Cases
Our Cases
Throughout the week of the 2025 competition, we challenge our participants with seven challenging business cases that touch upon various disciplines of the business world. We have 3 case formats detailed below:
Regular Case
Each year, we open our annual Case Writing Competition (details below) to reach out to top case writers worldwide, who submit unpublished business cases. Participants have a maximum of 3 hours to prepare the 20-30 page long case and will get access to the case only once their preparation time begins. After the presentation, teams will present their strategy in front of our judges panel which will be followed by an extensive Q&A.
Short Case
The short case is a “think-on-your-feet” case for which students are given less time to prepare and present their solutions. It is conducted on the 2nd day of the competition following the regular case of the day. Usually a crisis management case, it is a 4-6 page long case that demands the team to come up with a strategy within 1.5 hours at the end of the day.
Live Case
The “Live Case” is the highlight of the week-long competition, whereby a live presentation is given by a senior executive of a major company on a current business challenge they have been faced with. The “Live Case” exemplifies the interaction between the academic and corporate worlds that takes place during the intense week of the competition. The company representative(s) present a current real-life business case to the thirty-six teams simultaneously. All thirty-six teams rely on the presentation, brief question period, and supporting materials provided by the company that serve as background information for their evaluation. Once the three-hour preparation time is complete, the competing teams present their arguments, solutions, and implementation plan for the company in front of a panel of judges which will be followed by a Q&A.
Case Writing Competition
The 2025 John Molson MBA Case Writing Competition is now open.
Make a Global Impact with the John Molson MBA ICC Case Writing Competition!
The 2025 organizing team is pleased to invite you to submit your original business cases for this year’s John Molson MBA International Case Competition (ICC).
We are extremely proud to host and celebrate its continued success.
The competition will be held from January 6th-10th, 2025 with students from all over the world gathering in Hotel Bonaventure and presenting to panels of live judges in Montreal.
The competition will unite 30-36 teams of students from different MBA programs around the globe to compete for the Concordia Cup. Up to seven cases will be selected for use during the competition.
For more info contact cases@mbacasecomp.com. Follow us on Linkedin, Facebook, and Instagram.
Case Requirements
Submitted cases should be geared towards MBA students and must be:
1. Unpublished, untested, and not previously presented or discussed in any public forum. Confidentiality is of the utmost importance, and writers must strictly adhere to this requirement.
2. A maximum of 20 pages of narrative (double-spaced and limited to 250 words per page) and no more than 30 pages in total, including financial documentation and other appendices (case text is not permitted in appendices). . Teaching notes are not required.
3. Welcome submissions from various business disciplines, encompassing strategy, finance, sustainability, entrepreneurship, e-commerce, international trade, organizational behavior, governance, marketing, emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence and blockchain, cybersecurity challenges and risks, as well as considerations related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
4. Based on issues other than COVID-19. Considerations around COVID-19 and its impact will inevitably factor into many cases, but COVID-19 should not drive the case.
5. Based on either field research or research from secondary sources describing a recent business situation in an actual organization.
6. Written in English or French. Cases submitted in French and selected for the competition will be translated into English and remitted to case writers after the competition.
7. Submitted with a completed entry form, and if the case is based on field research, a statement of authorization (or release form) from the company is required;
8. Submitted electronically (.doc or .docx and .xls or .xlsx for financial documentation) to cases@mbacasecomp.com
*Writers providing financial exhibits, appendices, tables, and figures must be in editable formats (.xls or .xlsx, .ppt or .pptx).
*If financial information is part of the case, please make sure to add a balance sheet along with income statement or budget in the appendices.
In terms of editing please follow these suggestions:
1. Avoid splitting small tables over 2 pages whenever possible.
2. Make sure that Header Rows repeat if any table is split over 2 pages or more.
3. Strive for 1 appendix per page, unless 2 related appendices can easily fit on one page.
4. Use forced page-breaks (CTRL + Enter) when it is appropriate to skip to the next page (in the case text or appendices).
5. Ensure that your entire Word document text is associated with English (Canada) or French (Canada) so that hyphenations and other features are aligned with the language your case is written in.
6. Print the case to test the B&W colors to make sure all the appendices, tables and figures are clearly visible.
Publishing: Writers may opt to have their case considered for subsequent publication under the JMSB banner.
Prizes
The selection committee will be composed of executives from the ICC Board of Directors. Selection criteria include the interest and relevance of the issue(s) raised to the students, the quality and clarity of the writing, and the nature of the challenge to be dealt with by the students. All decisions made by the selection committee are final.
• The winning case writer will receive a prize of C$10,000
• Second place writer will receive C$5,000
• Third place writer will receive C$3,000
• Writers of all other cases used in ICC will receive C$1,000
Note: If a case has multiple authors, the awarded amount will be divided evenly among the authors.
All currencies are in Canadian dollars
Who can enter?
Any individual or group is eligible to submit cases for consideration, except for participating students or persons involved in their students’ training, coaching, or other preparation for the competition.
How to enter?
All entries must be submitted electronically to cases@mbacasecomp.com no later than September 13th, 2024. Cases not selected for the ICC will be released back to authors in November-December 2024 and winning cases will be released post-competition in January-Februrary 2025.
Required documents:
1. Your original case including supporting documentation (.doc or .docx file)
2. Your completed Entry Form
3. Upon request, applicants may be required to submit a Statement of Authorization
- For more information please contact:
Ahmed Ragab
1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W., MB 06-313
Montreal, QC, Canada
H3G 1M8
