Real World Problem Solving

Tackle a realistic case prompt provided by Keurig Dr Pepper

Build Your Skills

Prepare through exclusive access to special sessions with 2nd year Fellows and case sponsor

Access Industry Leaders

Conference speakers and networking will follow the Challenge rounds

Display Your Talent

Assemble a team and present your solution to a cross-industry panel of judges

Win Prizes

Four team advance to the finals and split the case prize

All first-year Texas McCombs Full-Time MBA students are eligible to compete

Step One:

Assemble a team of four first-year Full-time MBA students. Teams may compete with three members, but teams of four are highly encouraged.

Step Two:

Assemble your team registration materials:

• Team Name
• Team Members - Name, Email
• Resume - PDF format, file named "TeamName_LastName_FirstName.pdf"

Step Three:

One team member will register the team using the Team Registration link below.

Teams & Attendance

1. Teams must consist of 3 or 4 first-year Full-Time MBA students. A max of 16 teams will compete.
2. Teams may determine how the presentation delivery is divided among the team members. At least 3 team members must attend their presentation rounds.
3. Preliminary and final round presentation order will be based on a random draw. If any team member has a class conflict during a presentation block, it must be reported to event organizers via email by 5:00 pm, Friday 11/4 for consideration.
4. All team members are expected to attend the conference and networking sessions. Any conflicts must be reported to event organizers via email by 5:00 pm, Friday 11/4 for consideration. Failure to attend could result in disqualification. Winners must be present at the awards ceremony to receive prizes.
5. Teams are expressly prohibited from discussing the case or accepting assistance from any person outside their team, with the exception of the written/live Q&A with the case sponsor, one practice presentation with approved 2Y, and one scheduled session with a McCombs communication coach. These persons may only provide clarification (case sponsor) or delivery feedback (2Y, coach), and are prohibited from helping the team develop their solution.

Q&A with Case Sponsor

1. Teams have the opportunity to submit up to 5 written questions to the case sponsor. Written questions from each team will be accepted via template upload until 8:00 am, Wednesday 11/2. If a team submits multiple batches, only the first submission will be routed. A written response to each team will be returned Friday 11/4.
2. Teams have the opportunity to ask the case sponsor clarifying questions during a live Q&A. The discussion will be open to all teams. The Q&A session will be held via Zoom from 12:00-1:00 pm on Friday 11/4.

Other Resources

1. Teams are permitted to utilize any publicly available information to develop case solutions – written resource, UT Library databases, scholarly publication, internet, industry journals, academic textbooks, etc.
2. Teams may schedule up to two practice presentations with an approved 2Y between 11/7-11/9. 2Ys are prohibited from helping the team develop their solution.
3. Teams may schedule a one-hour session with a McCombs Communication Coach between 11/2 and 11/9. Coaches are prohibited from helping the team develop their solution. To access coaches, teams can utilize 15 minutes from each student's coaching allotment. Teams must contact coaches directly to set up practice/prep sessions.

Presentations

1. Case presentations must be submitted by 6:00 pm, Wednesday 11/9. The upload link will be provided in the “Presentation Submission” section on the event website. Presentations may NOT be changed in any way after submission.
2. Presentations will be limited to 15 minutes. During the preliminary round, there will be an additional 5 minutes for Q&A, 5 minutes for a private judge’s discussion, and 10 minutes for verbal feedback.
3. Teams will be randomly split into four preliminary round flights. Judges will select one team from each flight to proceed to the final round.
4. Preliminary round assignments will be emailed to the teams by 9:00 pm, Wednesday 11/9. No changes can be made to the assignments after the release.
5. Final round assignments will be emailed to the teams by 9:00 pm, Thursday 11/10. No changes can be made to the assignments after the release.
6. Teams will arrive at least 5 minutes prior to the assigned presentation time. Failure to arrive on time could result in disqualification.
7. Judges are provided a rubric for evaluating the presentations. However, judges are professionals in the field and may use the evaluation criteria as they see fit. Decisions by the judges will be final.  

Other

1. Winning prize amounts are paid to individuals. All winnings are considered taxable income and each person will be responsible for reporting that income to the IRS. For individuals without social security numbers, the taxable amount may be deducted from the initial prize.
2. By participating in the event, you grant challenge organizers permission to publish any photographs taken during the event that contain you or your likeness for publicity purposes.

More to come on our speakers and panelists. Stay tuned ...