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
MECE principle (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 case that was used at the previous years.