The Case

• The case is selected every year by the Faculty.
• Fairness and impartiality are embedded in all aspects of the competition. The nature, content and topics included in the case are absolutely unknown to the executive committee and the ambassadors.
• The case will be delivered in 4 copies per team in a sealed envelope.
• The case can concern an actual or fictional business situation.
• The competition is always multi-disciplinary. Adequate analysis typically cross-covers one or more topics of business management: finance, accounting, marketing, human resources, strategy, policy & international business.

Order

• The presentation order will be determined by a random draw during the Opening Ceremonies.
• The draw determines the order in which teams will receive their case and make their presentation the next day.
• The order is considered final as soon as it is drawn and announced.

Rules During Case Period

• Each team has to pick up their case and supplies 30 minutes before their start-time.
• Lateness is not compensated.
• The 30-minutes of pre-case time are allocated for inspection while the participants get settled in their breakout room.
• The case is delivered to 2 teams at a time and opened at half-hour intervals.
• Each team is given 24 hours before they have to present:
  
• Teams have to work in only one of their 2 hotel rooms, as determined by the executive committee.

• All restricted items are safely stored with the executive committee until the next day.

Procedures Before Morning Presentations

• After 22 hours (or 2 hours before presentation time), each team must change into business formal, then move to the Desautels Faculty of Management in the Checkpoint Room with their 2 laptops, their USB key, and a printed copy of their slides.
• Teams are responsible to manage their time and ensure that they have a printed copy of their slides ready 2 hours before their presentation.
• The final document must comply to the following layout: 6 slides per page, black and white, single-sided.
• The slides can include a cover page or additional materials for the judges, such as formatted Excel spreadsheets.
• The committee will make double-sided photocopies of the slides for the judges as soon as a team arrives in the Checkpoint room. Re-prints will not be permitted.
• Once the laptops are returned and the slides have been photocopied, each team will be allowed to rehearse their presentation in an assigned classroom for 1 hour 45 minutes.
• Each team is responsible to keep the photocopies of their slides and hand them out to the judging panel at the start of each presentation.
• Teams have to show up in the 4th floor lobby 15 minutes before presentation time.

Presentation Format

• Teams will be identified with their team number first, then the official designation of their school.
• Each team presents twice. Once in the morning and once in the afternoon.
• 2 teams will present at the same time every 30 minutes in 2 adjacent presentation rooms.
• Presentation time: 20 minutes, sharp.
• Time signals will be shown to the presenters at the 15, 10, 5, 2 & 1 minute marks.
• If a presentation is not finished on time, it may weight negatively into the judges' evaluation.
• Questions & Answers: 10 minutes.
• Time signals will be shown to the presenters and judges at the 5, 2 & 1 minute marks.
• A team will not be penalized if their answer is cut short due to time. It is up to the judges to manage how many questions they wish to ask during the 10 minutes.
• All 4 students are expected to participate in the presentation in fairly equal amounts of time.
• All teams have to use the same equipment provided in each room (no special requests).
• A wireless clicker will be provided during the presentation. The students are not allowed to bring their own.
• Presentations have to be entirely based on Power Point slides.
• Presenters have to be in business attire.
• The content of the Power Point slides cannot be changed between each presentation.

Other Integrity Measures

• Teams are not allowed to seek external help.
• Communication with the advisor is not permitted from the time each team receives its case until they are done with their second presentation.
• None of the participants may watch another team's presentation, even when they are done with their 2nd performance. Advisors are free to watch all presentations.
• As part of an open doors policy, ambassadors have the right to come into the hotel room to inspect the material at any time.
• Phone calls to the committee hotel room are allowed, but room-to-room and external phone calls are strictly forbidden. Phone records from the Marriott Residence Inn are inspected.
• Online activities are monitored. Emails, online chatting, conferencing, or any website requiring the use of a password (even if free) and university databases cannot be accessed at any point. Internet is for passive use only (also known as "light" research).
• One or more organizers will be available on each hotel floor 24 hours in case a team needs assistance.
• The committee will provide technical assistance with laptops and wireless internet problems, but we will not help a team with any request regarding content.
• Participants can leave their hotel room, but must ALWAYS be escorted by an ambassador. Unaccompanied participants may be reported.
• The executive committee will provide a centralized printing service. Teams can bring the documents they wish to print on their issued USB key. Again, they must be escorted by an ambassador to do so.