Prepare for WiC

Prepare

Information on how to prepare for the competition: syllabus, tasks of previous years and useful webinars from the IEO experts.

Syllabus

Essential Information about the parts of the competition and the rating system.

1.1. National education systems and curricula vary in terms of structure and content, but the tasks of the IEO are composed in a way that facilitates equal competition. The tasks are not aimed primarily at testing the knowledge of theory. A significant share of the tasks is practical-oriented, test analytical skills and curiosity. The IEO tasks are created considering that its contestants are predominantly students of (senior) high school, or level 3 according to UNESCO International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED 2011). Yet, provided that the IEO is a worldwide selective competition for national teams, some tasks on the topics that are outside the scope of a traditional high school curriculum may appear.

1.2. Economics and Finance parts of the competition are individual. The competition in Business Case is a team competition.

1.3. The maximum individual final points for the parts of the competition (variable M) are the following: 100 for Economics part, 50 for Financial Literacy part, 50 for Business Case part. The individual points for the Business Case part equal the team points for the part.

1.4. In every part of the competition, the result is first computed in raw points. Raw points are then normalized to get the final points according to the following procedure.

Let Gi be the raw score of the contestant (or team in the Business Case part) i in the part of the Olympiad, A — the average of all raw scores, σ — standard deviation of all raw scores. Then we define Z-score of the contestant i as:

Zi =(Gi − A)/ σ

The final result of the contestant i is then calculated as follows:

Fi = M/2 × {min{max{1 + zi/2; 0}; 2}

Where M is the maximum possible result of this part (in final points) specified in this Syllabus.

If some scores change in the process of moderation, Z-scores and final scores are recalculated.

1.5. The total individual results are calculated as a sum of all three final scores. Ties are broken by taking the score from the Economics part. If still tied, the Financial Literacy part results are taken.

1.6. The total team results are calculated as a sum of:

The average final score of team members in the Economics part divided by 2;
The average final score of team members in the Financial Literacy part;
The team score in the Business Case part.
Ties are broken by taking the average team score from the Economics part. If still tied, the Business Case part results are taken.

2.1. The tasks in Economics (the first part of the competition) should test contestants'understanding of basic economic concepts and models, their curiosity about
the field and analytical skills. This section of the competition is individual.

2.2. The main recommended textbook for the Economics section is The Economy by the CORE Economics Education project. CORE (which stands for Curriculum Open-access Resources
in Economics) offers a modern way of teaching economics that is widely accessible
for students with any backgrounds and available online at https://www.core-econ.org
(free of charge).

2.3. Supplementary recommended textbook for preparation is Principles of Economics by N. Gregory Mankiw (the newest edition). It represents the more traditional approach to teaching introductory economics. These two textbooks are available in English, Mankiw'stextbook is also translated into other languages, CORE Textbook is also available in French. If these resources are unavailable for contestants, they can use other economics textbooks of principles level.

2.4. Economics section of the IEO includes 20 multiple choice questions; the overall time limit is 120 minutes. Multiple choice questions test the basic understanding
of economic concepts (which may include simple calculations).

2.5. In every exam, all 20 multiple choice questions will be graded (4 raw points for the correct answer, minus 3 raw point for the incorrect answer).

2.6. Each multiple-choice question must belong to one or more
of the following topics:

Specialization and the gains from trade;
Technology and long-run growth;
Game theory: conflict and cooperation;
Institutions;
Firms;
Competitive markets for goods and services (including government interventions and non-clearing markets);
Labour market;
Market failures;
Macroeconomic data: measuring income, inflation and unemployment;
Money;
Fluctuations and macroeconomic policy;
Open economy;
Inequality;
Environment;
New industries and markets: innovations and networks.

The problems and multiple-choice questions should be diverse in topics.

4.1. The competition in business is a team competition and includes the oral presentation of the results. Presentations must be supported by slides. The presentations should be in English.

4.2. Case study part is a team competition and lasts for 2 weeks — 7 days; 7 days of the presentation. During the week of preparation, contestants may use any online and offline materials, but it is prohibited to contact other people for help. All teams submit their slides
by 23:59 local time of the preparation day. No changes to slides are allowed after this time.

4.3. Business case solution consists of several parts. Here are the competencies contestant should acquire, that will be evaluated by the Jury, related to those parts:

Analytical thinking: the ability to structurally approach the solution of a complex business problem, correctly dividing it into streams (into directions within which the solution
of the problem may lie).

As a rule, the team should divide the case into some large blocks, which, in turn, are further divided and so on to the level of specific problems. A good structure corresponds to the MECEprinciple (mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive), that is, it covers all possible solutions, but each individual stream does not intersect with others.

Conceptual thinking: the ability to build correct hypotheses based on the resulting structure, made by analysis. Here the team checks how ideas respond to the necessary request and correctly address these or other problems of the enterprise, the team also makes sure that these solutions are feasible and have a common and business sense.

Quantitative thinking: no case can be solved without simple but fast calculations and more complex models that illustrate certain analyzes.

Communication skills: the ability to correctly build a presentation and to answer questions.

4.4.The PC recommends the following literature. Useful literature for case solving:

The Pyramid Principle, Barbara Minto;
Crack the Case, David Ohrvall;
The Trusted Advisor, D. Maister, C. Green, R. Galford.

Useful literature for data analysis:

The McKinsey Way, Ethan Rasiel;
Strategic Management, Thompson Strickland;
The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge;
Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman;
Case in Point, Marc Cosentino;
BCG on Strategy, C. Stern, M. Deimler.

Useful literature for presentations:

Say It With Charts, Gene Zelazny;
Unfolding the Napkin, Dan Roam;
Visualize This, Nathan Yau;
The Pyramid Principle, Barbara Minto;
Slide:ology, Nancy Duarte

4.5. In addition to books listed above, the PC recommends studying the example cases that were used at the previous Olympiads and can be found here: https://ecolymp.org/preparE. Additional materials for preparation will be provided to the invited teams before the Business Case part.