MBA Games is an annual competition amongst MBA (

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

) programs in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Schools compete for the ''Queen's Cup'' in academic, athletic and spirit events over one weekend at the beginning of January. All MBA schools in Canada are welcome to participate, but are not required to do so.

History

The MBA Games began at

Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to: *Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK **Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950) **Queen's University of Belfast ...

in 1988. The Games were held at Queen’s for the first seven editions before being hosted by

McGill McGill is a surname of Scottish and Irish origin, from which the names of many places and organizations are derived. It may refer to: People * McGill (surname) (including a list of individuals with the surname) * McGill family (Monrovia), a promin ...

in 1996 and the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

in 1997. Every year since 1997, the Games have been hosted by various schools across the country. Generally, the winning school is given the honour of hosting the Games the following year. If the same school wins two years in a row, proposals from other schools are reviewed to determine the next host. The 2011 Games included 20 teams, the 2012 edition included 19 teams, and the 2013 edition included 22 teams (including Syracuse University from the US) making it the largest gathering ever of MBA students in Canada, which was close to 650 students.

Events

Academics

Students compete in case competitions over the two days that are judged by a pre-selected panel of judges, typically professors and industry professionals. Each school comprises teams of no more than four students (per case) to compete in case competitions covering different areas of business. The 2012 Games cases included

finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

strategy Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "art of troop leader; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the "art ...

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

, and

operations Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

respectively.

Athletics

The athletic portion of the games consists of four coed sports over two days, with two sports being played the first day and two the second. These sports are chosen by the host school and have included

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

, dodgeball,

ultimate Frisbee Ultimate, originally known as ultimate Frisbee, is a non-contact team sport played with a frisbee flung by hand. Ultimate was developed in 1968 by AJ Gator in Maplewood, New Jersey. Although ultimate resembles many traditional sports in its ath ...

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

, and

inner tube water polo Inner tube water polo (ITWP) is a variant of water polo with the important difference that players, excluding the goalkeeper, are required to float in inflatable inner tubes. By floating in an inner tube, players experience less contact and expend ...

, among others. The 2012 Games sports included volleyball, dodge ball, ultimate Frisbee and inner tube water polo.

Spirit

Teams are judged on and score points in 'spirit' events throughout the weekend. These events are designed to promote and encourage teamwork, enthusiasm, camaraderie, and spirit from the competition's start to finish. The 2012 Games Spirit Award was based on the following: Presentation of University (Opening), MBA Jeopardy, Scavenger Hunt, Two Mystery Events, and Overall Team Spirit.

Past Queen's Cup Winners

{, class="wikitable" , - ! Year !! Champion !! Host School , - , 1988 , , Example , , Queen's University,

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

, - , 1989 , , Example , , Queen's University, Kingston , - , 1990 , , Example , , Queen's University, Kingston , - , 1991 , , Example , , Queen's University, Kingston , - , 1992 , , Example , , Queen's University, Kingston , - , 1993 , , Example , , Queen's University, Kingston , - , 1994 , , McMaster University , , Queen's University, Kingston , - , 1995 , , Example , , Queen's University, Kingston , - , 1996 , , Université Laval , , McGill University,

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, - , 1997 , , Saint Mary's University , , Ivey, University of Western Ontario,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

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York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

, ,

DeGroote School of Business The DeGroote School of Business is one of six faculties at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The School of Business was founded in 1952 but was renamed in 1992 in honour of successful Canadian entrepreneur and philanthropist Mic ...

, McMaster University , - , 2004 , , Schulich School of Business, York University , , Schulich School of Business,

, - , 2005 , , Université Laval , , Example , - , 2006 , , Université Laval , , Example , - , 2007 , ,

, McMaster University , , University of Alberta School of Business , - , 2008 , , Ted Rogers School of Management,

Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...

, , DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University,

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, - , 2009 , , Université Laval , , Dalhousie University, Halifax , - , 2010 , , Schulich School of Business, York University , , Université Laval,

Québec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

, - , 2011 , , University of Alberta School of Business , , Schulich School of Business, Toronto , - , 2012 , , DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University , , University of Alberta School of Business,

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, - , 2013 , , Schulich School of Business, York University , , DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University,

, - , 2014 , , DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University , , Schulich School of Business, Toronto , - , 2015 , , Schulich School of Business, York University , , DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University,

, - , 2016 , , DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University , , Schulich School of Business, Toronto , - , 2017 , , Faculty of Management, Vancouver Island University , ,

Vancouver Island University Vancouver Island University (abbreviated as VIU, formerly known as Malaspina University-College and earlier as Malaspina College) is a Canadian public university serving Vancouver Island and coastal British Columbia. Malaspina College began in 196 ...

Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, it had a population of 99,863, and it is known as "The Harbour City." The city was previously known as the "H ...

, - , 2018 , , Schulich School of Business, York University , , Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa,

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, - , 2019 , , DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University , , Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University,

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, - , 2020 , , DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University , , DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University,

, - , 2021 , , Schulich School of Business, York University , , Université Laval,

Sources cited

Competitions in Canada Winter events in Canada