The Retail case challenges students to think creatively and strategically in a time-constrained situation. The judges for this event will assume the position of an individual in upper management in the company identified in the case and evaluate how well each team solves the problem presented in the case and presents its recommendations.
The Case Scenario
The students will know nothing about case before they enter the prep room. They will have 30 minutes to familiarize themselves with the case and develop a presentation designed to alleviate or solve the problem. Given the limited time frame, the scenario will not be complicated and it is expected that the presentation will be straightforward.
The case scenario will assume that the student consulting team has not yet met the client, but has received a communication outlining the client’s situation.
General Judging Considerations
The students’ task in this event it to propose a retail solution to the problem in the case. The students should be able to identify the retail problem as part of the situation analysis. They will recommend a retail plan which describes their overall recommendation for the company. Students should be able to discuss their plan using industry-standard terminology.
Event Objectives
To demonstrate the students’ ability to:
- Quickly analyze a sales opportunity
- Develop an appropriate retail presentation
- Present the solution in a convincing manner
Eligibility
All students must be from marketing or marketing-related programs. Post-diploma, graduate certificate or degree program students are not eligible for this event. Repeat OCMC students cannot enter an event in which they previously participated.
Student Preparation
- Participants should familiarize themselves with the evaluation criteria. Please refer to the case evaluation form below for details.
- Please refer to the case schedules in the program. No changes will be made unless a conflict situation exists.
- Participants will be escorted to a secure preparation room as per the case schedule. Cell phones are not permitted.
- Paper, pens and highlighters will be supplied along with printed copies of the case.
- A Windows laptop with a wired 2-button mouse and current version of Microsoft PowerPoint will be provided in the preparation and presentation rooms. A clicker will be provided in the presentation room.
- A maximum of 7 slides are permitted in the presentation deck.
- Students may bring a prepared PowerPoint template into the preparation room on a USB thumb drive (USB A Style). Team branding is permitted.
- Internet access will NOT be available.
- Presentations must be saved on a supplied USB thumb drive which will be retained but the judges.
- Participants have 30 minutes to prepare their solution. Participants will be advised when five minutes remain.
- At the end of 30 minutes, the team will be moved to their presentation room.
Presentation
The presentation must not exceed 15 minutes, and will be followed by a 5-minute question period.
Participants are responsible for managing their time during the presentation (judges will ask the team to stop, if necessary, once the 15-minute timeframe has been reached). Judges will ask questions only during the 5-minute Q&A following the presentation. Students will leave the room following the Q&A while judges complete the evaluation form.
Evaluation by Judges
- Judges will ask questions (challenge the students) at the end of each presentation.
- Judges will not provide any verbal feedback to the participants during the competition.
- Judges will complete an evaluation form with numerical scores and appropriate summary comments.
- Judges will rank each team from top to bottom. In the case of a tie between any of the top 5 teams, judges will re-evaluate those teams to break the tie. There cannot be a tie among teams ranked one to five.
- Judges decisions are final!
Feedback
Each team will receive feedback from the host College approximately three weeks following the competition.