About
The PGN Global Innovators Case Competition is an exciting opportunity to solve real-world business problems, build career skills, and network with top students and industry professionals. Hosted by PGN Professional Development Organization at the University of Pennsylvania, students will compete for $1800 in prizes and exclusive recruiting benefits with sponsoring companies. The competition case tackles how companies should innovate to thrive in a post-COVID world with a focus on the retail industry and digital transformation. Students can participate as a team of up to 4 people, or as an individual (with the option of being matched to a team).
Prizes
First Place: $1,000
Second Place: $500
Third Place: $300
Timeline
June 29
Registration Opens
July 16
Case Released
August 6
Finalists Announced
July 15
Registration Closes
July 25
Submissions Due
August 13
Finalists Live
Presentation
Rules
Communication
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The official email for the case competition is pgncasecomp@gmail.com
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All updates will be from pgncasecomp@gmail.com. Please make sure this email is saved as a contact (to prevent important emails from the spam folder).
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Please direct all questions to this email. We will aim to respond to all emails within 24 hours. If participants do not recieve a response within 48 hours, please resend the email.
Registration
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The case competition is open to all undergraduate students in any major, school or country.
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All competition materials and presentations must be in English.
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All participants must fill out a registration form individually. A resume may be uploaded, which will be included in the resume book sent to sponsors if we receive a valid submission for the competition.
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Participants will receive confirmation email upon submission of the google form. If details need to be changed, email pgncasecomp@gmail.com
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Registration form: HERE
First Round Submissions
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Submission form: HERE
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Submissions are due 11:59pm EDT on Sunday July 25th. No late submissions will be accepted.
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Slide decks must be submitted in PDF format only, with the naming convention of "Team_TEAMNUMBER.PDF". For example, submission for team 16 should be named "TEAM_16.PDF".
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There will be a maximum of 16 slides excluding title slides. The size of the file should not exceed 10MB.
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All submission materials must be in English.
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After the form is submitted, participants should receive a confirmation email. If participants experience any issues while submitting this form, or they do not see the submission confirmation (check spam folder) after ten minutes, please reach out to pgncasecomp@gmail.com with the subject line of "Team TEAM_NUMBER First Round Submission." For example, a submission issue email for team 16 should be named “TEAM 16 First Round Submission”.
Final Round Presentations
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Finalists will be announced on August 6th.
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Presentations will be on the afternoon of August 13th. (Time TBC)
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Presentations will be a maximum of 10 minutes with an additional 5 minutes for Q&A (15 minutes total). Finalists will be stopped if the time limit is exceeded. Presentations must be done in English.
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Final presentations will be open to the public live.
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Slides may be updated from the first round but the final version must be submitted before 11:59pm EDT Wednesday August 11th. If no submissions are received, we will use the first round submission. Submissions may be in the format of a powerpoint instead of PDF in the event that participants would like to use animations and/or other effects.
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Email final slide deck to pgncasecomp@gmail.com with the subject line of “Team TEAM_NUMBER Final Round Submission”
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On the day of presentation, PGN will allow share screen and participants can control their screen to change slides.
Case-Related Questions
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Email all case-related questions to pgncasecomp@gmail.com with the subject line “Case Clarification: QUESTION”. An example would be, “Case Clarification: Does page 6 of the case competition indicate…”.
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FAQ documents will be distributed along with case release. The document will be updated overtime with any common questions.
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This Case Competition utilizes a self contained case. Participants may not use info from internet resources. All info should be drawn from the case.
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Participants may not ask for external assistance (including but not limited to consultants, alumni, professors, etc).
THE HOME DEPOT FOUNDATION
The Home Depot Foundation works to improve the homes and lives of U.S. veterans, train skilled tradespeople to fill the labor gap and support communities impacted by natural disasters. Since 2011, the Foundation has invested more than $375 million in veteran causes and improved more than 50,000 veteran homes and facilities. The Foundation has pledged to invest half of a billion dollars in veteran causes by 2025 and $50 million in training the next generation of skilled tradespeople through the Path to Pro program.
Visit their website for more information
Thank you to our Sponsors
CLEARSIGHT ADVISORS
Clearsight Advisors is the largest investment bank exclusively focused on the business services and technology-enabled services industry including M&A advisory, capital raising, and strategic financial advisory services. Everything at Clearsight is built around helping entrepreneurs, boards of directors and institutional investors define and execute their most important strategic and financial objectives.
Visit their website for more information
