Each team participating in this contest should consist of:

• Final year MBA students only
  
• Not less than 2 members and not more than 3 members

Each team must meet the following requirements in order to compete in the Cognizant Business Plan Contest:

Business Plan

• The proposed business plan must not violate any intellectual property rights.
• The participants must not contact judges at any phase and judges must not contact any participant during the course of the contest.

Documents

• All soft-copy documents must be submitted in MS Word or MS Excel files or MS PowerPoint formats.
  
• No application materials or copies of materials will be returned to the applicant.
  
• Margins must not be smaller than 1 inch on any side.
  
• The text must be in font Arial (size 10 and single spacing).

The winner will be the one whose plan actually becomes the basis for a viable business step by Cognizant, or which meaningfully contributes to Cognizant’s existing business.

Some of the criteria based on which a decision will be taken are as follows:

• The degree of creativity and innovation in basic opportunity definition,
  
• The appropriateness of the strategy for exploiting the opportunity,
  
• The reasonableness of the plan for financing the business,
  
• The team's ability to present and defend the viability of the plan.
  
• The team’s ability to conduct primary research to analyze the market

The judges will evaluate your plans, not as mere documents, but as visions for a potential venture. They will focus on the idea, its potential for economic success and the likelihood of achieving that success based on the team's plan. Naturally, the more concrete the plan, the better the chances.

• The package must include:
  • One executive summary, not exceeding 5 pages in length that describes the business concept, market opportunity, competitive advantage and the resources and finances required to execute the idea.
  • Two additional pages for exhibits and appendices, if any
• The file naming convention for this phase will be: 'TeamName_Phase1.doc' (e.g. 'SPARK_Phase1.doc')
• The subject line for this email must be: 'TeamName_Phase1'
• Each submission will be reviewed and judged according to:
  • The degree of creativity and innovation in the basic opportunity definition and business concept
  • Appropriateness of the strategy for exploiting the opportunity
• No more than 12 teams will be invited by email to compete in Phase II (Semi Finals). The teams will receive an e-mail notification on the selection by the said date.

Phase II - Semifinals

• A mentor will be assigned to each team that qualifies for this phase.
• The business plan must:
  • Represent an expansion of concepts outlined in the executive summary, highlighting the market opportunity and the business concept, and providing a detailed competitive analysis
  • Outline relevant financial projections, including expected cash flow and budget analysis
  • Describe relevant working models or prototypes
• The package must include:
  • A revised executive summary not exceeding 3 pages in length
  • A business plan not exceeding 30 pages, inclusive of appendices and attachments
  • Presentation(duration - 20 mins) of your business plan for Phase 2 of the contest. The judges will be evaluating the same via Video conference.
• The file naming convention for this phase will be: TeamName_Phase2.doc; TeamName_Phase2.xls (e.g. SPARK_Phase2.doc)
• Please click on “Phase 2 Submission”, login and submit a zip of  all your documents with the name “TeamName_Phase2.zip”

Phase III - Finals

• The package should include:
  • One copy of the team's MS PowerPoint presentation (for final phase of judging)
  • One team-resume booklet (with each individual's resume not exceeding 2 pages)
• The file naming convention for this phase will be: 'TeamName_Phase3.doc'; ' TeamName_Phase3.xls'; 'TeamName_Phase3.ppt'; (e.g. 'SPARK_Phase3.doc')
• The subject line for this email must be: “TeamName_Phase3'
• Each team that qualifies for the final phase will be required to present their business plan to a panel of judges consisting primarily of senior management of Cognizant. Each presentation will last 20 minutes and will be followed by a 10-minute Q&A round from the judges.
• Each submission will be reviewed and judged based on:
  • The potential for future financial success
  • The quality of product(s), service(s) and/or solution(s)
  • Market opportunities and competition
  • The team's ability to actually implement the plan
  • Presentation Skills
  • Overall attractiveness of the venture