The 2023 Championship Round will be hosted by the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa, USA, and will feature the 16 teams that advance from the Qualifying Round.
An Opening Ceremony and Welcome Reception will be held on Sunday, March 5, with matches beginning on Monday, March 6 and continuing through the week. The competition champions and winners of other awards will be announced during the NIBS Gala Banquet on Friday, March 10.
Divisional Matches (Round Robin)
In the preliminary stage, teams are divided into four divisions of four universities each. Teams compete sequentially against each of the other teams in their division in a series of three round-robin matches. Following each match, the judging panel awards a total of 11 points across the two teams based on their relative performance (e.g., 6-to-5 or 7.5-to-3.5). No ties are permitted. The two teams in each division with the highest cumulative scores following this preliminary stage advance to the knockout matches.
Knockout Matches (Playoffs)
The knockout phase begins with four quarter-final matches, each pitting the top team from one division against a second-place team from a different division. Winners of each quarter-final then advance to the semi-final round. Winners of the two semi-final matches meet in the Championship Final.
Preparation Times
Teams have either 3 or 4 hours to read the case and prepare their solution and presentation, depending on the round.
Judging Criteria
Judging in the Championship Round is done holistically, with consideration given to both the merits of the plan and its justification. Recommendations should be logical, actionable, realistic, creative, and well-founded. Presentations should be clear, concise, and persuasive, with clear effort to show the link between recommendations and the underlying analysis. Since this is an international business competition, preference is given to presentations that consider the role of cultural, economic, political, legal, demographic, and geographic variations, where appropriate.
⇒ View the Championship Round Evaluation and Feedback Forms.
Sample Presentations
Championship Final 2020 – Schwäbisch Hall / Künzelsau, Germany
The NIBS 2020 Championship Final case was “Huawei: Struggling to Develop a More Sustainable Supply Network” by Jury Gualandris and Julian Barg. This case is available for purchase from Ivey Publishing. (Registered educators can view an inspection copy free of charge.)
Winner: Bishop’s University (Canada)
Runner-up: Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences (Germany)
Championship Final 2019 – Charlottetown, Canada
Championship Final 2019 – Charlottetown, Canada The NIBS 2019 Championship Final case was “Kidzania: Spreading Fun Around the World” by Andres Terech, Martha Rivera Pesquera, and María Guadalupe Torres. This case is available for purchase from Harvard Business Publishing. (Registered educators can view an inspection copy free of charge.)
Winner: University of Guelph-Humber (Canada)
Runner-up: Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands)
Championship Final 2017 – Rauma, Finland
The NIBS 2017 Championship Final case was “SANY’s Cross-Border Acquisition, Integration, and Strategic Renewal” by Libo Fan, Paul Beamish, and Bess (Huifang) Geng. This case is available for purchase from Ivey Publishing. (Registered educators can view an inspection copy free of charge.)
Winner: Carleton University (Canada)
Runner-up: Concordia University (Canada)
For videos of championship-winning presentation from the in-person version of the competition, please visit the pages from previous editions