Bring together 128 MBA students from 32 top business schools across the globe and 250 local business executives to serve as judges. Throw in a round-robin tournament consisting of five business cases. The result: the John Molson MBA International Case Competition (mbacasecomp.com). the oldest, largest and one of the most acclaimed MBA case competitions in the world.

The student-run contest has quickly grown from its humble beginnings in 1982 — when five Quebec and Ontario business school teams presented cases before a panel of professors — into an international event: the 2004 competition featured 15 teams from across Canada, 10 from the U.S., six from Europe and one from New Zealand. The competition provides a learning opportunity and networking boon for both the students and executives. And the 2004 competition was especially sweet: for the first time in the competition's 23 years, the home team finished in first place.