CIBER International MBA Business Case Competition; April 7-10, 2005; Madison, Wisconsin, USA

Competition Overview

All teams will analyze the same case during the competition. Teams of four students will apply their analytical, decision-making and communication skills to present strategic solutions and recommendations to a panel of judges from the business community. The case will focus on international business strategy, necessitating a firm grounding in functional business disciplines. Each team will be judged based on the content of its presentation as well as its ability to present arguments and recommendations to the judges.

Competition Rules

Team Organization - Each team will be comprised of four currently enrolled graduate business students working full-time on an MBA or similar degree. No alternates are permitted. Each member of the team must be a registered student at the business school of the university he or she represents.

Case - The case will be kept secret from student participants until it is distributed at 8:00 AM on Thursday, April 17, 2008, in Room 203.

Presentation - Although this is an international competition, all cases and presentations will be presented in English. Members of each team will have 20 minutes to present their analysis before the panel of judges. A period of 15 minutes will be allocated for questions. Presentations should consist of a PowerPoint presentation only (no props allowed). No audio will be allowed in the PowerPoint presentations. Five minutes of setup before the presentation is scheduled into each time slot. If a team is unable to setup their PowerPoint presentation within the five minutes, teams must use slide copies that they will be responsible for preparing. It is expected that all members will be active participants in the presentation. Teams and judges will be alerted to the time they have remaining for the presentation as well as the question and answer session at the five and one minute marks. Five minutes of take down will also be allocated at the end of the time slot.

Presentation Submission Deadline - At least one representative from each team must be present to turn in the presentations on Friday, April 18, 2008, by 8:00 AM in Room 203. Presentations will be submitted by a team-supplied USB flash drive (will be returned after the competition). No alterations to the presentation will be permitted after this time.

Presentation Order - Teams will draw for presentation slots in one of three presentation groups (Groups A, B, and C) for the preliminary round after turning in their presentation on a USB flash drive on Friday, April 18, at 8:00 AM in Room 203.  Preliminary round judges will select the top team from each group to advance to the championship round.  Teams advancing to the championship round will be announced during lunch on Friday.  Presentation order in the championship round will be in alphabetical order by group (top team from Group A will present first, followed by top team from Group B, etc.).   

Reference and Resource Materials - Team members may use and bring with them any reference sources/materials in the public domain (i.e. books, the business library, the Internet, etc.) in conducting their research. Teams may not use password protected electronic reference materials to which they may have access due to particular school affiliation.

Role of Advisors - Advisors will not participate in any way in the case preparation or presentation. Once the team receives the written case, coaching by faculty members, school staff, or contact with outside experts is expressly prohibited.  This includes the day of the presentations.

Judging - Judging will be “blind”, meaning that judges will not be told and should not be led by the team, verbally or through colors or graphics, to know which school the team represents. Teams will present using their chosen fictitious team name, such as "ABC Consulting." Individuals are free to use their real personal names in the presentation. Judges in the morning, preliminary rounds will be different than the judges in the afternoon, final round of competition. The decisions of the judges will be final.

Presentation Viewing - Team members will not be allowed to view the presentations of competing teams in the preliminary round. Team hosts may view presentations of other teams, but are not allowed to consult with the teams to which they are assigned. All participants and advisors may observe the final round; however, teams advancing to the championship round may observe only after they have presented. Members of the UW-Madison community, including non-participating MBA students, faculty, staff and alumni, and members of the media are welcome at both the preliminary and championship rounds. 

Preparation - Each team will be assigned a break-out room in the Fluno Center for case preparation and practice. Each team will be furnished with a computer (more information under Technology section). Teams may bring additional personal laptops to the competition. Team members will make their competition presentations using PowerPoint.

The Howard Auditorium (where the championship round will take place) will be available from 9:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 17 – 6:00 a.m. on Friday, April 18 for presentation practice. A computer, LCD projector and screen is built into the Auditorium. Use of the Auditorium will be on a first-come basis, but no team may occupy it for more than 45 minutes if another team is waiting.  Teams will also have additional practice time on Friday morning and in the afternoon if they advance. The practice rooms (Rm. 810, 204, 206, and 208) will not have computers since presentation files will be turned in early Friday morning.  Access to the practice rooms will be based on presentation order.   

Printing and Copying - Teams will have access to printing at the Fluno Center outside Room 201. Paper and toner will be provided. Photocopying services will be provided at the Seminar Aide Desk next to the 2nd floor break station or at the front desk (hotel reception). Please keep in mind that large copying jobs will be charged at $.10 per page.

Technology - Each team will be provided with a computer (with the Microsoft Office suite of products and the Windows operating environment) to prepare the case analysis. Each team must supply its own USB flash drive.

Teams will present PowerPoint presentations using built-in computers and projectors in each presentation room. Each room is equipped with a wireless handheld slide advancer/laser pointer, but teams should be prepared to advance slides by hand at the podium computer in case of equipment malfunction. Each team’s presentation file will be loaded in their presentation room by the competition technology manager, Alex Gilles; however, teams should be prepared to present from print copies of their PowerPoint presentations in case of technical difficulties.

Attire - Business casual attire will be appropriate for the opening reception and for the day of case preparation. Formal business attire will be appropriate for the competition day.  Please wear your nametag and lanyard at all times on the competition day.

Feedback - Judges from each preliminary round presentation room will meet for 15 minutes with each of the non-advancing teams to provide feedback. After the competition, we will mail each team a DVD of all preliminary round presentations for comparison and learning purposes. Only official video and audio recording of presentations will be permitted. Photos may not be taken during the presentation.

 

Team Host

Each team will have a University of Wisconsin MBA student host. The host will meet teams when they arrive and help members get settled. The host will be available as much as possible during the competition to assist with technology, answer questions and help with any scheduling changes that may arise.

 

Organizing Committee

Mason Carpenter
Professor of Management
mcarpenter@bus.wisc.edu

Suzanne Dove
Outreach Director, CIBER
+ 1 608-265-4938
sdove@bus.wisc.edu

Randall Dunham
Faculty Director, CIBER
rdunham@bus.wisc.edu

John Eichenseher
Professor & Chair, Accounting
Faculty Liaision for International Programs, School of Business
jeichen@bus.wisc.edu

Susan Huber-Miller
Director, CIBER
+ 1 608-263-7682
shubermiller@bus.wisc.edu

Michael Knetter
Dean, School of Business
Executive Director, CIBER
dean@bus.wisc.edu

Julie Lane
Graduate Project Assistant, CIBER
+ 1 608-265-9719
uwmadisonciber@bus.wisc.edu

Ronit Stahl
Graduate Project Assistant, International Programs, School of Business
internationaladvisor@bus.wisc.edu

Judy Symon Hanson
Co-Director, International Programs, School of Business
jsymonhanson@wisc.edu

Sachin Tuli
Co- Director, International Programs, School of Business
+ 1 608-263-2160
tuli@bus.wisc.edu

Caryn Voskuil
International Outreach Coordinator, CIBER
+ 1 608-265-4938
cvoskuil@bus.wisc.edu

 

Team Hosts

Bocconi University
Rachelle Roesler
+1 608-334-5885 (cell)
rroesler@wisc.edu

Chulalongkorn University
Lei (Grace) Xiang
+1 773-351-5358 (cell)
lxiang@wisc.edu

Copenhagen Business School
Steve Cheuk
+1 714-783-6989 (cell)
cheuk@wisc.edu

Hong Kong School of Science and Technology
Xiaoyan (Susan) Sun
+1 608-886-6620 (cell)
xsun7@wisc.edu

EGADE, Tecnológico de Monterrey
Eddie Sykes
+1 414-339-1389 (cell)
esykes@wisc.edu

The Ohio State University
Ruchira Sharma
+1 608-698-6288 (cell)
rsharma2@wisc.edu

Preeti Bhargava
+1 608-332-3422 (cell)
pbhargava@wisc.edu

University of Connecticut
Robert Destromp
+1 413-348-1469 (cell)
destromp@wisc.edu

University of Kansas
Jen Schultz
+1 608-695-2280 (cell)
jeschul1@wisc.edu or jenniferschultz@gmail.com

University of Maryland
Thomas Carmona
+1 608 886-4370 (cell)
tecarmona@wisc.edu

University of Washington
Makiko Daidoji
+1 608-852-4343 (cell)
daidoji@wisc.edu