The 2021 INFORMS Case Competition call for submissions

We invite you to write and submit original cases to this year’s INFORMS Case Competition. To learn more about the competition, visit the competition website. All materials must be submitted to the committee through the OpenWater application portal by July 2.

A complete submission package will consist of electronic copies of the following:

• one electronic copy of a short (250-500 words) stand-alone abstract;
• the case itself – no more than 10 pages (maximum 3,000 words) single spaced in a 12-point proportional font (such as Times New Roman) with one-inch margins (shorter cases are acceptable, and exhibits are in addition to the page limit);
• a teaching note of length and detail as necessary to provide sufficient guidance to potential instructors on how the case could be used in the classroom;
• supplemental files (e.g., data sets); and
• contact information (mailing address, email address and telephone number) for each author of the case.

A panel of judges who are familiar with the case method of teaching will review all submissions to the 2021 INFORMS Case Competition in a blind review process. These judges will select the finalists, and the committee chair will notify all contestants of the judges’ decisions by the end of summer 2021. Finalists must present their cases in a special session at the 2021 INFORMS Annual Meeting in Anaheim to be eligible to win (current plans are for the conference to be an in-person event; if the conference becomes a virtual or hybrid event, finalists will be allowed to present their cases remotely).

The judges for the 2021 INFORMS Case Competition are Jeroen Belien (KU Leuven, committee chair), Amr Farahat (MIT), Kathryn Schumacher (General Motors), Stefan Creemers (IESEG Lille, France), and Julie Ivy (North Carolina State University).

Note that the following conditions must be met in order for a case to be eligible for INFORMS Case Competition:

• At least one author of a submission must be a member of INFORMS.
• All submitted cases must be previously unpublished at the time of submission or have first been published within 12 months of the original published submission deadline (2 July 2021).

Cases should be essentially new in their entirety. If the case contains material originally drafted by individuals or groups other than the author(s) who are submitting the case, the intellectual history and ownership of these portions of the case should be made absolutely clear.

The recipient of the first-place prize for the INFORMS Case Competition will be announced at the awards ceremony at the 2021 INFORMS Annual Meeting in Anaheim. The finalists will also be encouraged to submit their cases to INFORMS Transactions on Education for peer review and potential publication. The winner will receive $500 and an engraved plaque. There may be a runner-up who shall receive $300 and a certificate.

Questions: Contact the Case Competition Committee chair Jeroen Belien at [email protected].