Competition Rules

To uphold the integrity of the competition and the results, all competitors must abide by the strictest standards of honesty and professional conduct. Any violation of competition rules will result in disqualification.

Case Content

The client and the content of the case are not disclosed until the Live Case Presentation at case launch on Thursday. Any individual with prior knowledge of the case is ineligible to compete. Any team that acquires this information prior to the case presentation will be disqualified.

Communications

All important announcements and information will be distributed via email and will be posted on the MBSC website homepage. All students are responsible for checking the email addresses that they provided on the Registration Form. Furthermore, questions submitted to the MBSC Planning Committee will be made publicly available on the MBSC website. Therefore, please check the website frequently for updates.

Presentation Format

Participants must email their presentations by the submission deadline. Teams submitting their presentation after the deadline may be disqualified. Presentations should be made using Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides. The case solution must also have an executive summary on a single A4 page summarizing the solution and key points in text format (maximum 2400 characters with spaces). 

Submit your presentation as a PowerPoint and as a PDF by sending an email to mbsc@georgetown.edu with the files attached. Please note that because the case solution must be submitted as a single PDF document, you will have to merge the executive summary and the slides together, with the executive summary in front. The size limit for many email programs is 25 MB; if your presentation exceeds this limit, use yousendit.com to send files up to 2 GB. Format both the subject line of the email and the filename of the presentation as “Team [IDNumber] – MBSC 2023 Presentation”. For example, if your team ID number is 1.3, the subject line of your email and the file name of your presentation will be “Team 1.3 – MBSC 2023 Presentation.” Once submitted, presentations may not be altered.

All submitted material must be anonymous. At no point in the executive summary, PowerPoint, or presentation may students identify their university. Student presentation attire should also not disclose their institution’s identity.

Timing

Each presentation will consist of a 15-minute presentation followed by 15 minutes of Q&A. Teams are asked not to exceed time limits and judges are encouraged to take timing into consideration. The MBSC representatives in each room will be timing the presentations. Teams will be notified when there are 5 minutes remaining and when there is 1 minute remaining in their time, both during their presentation and during the Q&A.

Research & Outside Experts

Teams are expected to conduct any and all necessary research through free and publicly available resources. Any sources that require payment for use of source (including JSTOR or Harvard Business Review articles) are prohibited. If you are not sure if a resource is allowed, please ask us. Teams are not allowed to discuss the case with any other competing team.

Participants may not seek assistance in any form from any other person, including, but not limited to, faculty sponsors, professors, parents, friends, or personal contacts of any kind whose ideas are not publicly available (i.e. published online). Participants may not contact any representative or staff of the nonprofit except during the designated Q&A period on Thursday.

Team Advisors

Participants may not consult with their team advisors regarding the case at any point during the competition. Advisors will be allowed to observe their own team as well as all the other teams in their own bracket during the preliminary round. With the exception of the teams who advance to the finals, all other teams and advisors are permitted to observe the final round.

Final Round

Judges will select one team from each bracket to qualify for the final round. The selected finalists must be available for the final round. Teams advancing to the final round are not permitted to seek feedback from judges or alter their presentation deck between the preliminary round and final round.

Reporting Rules & Violations

Any disputes or reported violations of the competition rules should be brought to the attention of a Co-Director in writing as soon as it is observed.