Short Case Writing Competition

The 2019 John Molson MBA Short Case Writing Competition is now open.

For its 38th edition, the 2019 John Molson MBA International Case Competition (ICC) is pleased to invite you to submit original business cases. The ICC is the oldest and most prestigious competition of its kind. As the 2019 John Molson MBA ICC Organizing Team, we are extremely proud to host and celebrate its continued success. The competition will be held from January 7-11, 2019 in Montreal. It will bring together 36 teams of students from different MBA programs around the globe to compete for the Concordia Cup.

The theme for the 2019 ICC is Disruption – it is imperative that business students are cognizant of how disruptive business models are shaping the future. There are many factors both within a company and in the external environment that can have a disruptive effect on a business, a business model or an industry and case writers are encouraged to submit cases in which managers/owners are facing the opportunities and challenges of either being “Disrupters” or dealing with the consequences of being “Disrupted.” It is our intention to emphasize the wide range of this theme, as well as its application, and although technology has been a key element and a prime mover in the disruption of many businesses and business models over time, we do invite case writers to consider a broader definition of the term “Disruption.”

The short case is a think-on-your-feet case where both preparation and presentation times are shorter than the more traditional cases used in the ICC. It is not meant to be an abridged version of a traditional business case.  Only one of the short cases submitted may, at the discretion of the selection committee, be selected for use in the competition.

Who can enter?

Any individual or group of individuals are eligible to submit cases for consideration, except for participating students or persons involved with training, coaching or other preparation of participating students at the 38th edition of the ICC.

How to enter?

All entries must be submitted electronically to cases@mbacasecomp.com no later than October 16, 2018.

Required documents:

  1.  Your original case including supporting documentation (.doc or .docx file and .xls or .xlsx file if appropriate)
  2.  Your completed Entry Form(.pdf file)

Please note the following:

  •   Upon request, applicants may be required to submit a Statement of Authorization.
    •  Cases not selected for the ICC will be released back to authors in November 2018 and winning cases will be released post-competition in January 2019.

Case Requirements

Submitted short cases should be aimed at MBA students and must be:

  •   Unpublished, untested and not presented or discussed in any public form. Confidentiality is of the utmost importance and the expectation is that case writers will work in this spirit.
    •   A maximum of 4 pages of narrative (limited to 250 words per page and double spaced) and no more than 6 pages including financial documentation and other appendices (case text is not permitted in appendices);
    •   Based on either a real or a hypothetical business situation involving broad strategic, ethical or crisis response scenarios where students are challenged to react with limited information under time pressure. Past short cases used in the ICC have dealt with current business issues and/or topical management situations;
    •   Written in English or French. Cases selected for the ICC will be translated into French or English as needed. Translated versions will be remitted to case writers upon completion of the competition.
    •   Submitted in electronic format (.doc or .docx file and .xls or .xlsx file if appropriate) to cases@mbacasecomp.com.

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 students, originality, the quality and clarity of the writing, and the degree of challenge faced by the students.

The winning case writer(s) will receive a prize of $1,000*

* All currencies are in Canadian dollars

Note: If a case has multiple authors, the awarded amount will be divided evenly among the authors.
All decisions made by the selection committee are final.