Case Competition (UTSGCC)	Australia	University of Technology Sydney	Undergraduate	16 teams	2020
WBS Case Challenge	United Kingdom	Warwick Business School	Graduate	08 teams	2013
Capitox Case Competition	United Kingdom	University of Oxford	undergraduate	08 teams	2019