International Case Masters

CONFLUENCE 2013
1. Introduction
The International Case Masters, the case writing competition, is one of the flagship events of Confluence 2013. The objective of this event is to promote study of global management practices. The participants are required to write case studies from real life situations in organization which can be used as teaching aid in management education. The event was organized as a part of Golden Jubilee celebrations of the institute in 2011 and saw great turn out from colleges around the world including NUS Business School, Singapore and Said Business School and University of Oxford.

2. Guidelines
Eligibility 1. The event invites entries from students, academic researchers and faculty members across the world. Participants have to register in teams with a team having maximum 3 members. 2. A team may have a faculty member as a guide or co-author. However, there should be at least one student in any team. 3. A case can have one or multiple authors. In case the team wants to designate the writer as either main/sub author or primary/secondary author, the same should be clearly stated in the 'Author's Profile' to be submitted in the first stage 4. The case should be an original work, and should not have been published elsewhere, submitted for publication or used in any competition (including Confluence 2012) 5. An individual can be a part of only one participating team

Categories 1. Ethics: There has been a paradigm shift in the ethical values of our society. Individuals and organizations have seemingly become less accountable to their

stakeholders, hence leading to various scams and allegations. Has only monetary gain become the order of the day? 2. Human Resources: With increased avenues for career, attrition rates have increased manifold. The case should capture the essence of what an employee demands from his employer in this age. Does the Maslow's theory still work?? Employee burn-out prevention and tips to develop visionaries rather than mere CEO's. 3. Open track: Cases which do not fall in the above mentioned categories will be considered in this category. Suggested categories include but are not restricted to finance, marketing, strategy, public policy, organizational structures, operations management etc. Copyright Copyright for the submitted cases will be transferred to Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

3. Structure of Competition
Stage 1: In this stage following documents should be submitted:

1. Abstract: Introduction to the case (Maximum 400 words) - It should specify the cases central person and should precisely describe the situation he/she is in. It should also clearly specify the decision problem or the dilemma the case deals with and explain the cases context in terms of the organization, time lines, important business factors and key characters. 2. The Complete Case - The case should adhere to the following: i. It should not exceed 12 pages of narrative. The case can have a maximum of 10 additional pages of exhibits and bibliography. ii. It should be based on primary research on a real company in a real business scenario iii. It should be usable for teaching purposes in management and executive training programs iv. The case should not have been published elsewhere, submitted for publication or used in other competitions (including Confluence 2012) 3. Approval from all authors/mentors/guides for using the case/teaching note for publication and/or subsequent distribution shall be given along with the case submission using the document-Case registration form_1_Author.pdf 4. If the case includes proprietary information about an organization, authors must get legal approval from the organization to submit case for the competition and subsequent public distribution. Use the document-Case registration form_2_Organization.pdf 5. Profile of the authors and sub-authors (Maximum 50 words per author/subauthor)

Stage 2: In this stage following documents should be submitted by shortlisted teams: Detailed Teaching note (Minimum of 3 pages). It should specify: i. Background of the students who may use the case ii. Teaching objectives and suggested teaching approach iii. Discussion questions and their analysis iv. Suggested additional readings v. Suggested student assignments and session plan
Stage 3: One day conference for the final shortlisted teams:

After the second stage judging process is over, the finalists will be announced. These teams would be required to attend a one day conference to be held at IIM-A campus which would facilitate interaction between judges and the final shortlisted participants. Upon presentation of the cases, the final winner will be declared by the judges. The cases received will also serve as the perfect tool to discuss the opportunities and issues in a world of uncertainty. Attendance of the primary author of shortlisted teams is mandatory for the conference.

4. Evaluation
Criterion Description 1. Analysis Opportunities: o Is there an obvious solution? Are there trade-offs involved in the decision making process? o Is the case challenging? Does it involve implementation issues? Does it contain enough qualitative and quantitative data? o Is it helpful in illustrating key concepts and theories? 2. Data accuracy and authenticity of research 3. Writing Style: Is the case interesting to read? Is the length justified? Does the information flow in a logical sequence? Is it easy to read? Weightage

Case Narrative Evaluation

75%

Teaching Note Evaluation

Judged on its comprehensiveness and level of analysis

25%

5. Prizes
First Prize INR 1,00,000 Second Prize INR 50,000 Third Prize INR 30,000 Cases shortlisted after stage 2 results will be invited to a conference of the esteemed panel of judges and academicians to be held at IIM, Ahmedabad Each final shortlisted case will receive written feedback from judges.

6. Schedule
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Event launch and start of registrations: September 02, 2013 Registration of team closes: September 20, 2013 Deadline for case submission (Stage 1): October 10, 2013 Release of shortlisted teams for Stage 2: October 28, 2013 Submission of Detailed Teaching Note (Stage 2): November 2, 2013 Release of final shortlisted teams for Stage 3: November 15, 2013 7. One-day-Conference (Stage 3): Campus round* (Exact date will be announced later) *One Day Conference: BetweenNovember 29, 2013 and December 1,2013; to be held at IIM
Ahmedabad campus.

7. Registration
Team registrations shall be done by filling the following Google form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/118p1lFLJq03FxRcDnDjzrx_jUvj90kjx2USupm uaf7A/viewform Case registration forms (approval from author and organization) can be downloaded from: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7wyoopLwUfZeDExcHo1Wlc4Qzg/edit?usp=s haring Submission of Case/Detailed Teaching Note (both Stage1 and Stage2) should reach: icm@iimaconfluence.com

8. Final Results
Will be declared post the one-day conference.

9. Contact
For your queries/suggestions/submissions contact: icm@iimaconfluence.com Address: Indian Institute Of Management, Ahmedabad Vastrapur, Ahmedabad - 380015 Gujarat India You may also call the following team members for more clarifications: Munesh Verma || +917359699900 || p12muneshv@iimahd.ernet.in Vinod Kumar || +919586229929 || p12vinodka@iimahd.ernet.in