Rules & Regulations

Eligibility

–       Vietnamese students/alumni/working professionals in Singapore

–       Singaporean/international students/working professionals in Singapore

–       Students/working professionals from Vietnam (or other countries) are welcome but you need to be prepared to bear the airfare to Singapore if chosen for 24-hour challenge to be held on 03-04 December 2011

–       All teams must have at least 1 Vietnamese member

–       Age from 16-30 years old 

Preliminary round

In the preliminary round, each team will be given one brief case, which may not be related to the main cases provided later in subsequent rounds, and have 8 days to prepare and submit proposals to address the question posed in the case. Participants can refer to all sources of referenced materials as long as it is properly documented. Please follow the American Psychological (APA) style of referencing. This round will be conducted online and test analytical skills as well as creative and critical thinking abilities of participants.

Submission guideline:

Team Name: ……….

Full names of all team members:

Team Member 1 (Leader): ………. 

Team Member 2: ……….

Team Member 3: ……….

Team Member 4: ……….

Location (the city where your team members are staying, e.g. Singapore, Hanoi, HCMC, etc.): ……….

(if your team members are staying in different locations, please indicate so as well)

6)  If you forget your “team name” submitted to us before, you may send an email to ychallenge.submit@yplatform.vn and indicate the full names and email addresses of all your team members. Besides, if your team want to change to a different “team name”, please also email to ychallenge.submit@yplatform.vn with such information as well.

For individual registrants, we have grouped you into teams, and we have assigned your team with a “team code” (such as “Y01”) which may act as the name for your team. However, if your team want to change to a different “team name”, please send an email to ychallenge.submit@yplatform.vn, indicate the “team code” (e.g. “Y01”) as well as the full names and email addresses of all the team members.

Judging criteria:

1) Comprehensiveness of the analysis: does your analysis cover comprehensive issues and constraints demonstrated through provided case materials as well as additional research on external and internal factors that affect your recommendations?

24-hour Challenge (Semi-Final Round)

The TOP 20 selected teams from Preliminary Round are to proceed to the 24-hour Challenge and assigned to a case on a partner company. The Board of Judges will select eight (8) teams (2 best teams for each case) to proceed to the Final Round (field trip and Grand Finale) in Vietnam (15^th-18^th December 2011).

The focus of this Semi-Final Round (24-hour Challenge) is on contestants’ capabilities in teamwork, analytical skills and critical problem solving under time pressure, and the ability to eloquently pitch their proposals to the Board of Judges.

Time:

• 24-hour Challenge: 9:20am 3^rd Dec to 9:20am 4^th Dec
• Case Presentation Day: 9:40am 4^th Dec to 8:00pm 4^th Dec

Language: English

Location: NUS Business School, 1 Business Link, Singapore 117592

Rules & Regulations:

1. Each team is allowed to bring an unlimited number of textbooks, reference materials to the designated premises in NUS Business School. Reference materials are defined as any forms of notes, compendiums/readers, collections of articles and the like.
2. Internet access is allowed. However, all forms of communication (including but not limited to email, instant messaging, teleconference, facebook, etc.) between the team and any other third parties are strictly prohibited.
3. The teams are strictly not allowed to discuss the case or their presentation with any outsiders during the 24-hour period designated. Staying out of the designated room except for personal or emergency matters is not allowed, and would require official approval from the organizing committee.
4. The content of all case-related materials are confidential. Teams are not allowed to distribute the materials without official written permission from the organizing committee and the case partner company.
5. The case should be prepared in the designated room. During the preparation, all case materials must remain in the room. All case materials include the case itself, the Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, and all reference materials.
6. After the 24-hour period designated, in order to ensure fairness for all teams, the organizers will collect all such materials (including laptops, notes, etc.) so as to prevent any additional preparation after the 24-hour period.
7. During presentation day, you’re not allowed to practice presenting regardless of your case’s order.
8. You are recommended to bring your own computers/laptops/tablets.
9. No hand-phones, camera, or any transmitting devices are allowed. Only exception is computers/laptops/tablets.
10. No report is required.
11. Presentation will consist of a 15-minute presentation and a 5-minute Q&A session with the Board of Judges. The timing shall be strictly observed.
12. Standard presentation format is Microsoft Office PowerPoint. Keynotes for Apple’s products or any other products are not allowed.
13. The sequence of presentation will be determined just right before the presentation of the case.
14. In case of conflicts or disputes, organizer’s decision is final.

We take it seriously against cheating and/or violating the rules & regulations. Any team found cheating and/or violating the rules & regulations will be disqualified immediately.

Field Trip & Grand Finale (Vietnam)

The 8 teams (The Eight) having been selected from 24-hour Challenge will proceed to the final round with a couple of activities to fine tune their proposal produced in the previous round. This round tests participants on problem solving skills under a closer-to-real-life situation as well as communication skills with various stakeholders in respective companies to do a reality-check for their proposals.

The Eight will be given access to a full version of the cases developed with partner companies so as to be required to solve the problems from more angles with more constraints. During two weeks between end of 24-hour Challenge and Field Trip, The Eight are required to communicate offline with relevant stakeholders in their respective cases and go through one workshop conducted by one of our advisors who are experienced management consultants. In this intensive period, each team will also be assigned to one mentor who is senior working professionals in related fields.

On 15 December 2011, The Eight will embark on their field trips to respective partner companies in Vietnam and interact directly with relevant stakeholders to their case proposals during 02 working days. These activities serve as final check to their proposals, to be presented in private to the management of respective companies in the language of choice (either Vietnamese or English) from the management. The management (from each partner company) will decide one wining team for each case, who is to present their proposals, with some level of information shield as requested from partnered companies, to the public at Grand Finale & Networking in Ho Chi Minh City on 17 December 2011.

The Eight are required to sign a Confidentiality Agreement to make sure that the materials as well as information provided to The Eight are to remain strictly within the team. Materials and information include all content provided in the written case as well as verbal and written conversations between the teams and relevant stakeholders in respective partner companies.