Rules and Regulation
Eligibility
All full-time and part-time students engaged in a Graduate program during the academic year 2009-2010 are eligible to participate in the competition.
Team
Each team must comprise of three or four members (minimum of three and maximum of four members). Team members can come together from different faculties at graduate level, however all team members must belong to the same university. There is no limit on the number of entries per university. A participant cannot be a member of more than one team.
Registration
Teams should register on the Cerebration website by clicking here by 23:59 hours Pacific Standard Time (PST), 26th November, 2009 to participate in this competition.
Teams need to indicate their preference among the three cases. For a brief overview of the case, click here.
Case Allocation
Case Allocation will be conducted in two phases based on the date of registration. The first phase of case allocation will be completed on 19th November 2009. All teams having registered prior to 19th November 2009 will receive the cases in the first phase. The second phase of allocation of cases will be completed by 27th November, 2009. The final cases will be released on 27th November, 23:59 hours (PST).
Case allocation will be done in a manner that ensures proportionate representation of our case sponsors but within that broad parameter, the organizing team will try its best to adhere to the preference of the participants. However, NUS reserves the final rights for allocation of cases.
Teams will be notified about their allocated cases through E-mail (The Email address mentioned during Registration).
File Submissions
Please note that all submissions for all rounds given below must happen only by uploading your files through your Cerebration accounts. Submissions sent by email will not be accepted. If you require assistance in retrieving your Cerebration account access, please feel free to email us at cerebration@nus.edu.sg
Round 1 - Executive Summary Submission
Teams must submit an executive summary of their business plan by 23:59 hours (PST), 12th December 2009. Late submissions will NOT be accepted.
The executive summary should not exceed 5 pages (3 page summary + 1 page Appendix + 1 page for Cover page). The acceptable formats for submission are MS Word 2003 (.doc) & MS Word 2007 (.docx)
Each executive summary should have a cover page that indicates:
- Name of the school/university
- Names of all team members
- E-mail addresses and telephone numbers of all team members
- Chosen company and the country for which the executive summary has been prepared
Details from points 1-3 should NOT appear in any other part of the submission (i.e., as a header or footer or part of the main document).
The executive summary should be written in 12 point Times New Roman with 1.5 line spacing and a margin of 1" on all sides.
The judging panel will comprise of NUS Business School faculty members.
The top 54 teams will be announced at 23:59 hours (PST), 28th December, 2009.
Round 2 (Business Plan Submission)
The top 54 teams from Round One will advance to Round Two.
Teams must submit a detailed business plan not exceeding 30 pages (including appendices) + 1 Cover Page. Please adhere strictly to this guideline.
Each business plan should have a cover page mentioning:
- Name of the school/university
- Names of all team members
- E-mail addresses and telephone numbers of all team members
- Chosen company and the country for which the executive summary has been prepared
Details from points 1-3 should NOT appear in any other part of the submission (i.e., as a header or footer. Business plans should be submitted by 17th January, 2010, 23:59 hours (PST).
The judging panel will comprise:
- NUS Business School faculty
- Individual Case sponsors
Top 27 teams will be announced by 31st January, 2010, 23:59 hours (PST). These teams will receive written feedback from the judges. This feedback should be incorporated into the business plans.
Round 3 (Revision of Business Plans)
The Top 27 teams are required to submit the revised Business Plan after incorporating the feedback provided by 14th February, 2010, 23:59 hours (PST).
Along with the business plan, all teams are required to submit a summary of all changes made to plan in a 2 page summary document. The length of the revised business plan cannot be more than 35 pages (including appendices). The same judging panel as in Round two will judge the revised business plan.
Of the original 27, 6 teams will qualify to proceed to the Semi-final Round. Successful teams will be announced by 27th February, 2010, 23:59 hours (PST).
Finals (Round I)
NUS will fly down the final six teams to Singapore to compete in the Final Rounds. The finals event comprises two rounds (I and II) which are held across two consecutive days. The judging panels in both these round will be different.
All teams competing in Round (I) will be required to submit a copy of their presentation on a CD one hour before the start of the Round. No changes to the presentation will be allowed after the CD has been submitted.
Teams will be provided with all necessary infrastructures like laptops, CDs etc.
Teams will present their business plan in front of the judging panel on March 26, 2010. Each team will be given twenty five minutes to complete their presentation and twenty minutes for Q&A.
The final three teams will be announced by the evening of 26th March, 2010. These teams will advance to the Finals Round (II). The final teams will be given a challenge in the form of a "twister" to incorporate into their strategies and they will need to answer that in the Final.
Finals (Round II) - Grand Final
The final 4 teams will receive written feedback (on 26th March, 2010) from the judging panel which should be incorporated into their final business plans.
Teams that qualify for the Final Round (II) are required to submit a copy of their revised presentation on a CD one hour before the start of the Final Round. No changes to the presentation slides will be allowed after CDs have been submitted.
Each team will be given no more than twenty five minutes to complete their presentation and twenty minutes for Q&A.
The final results will be announced on 27th March, 2010.
Note:
- The rules and timelines are subject to change at the discretion of the organizing committee
- Expect some twists and turns to the cases in the midst of the competition
