Our History

In the fall of 1981, two enterprising MBA students, Nora Kelly and Annette Wilde, founded the National MBA Case competition, as it was known at that time. These two dynamic ladies assembled interested faculty members and fellow students and staged the first ever competition in the winter of 1982 between Concordia and four other universities, McGill University, University of Ottawa, Université Laval and Université du Québec à Montreal (UQAM). The first prize was shared between UQAM and McGill University.

In 1992, the competition went international and now comprises 36 teams coming from 5 continents and is fully committed to bilingualism. It is the oldest and largest case competition in the world involving 200 outstanding MBA students from well known business schools as well as 300 judges from the Montreal business community. This enormous event requires a budget in excess of $300,000 and 9 months of preparation by a team of MBA students under the supervision of board of directors.

The spirit of the competition is celebrated through the Richard Outcault Spirit Award and the prestige has been increased by the Case Writing Competition.

Testimonials

I found the judges were an extraordinary group. Thought leaders, in addition to being successful in their businesses. The stars of the event were the MBA students, and they impressed with their efforts and accomplishment. I left the competition feeling as though I visited the MBA Olympics!

Diana Wielgus, Director Executive Offices Finance Division, Scotiabank Group; Judge 2013

The 2013 John Molson MBA Case Competition was a fantastic experience from start to finish. The competition challenged us – both as individuals and as a team – in ways we couldn’t have imagined. It took our thinking and problem-solving to a whole new level, and brought all the disparate elements of our MBA together into one cohesive package. 

In addition to the intellectual challenge, the competition also attracts great people, and we forged amazing friendships during our time in Montreal! We look forward to contributing to future competitions!

Marc Low, 2013 team member, University of Cape Town

The convention of teams from universities from all over the world and the atmosphere of unity and understanding of diverse cultures were great and amazing experiences,… just as being a cow at the theme party. Fascinated by the perfect work of the organizing team, I thought that being able to help organizing this unique event would be a great opportunity to gain intensive practical experience and at the same time meet and work with people from the business community…and here I am!!

Ruth Wolters, 2007 Organizer, 2006 Executive Assiatant (JMSB exchange student); 2005 team member, University of Münster

The competition was hard work and great fun at the same time. It was an unrivalled experience for all of us – professionally and personally!

Ruediger Hahn, 2005 team member, University of Düsseldorf

Le cas “live” de la compagnie Jet Blue était une expérience incroyable! Le représentant de la compagnie a fait une présentation relevée et les caractéristiques du cas m’ont inspiré.

Sylvain Girard, 2005 team member, Université Laval