CASE QUEST

A MANAGEMENT CASE STUDY WRITING COMPETITION

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES , IIT MADRAS

GUIDELINES
Introduction

The Department of Management Studies (DoMS) was established in the year 2004 as a
home to the Master of Business Administration (MBA) course at IIT Madras. DoMS IIT
Madras has secured a position in the Top 150 globally in the QS World University
Rankings by Subject 2025 – Business and Management. DoMS at present offers the
following programs:

MBA
Executive MBA for the middle and senior level executives
Master of Science (by Research)
Doctoral (PhD) and Post-Doctoral Research
Interdisciplinary Dual Degree (IDDD) – Tech MBA and MS in Quantitative Finance
Management and Leadership Development Programmes for Corporates and
Government Organisations/Departments

The department is also a partner in multi-institutional program (PGPEX - VLM) for

Visionary Leaders in Manufacturing, along with IIM Calcutta and IIT Kanpur.
Consultancy and Executive Development programs are some of the other activities
undertaken by the Department.

DoMS, IIT Madras is recognized for its rigorous academic curriculum, highly qualified
faculty, and a strong emphasis on research and innovation. The department fosters a
culture of interdisciplinary learning by seamlessly combining technical knowledge with
core management principles. Students benefit from strong industry connections, numerous
internships, and opportunities for consulting projects, which enhance their practical
knowledge and employability.

With a focus on leadership, entrepreneurship, and global business perspectives, DoMS, IIT
Madras serves as a vital hub for nurturing the next generation of business leaders.

Management Case Study Centre

DoMS, IIT Madras has established a "Management Case Study Centre" (MCSC) with the
vision of serving the needs of B-Schools by providing contemporary case studies that
enhance student learning across all management disciplines (functional areas) and to serve
as a repository of management case studies developed in India and internationally.

MCSC plans to develop case studies focusing on Indian and International companies,
enabling academia to relate management concepts to corporate growth stories. It aims to
enhance relationships and interaction with the Indian and global industry with a view to
developing contemporary and contextual case studies.
Case Quest – The Management Case Study Writing Competition

With a view to encourage the case writing culture, MCSC has launched “Case Quest” - a
case study writing competition. This competition offers faculty members, research
scholars, management students and industry representatives, a unique platform to
showcase their strategic thinking, creativity, analytical ability, by writing case studies
about the real-world challenges faced by companies in India. The competition aims to
foster the creation of high-quality teaching case materials that address the realities of the
Indian business environment while simultaneously enhancing case-writing skills.

Key Highlights

The event will enable teams comprising faculty members, research scholars, management
students, and industry representatives to write case studies about real-world business
challenges faced by companies in India. Twenty teams will be shortlisted for the finals,
where teams from each institution will compete against the brightest minds from top
institutions across India. This competition will help the participants in enhancing their
problem-solving, analytical, presentation skills and will provide an opportunity to win
exciting prices.

Event Overview

This event will be a 2-day in-person event at IIT Madras, scheduled to be held during
October 9-10, 2025, at the IIT Madras campus.

Eligibility Criteria

Open to faculty members, research scholars, and management students from

recognized B-Schools and Departments of Management, in India. A team can also
have an industry representative as one of the members.
Each team can comprise a maximum of 4 members, including one faculty member
(mandatory).
There is no limit to the number of teams from an institution.
Each participant can be a part of only one team.
Competition Structure

1. Opens: March 20, 2025

2. Deadline : May 15, 2025
3. Registration fee per team: ₹ 1,000 (non-refundable)
4. Interested participants to complete the Registration form and
Registration
submit it no later than May 15, 2025. Kindly note that only
Registration form is due on May 15, 2025, NOT your
completed case study
a. The Registration Form can be accessed through
Registration Link

Submission Submit the case study as per guidelines by August 5, 2025.

1. Top 20 teams will qualify for the final presentation

Intimation
2. The selected teams will be intimated by September 10, 2025

1. Shortlisted teams will present their case study to a panel of

judges on October 9 and 10, 2025.
Final Round 2. Each team will have 15 minutes for presentation followed by
a Q&A session.
3. The finals will be conducted at IIT Madras, Chennai.

Accommodation and Logistics

MCSC (DoMS, IIT Madras) will provide accommodation for the finalists on 9th and

10th October 2025.

MCSC (DoMS, IIT Madras) will provide the finalists a travel grant equivalent to 2ⁿᵈ

AC fare, from the city of their institution to Chennai.

Prizes and Recognition

1ˢᵗ Prize ₹ 1,50,000 + Certificate of Excellence

2ⁿᵈ Prize ₹ 1,00,000 + Certificate of Excellence

3ʳᵈ Prize ₹ 75,000 + Certificate of Excellence

4ᵗʰ & 5ᵗʰ Prize ₹ 20,000 + Certificate of Merit

Recognition certificates for all finalists

Important Dates

Registration Opens March 20, 2025

Registration Deadline May 15, 2025

Submission Deadline August 5, 2025

Announcement of finalists September 10, 2025

Final
October 9 & 10, 2025
Round Presentation at IIT Madras
Submission Checklist

The following documents must be submitted to [email protected] by August

5, 2025

1. Case Study: 5000–8000 words. (Microsoft Word) (Do not include any information

about the author/s name/affiliation etc.)

2. Teaching Note: Within 3000 words (Microsoft Word) (Do not include any information

about the author/s name/affiliation etc.)

3. Title Page: Refer to Appendix 1

4. Certificate of Consent by the Company: Refer to Appendix-2

Note: If you are using primary data from an organisation, the appropriate authority from the

organisation must sign Certificate of Consent by the Company – printed on the Company’s

Letterhead. For cases where the organisation's identity is masked, the author/s would still need to

secure the Certificate of Consent by the Company. No Organisational Release Form is required for

cases based on publicly available information.

5. Certificate of Originality: Refer to Appendix-3

6. Declaration Form: Refer to Appendix-4

7. Copyright Transfer Form: Refer to Appendix-5 (Only for the finalists)

Please submit all the documents in a single email with the subject line
“Case Quest: Submission for Case Study Writing Competition”.
General Guidelines

The case study must be based on a company in India

Should articulate an issue, decision, or opportunity
Should be between 5000-8000 words
Should be accompanied by a teaching note (within 3000 words)
Should not have been published or submitted elsewhere for academic purposes
All submissions must be original. Plagiarized content and use of AI tools will lead to
disqualification.
All the annexures should be numbered and suitably referred to in the main text or
body of the case
The secondary information should be from reputed and verifiable source(s)
The references should be in APA format

S.
Reference APA Format Example
No.

Example: Smith, J.
Last name, F. M. (Year).
1 Books (2020). Psychology in Daily
Title of book. Publisher.
Life. Oxford University Press.

Example: Brown, K.
Last name, F. M. (Year).
Journal (2021). Mental health and stress
2 Title of article. Journal Title,
Articles management. Journal of Psychology, 12(3),
Volume (Issue), pp-pp.
45-60. https://doi.org/xxxx

Example: APA. (2023). How to cite a

Author, A. A. (Year). website in APA.
3 Websites
Title of webpage. Site Name. URL American Psychological Association.
https://www.apa.org

Last name, F. M. (Year, Example: Lee, R. (2022,

Month Day of Publication). Title August 15). Climate change and urban
4 Newspaper
of webpage. Retrieved from planning. The Guardian.
Articles
https://www.url.com https://www.theguardian.com
 Teams must adhere to the deadlines and submission formats
Any team member failing to comply with competition rules may lead to team
disqualification
Decisions by the panel of judges will be final and binding
Finalists will be required to sign a copyright transfer form to IIT Madras. The
copyright for prize-winning case studies will belong to IIT Madras.

The competition welcomes case studies related to any management discipline. These
cases can be developed using primary and/or secondary data and information. While
some information may be disguised, this must be explicitly indicated in the research
methods section of the teaching note and references are to be indicated as applicable.

Where company specific internal information and data are used, appropriate
permissions must be obtained in writing from the company concerned and submitted
along with the case study. Please note that fictional or hypothetical cases will not be
accepted. Research cases are also not under the competition’s purview.

Please click here to download the guidelines about writing a case study and a
teaching note
The case study could be from any of the functional areas indicated below:

General Management Organizational Behaviour

Strategic Management Finance
Sustainability Accounting
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Operations & Supply Chain
International Management & Global Information Systems & Technology
Business Management Data Sciences
Human Resources Management Marketing

Broad Style Guide for Case Study and Teaching Note

Do not include borders around the edge of pages

Size: A4

Orientation: Portrait
Font Size

Body: 12pt

Headings: 14pt

Font Style: Times New Roman

Margins:

2.5 cm on the left and right of every page

2.5 cm at the top of every page

2.5 cm at the bottom of the first page

Display page numbers in the bottom right corner

Criteria for Judging Case Study and Teaching Note

The broad judging criteria for the case study and teaching note is as follows:
Problem Understanding
Clarity in identifying key issues.
Relevance and Scope
Relevance to the management discipline and effectiveness in promoting learning
and decision-making skills.
Teaching Value
Ability to involve students in hands-on learning and provide opportunities for
them to analyze, address, or contemplate business challenges.
Case Structure
Compelling introduction that sparks reader’s interest
Clear presentation of key decision-makers and their role
Comprehensive organizational context (mission, finances, culture, location)
Ability to engage the reader with a well-crafted narrative.
Data-Driven Insights
Depth of analysis and use of relevant data.
Problem Presentation
Well-defined dilemma with specific timeframe
Demonstrates broader applicability beyond the immediate scenario
Thought-provoking discussion questions
Feasibility
Practicality and feasibility of implementing the solutions/ideas.

For any query, please feel free to reach out to us:

[email protected] 044 2257 4587

 Appendix 1

Title Page

Case Study Title: ___________________________________________________

Author(s) Details:

Author 1 Author 2

Name

Job Title

Department

University/ Institution

Town/City/State

Author 3 Author 4

Name

Job Title

Department

University/ Institution

Town/City/State

Author Biographies (Optional. No longer than 60 words per author)

Acknowledgments (if applicable):

Keywords:

Structured Abstract
Subject Area:
Study Level/Applicability:
Case Overview:
Expected Learning Outcomes:
Supplementary Materials:
 Appendix 2

Certificate of Consent by Company

(To be printed on Company’s Letterhead)

This is to certify that I, the undersigned, hereby grants consent to [Author(s) Name(s)]
and/or [Institution/Organization Name] to use the name, data, and other relevant
business information for the preparation of the case study titled: [Title of the Case Study]
submitted to Management Case Study Centre (MCSC), Department of Management
Studies (DoMS) IIT Madras.

I understand that, IIT Madras may test the use of this case study in a classroom
environment and that as a result of this use, the case study may be modified, but not in a
material way. I agree that MCSC, DoMS, IIT Madras, in its sole discretion, may change
the case study from time to time to correct semantic errors and to rearrange paragraphs,
exhibits, etc.

On behalf of my company and myself personally, I agree that other changes may be made
to this case study from time to time by MCSC, DoMS, IIT Madras, to enhance its use in a
classroom environment and agree that (please check one) I do / I do not wish to review
such changes.

On behalf of my company and myself personally, I

a) Hereby authorize the use of this case study at IIT Madras, and other educational
institutions and other organizations
b) Acknowledge that the copyright for this case study is held by IIT Madras, and that IIT
Madras may, at its sole discretion, distribute, sell, authorize use of this case study in a
book or otherwise deal with this case study in whatever way it deems appropriate.

The company acknowledges that this case study is created in accordance with the highest
ethical standards and with proper attribution to [Company Name].

Authorized Representative:
[Name of Authorized Person]
[Designation]
[Company Name]
[Company Seal (if applicable)]
Date: [Date]
Place: [Location]
Signature:
[Signature of Authorized Representative]
 Appendix 3

Certificate of Originality

This is to certify that the case study titled: [Title of the Case Study] has been created by
[Author(s) Name(s)] as an original work. All sources of information and references used
have been properly cited, and the work adheres to ethical standards of academic
integrity.

We further confirm that this case study has not been published or submitted elsewhere
for academic purposes, nor does it infringe upon any copyright, intellectual property
rights, or any other third-party claims.

Date of Submission: [Date]

Institution: [Institution Name]
Place: [Location]
Author(s) Signature(s):

Author Name Signature Date

 Appendix 4

Declaration Form

Declaration from Authors

I declare that I have taken permission from a competent authority of the concerned
institution/ organization whose case I am documenting.
I declare that my case is unpublished at the day of submission and not under
consideration for publication elsewhere, even in a slightly modified form.
I agree that if our case study receive a prize or a certificate of merit, it will become the
property of DoMS, IIT Madras and the copyright will vest with IIT Madras.
I confirm that this case study is entirely original and has been written without AI
assistance.

Date of Submission: [Date]

Institution: [Institution Name]
Place: [Location]
Author(s) Signature(s):

Author Name Signature Date

 Appendix 5

Copyright Transfer Form (Only for finalists)

We, the undersigned author(s) of the case study titled: [Title of the Case Study], hereby
transfer all rights, including copyright, of the work titled above to Indian Institute of
Technology, Madras. This transfer grants Indian Institute of Technology Madras the
exclusive rights to publish, reproduce, distribute, display, and otherwise use the work in
any form, medium, or technology now known or later developed.

This transfer includes the right to:

1. Reproduction: Make copies of the work in any format, including print and electronic
formats.
2. Distribution: Distribute copies of the work in any manner, including digital
platforms and physical distribution.
3. Public Display: Display the work publicly through any medium, such as websites,
journals, or other media.
4. Modification: The institution may make editorial changes to the work as necessary
for publication while preserving the original meaning.
5. Exclusive Rights: The author(s) understand that Indian Institute of Technology,
Madras will hold the exclusive rights to the work, including the right to grant
permission for its use in the future.

Date of Submission: [Date]

Institution: [Institution Name]
Author(s) Signature(s):

Author Name Signature Date