Analytics Competition

Show off your business analytics skills to win money!

All current Cleveland State University students (full-time, part-time, undergraduate and graduate) are eligible to participate in the Monte Ahuja College of Business Analytics Competition, made possible by a gift from Redwood Living. Students from other universities are not eligible to participate.

Rules:

• Students can participate as individuals or form a team (no more than 4 students to a team total).
• Students can only participate in ONE submission (i.e.: students may not participate on multiple teams). 
• Students should have registered by Friday, September 29th. For any questions, please contact Dr. Ashutosh Patil (a.r.patil63@csuohio.edu) or Dr. Pedro Lopes Gerum (p.lopesgerum@csuohio.edu).
• The competition consists of 2 phases: a written memo phase and an oral presentation phase.

Phases of the competition:

1. The Written Memo Phase (Phase One) will consist of teams composing and submitting electronically a written memo that describes analysis and a recommended solution to the given problem. This phase is due by Friday, October 13th at 12:00 noon.
   • The memo should comprise no more than two pages of text and up to 8 pages of appendices/supplemental materials such as charts, graphs, tables, etc. (10 pages maximum). 
   • The memo should use one-inch margins on all sides and a font size of at least 10. 
   • The written memo will be evaluated by a panel of judges, and those teams ranked as highest will be invited to the oral presentation phase.
   • The written memo will be evaluated on the following criteria: 
   • Quality of Issues Diagnosis and Understanding: Are the issues well-defined? Do answers demonstrate understanding
   • Quality of Observations and Insights: Is there an abundance of non-obvious and pertinent "facts" and observations? Are answers explaining and going beyond surface issues?
   • Quality of Answers/Recommended Solution: Are answers/recommended solution specific, comprehensive, practical, and possibly actionable if requested to be actionable? Are answers/recommendations clear and concise, versus excessively and overwhelmingly detailed?
   • Assignment Organization:  Does the assignment reflect a logical structure, clarity, conciseness, grammar, and professional format?
2. The Oral Presentation Phase (Phase Two) will consist of teams orally presenting in-person a summary of their analyses and recommended solution to a panel of judges on Friday, November 17th.
   • The oral presentation is limited to 10 minutes and can use Powerpoint and other types of slide materials.
   • All teams admitted to and participating in the oral presentation/final stage will be awarded a cash prize.
     • The first place team will win the grand prize of $1,000.
     • The second place team will be awarded $500. 
     • At minimum, finalist teams will win $250. 
   • The oral presentation will include the written memo criteria plus the following criteria:
     • Quality of Presentation Content: Were the presentation materials and spoken content clear and meaningful?
     • Quality of the Presentation's Organization: Did the presentation flow well? Does the presentation reflect an apparent effort and understanding of the analyses performed? 
     • Quality of Responses to Questions: Did the team know the materials? Was the team knowledgeable and confident of the analyses performed?
     • Professionalism: Was the team presentation professional in nature?

• All written memo and oral presentation materials must be original content created by the student team themselves.
• The decision of the judges is final.
• If an individual or team violates the language, spirit or intent of the eligibility rules, the team may be disqualified and any prize money forfeited based on the sole discretion of the organizers, who shall be held harmless due to such actions.

Important Dates:

Monday, September 18th: Competition is announced, and registration opened.

Friday, September 29th: Registration closes at 5:00 PM. Case question and data are released to participating student teams.

Friday, October 13th at 12:00 noon: Written presentations are due.

Friday, October 27th: Finalists Announced.

Friday, November 17th: Oral Presentations by Finalists and Team Placings announced. 

Registration is closed.