"Best In Class" FEI Invitational Case Competition 2008

The team I joined was fortunate enough to earn the right to represent Queen's at the 3rd annual "Best In Class" case competition sponsored by the Financial Executives International Canada Chapter and hosted by the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. Ten schools were invited to send a team of four students to participate. (Queen's, Rotman, Schulich, Ivey, HEC-Montreal, McGill, St.Mary's, Sauders, Alberta School of Business and Haskayne) Here is a brief synopsis.

Thursday Nov 6:

• Rent a vehicle, leave Kingston at 11:30 AM, drive for 3 hours to Toronto, check in at the Delta Chelsea
• Arrive at Rotman just prior to 4 PM for the 1 hour tech. session to get laptops set-up for the wireless network. We were also given swipe cards and a tutorial on the information services available.
• 6 PM-7PM a meet and greet in the atrium

Friday Nov 7:

• 9 AM the live case is rolled out. The CEO and several executives presented their company. This year it was Pacific & Western Credit Corp.
• 9-10 AM teams retired to their working rooms to review annual reports and other information and prepare for question period
• 10-11 AM all teams assembled and each takes a turn asking a question of the company's CEO. We managed to get in 60 questions.
• 11 AM onward teams are expected to remain sequestered in their assigned work areas and not interact with other teams.
• 11 AM-1PM Lunch with case organizers and company execs.
• 6 PM Pizza supper provided
• Teams work as long as they like researching and analyzing publicly available data

Saturday Nov 8:

• Our team was working until 2:30 AM. Then we went to the hotel to practice our presentation. Got to bed at 3:30 AM.
• Up at 6 AM to get showered and to look "fresh" for the judges
• 7 AM at Rotman, grab some coffee and fruit provided by the competition, also assigned an proctor who is responsible for escorting us around to ensure we abide by the rules
• 7:45 AM all team must have submitted a paper copy of their slide deck as well as an electronic copy on a USB key provided. Slide decks much be in black&white (gray scale allowed) with no animations. However, a team did get away with some colour in their deck. I mention who since it is all in the past.
• 7:45 to 8 AM all teams in the atrium while judges are introduced and the order of the presentations was drawn randomly
• 8 AM to 1:30 PM each team presents for 15 minutes with 10 minutes of questions. Judges are given 5 minutes to finish evaluation while the next team sets up. Teams are not allowed to see other team's presentations, but must be waiting in the staging area 5 minutes prior to their set-up time. Anyone who is late is disqualified.
• 1:30 PM the CEO of the case company roles out a "surprise" crisis. This time there were two independent problems: loss of access to major source of short-term liquidity and Shoppers Drug Mart whats to purchase company at a premium through a share swap.
• 1:30 PM to 3 PM Teams sequestered in working rooms while they analyse and make a new solution to the crisis.
• 3 PM Teams submit their decks and power point presentations as before and then it is revealed who the top 4 teams are that will get to move on to the finals. The first team sets up right then while the remaining 3 are sequestered again. All remaining teams are allowed to watch the finals. In addition, a new set of judges is assembled and introduced.
• 3 to 4:30 PM Final presentations
• 4:30 PM Teams clean out work rooms and make their way to the reception at Osgood Hall in downtown Toronto
• 5 PM cocktails and mingling with organizations, case company execs., and other schools
• 6 PM dinner
• 7 PM awards (1st place HEC-Montreal, 2nd place Rotman, 3rd place Haskayne)
• 9 PM all is done. Contestants leave for home or the hotel
• 11 PM go out for a drink with my team member

Sunday Nov 9th:

• Up at 7 AM to leave by 8:30 AM
• Back in Kingston at Noon-ish. Unload and return the rental vehicle
• Dive into team meetings and course work to catch up on all the material I have missed

Overall it was a really unique experience. I hope next year's Queen's team does better and I hope the organizers a least sit the team all at the same table. Every other school was seated as teams, but the organizers saw fit to split the Queen's team up at 2 different tables on opposite sides of the dinning hall. They couldn't have put us further apart if they tried.

All that aside, the event was meticulously planned and it is a great experience for MBA students to get a taste of what it is like to be in the "hot seat" that many executives find themselves. This experience has definitely made me want to participate in more case competitions and I would recommend others try them out as well.