Canada’s biggest business case competition has become bigger still with the participation of five foreign universities.

The Concordia-based competition, which has attracted widespread media, business and academic interest for a decade, will include competitors from the London (England) Business School, the University of Otago (New Zealand), Gothenburg University (Sweden), Ohio State University, and Georgetown University in Washington, DG.

Spread over five days, Tuesday, Jan. 14 to Saturday, Jan. 18, the event pits the newcomers and 19 MBA schools from across Canada against one another, the clock and the intricacies of business strategy.

A round-robin format groups the 24 schools into four divisions of six teams. In the pressure-cooker atmosphere of seven case analyses in four days, teams compete for the Concordia Cup, as well as $9,000 in scholarships donated by the Bank of Montreal, Alcan Canada, Pratt and Whitney and the Association of Masters of Business Administration of Quebec.

The event, which will be held at the Ch√¢teau Champlain Hotel, is organized by MBA students and funded through corporate sponsorship. Two hundred and fifty senior business executives act as volunteer judges.

— Barbara Black