What is a Case Competition?

• Case Competitions are typically done at the university level.
• Students are given a real-life business situation (a case) that has actually been experienced by an organization.
• Cases are written by post-secondary business schools such as SFU Beedie, Ivey, and Harvard.
• Students work in teams to understand and analyze a case, create recommendations, and present their ideas to a panel of judges.
• Case competitions can take the format of a 3-hour competition, an overnight competition, or a collaborative learning environment.

Step-by-Step Overview

1. Competitive teams usually include 3 to 4 students who are selected and work together all semester.
2. Some case competitions are collaborative, where the team members meet the morning of the event.
3. Each team is given the same case and is isolated from the other teams (put into "lockdown") to deliberate.
4. Often teams are not allowed internet connections or outside materials and are given only a laptop with PowerPoint.
5. The students usually have 3 hours to read, analyze, and solve the business problem (case) plus put together a convincing presentation for the judges.
6. Judges are typically business leaders (possibly from the company in the case) or academics from post-secondary institutions.
7. Teams are sometimes staggered 20-25min apart when they are put into "lockdown" so that teams will present to the judges one at a time - immediately after their 3-hour deliberation.
8. Each team will present to the judges on their own and other the teams may not watch.
9. Presentations are about 15-20min long during which they have about 10min to present and about 5-10min to answer rapid-fire questions from the judges about their solution.
   
10. After all the teams have presented, the judges deliberate and select a winning team.
11. For the high school competitions, teams usually also get about 5-10min for a debrief from the judges to enhance the educational portion of the program.