Rules and Information
The 2024 NIU Business Olympics will be an in-person event held on Saturday, April 6, 2024, hosted by the NIU College of Business. High school and community college students are eligible to compete in teams that range from 1-5 members in size.
The 2024 NIU Business Olympics competitions are as follows:
- NIUIA Valuation Challenge: teams participating in the NIUIA Valuation Challenge will select and investigate the hypothetical merger of two publicly traded firms belonging to assigned industry, writing a professional report in the first round and presenting their findings in the second round.
- Big Idea Pitch Competition: individuals or teams participating in the Big Idea Pitch Competition will pitch their idea for a new business to like-minded entrepreneurs, judges, and potential investors.
- AI Superhuman Competition: with people increasingly using and interacting with AI technology, combining human and AI skills has become an important new challenge and opportunity. While most of these efforts are still going unnoticed, the Department of Operations Management and Information Systems’ AI Superhuman Competition at NIU's Business Olympics event will look to discover and reward them.
- Accountancy Data Visualization Competition: organizations deal with massive amounts of data as a result of their day-to-day operations. Teams participating in the Accountancy Data Visualization Competition will analyze organizational data to provide insights that will support better business decisions.
While teams may register for up to three competitions, they must complete this form only once. Team composition is not required to remain constant across the competitions, but team members may not switch between teams. (For example, Amanda and Cody can register for the first competition, and then Amanda, Juan and Jordan may register for the second competition; but Cody can’t join a different team in the second competition).
Rules of the Competition
- Students must attend a high school or community college (home-school teams are also welcome).
- A faculty adviser per team is strongly encouraged.
- Individuals or teams are invited to participate in up to three competitions. Team size cannot exceed five members.
- Diverse team composition is encouraged.
- Schools may have up to two competing teams for the NIUIA Valuation Challenge but an unlimited number of teams competing in the other competitions.
- Each competition is limited to the first 20 teams registered and approved.
- Once a team has been approved to participate, member substitutions are prohibited. If an unusual circumstance arises, the team’s faculty coach may contact the NIU Business faculty member who chairs the specific competition:
- Gina Nicolosi, gnicolos@niu.edu, NIUIA Valuation Challenge
- Barton Sharp, bsharp1@niu.edu, Big Idea Pitch Competition
- Biagio Palese, bpalese@niu.edu, AI Superhuman Competition
- Matt Pickard, mpickard@niu.edu, Accountancy Data Visualization Competition
- Teams must be available to participate in the NIU Business Olympics on Saturday, April 6, 2024.
Important Dates
Each competition is limited to the first 20 teams registered and approved.
- Friday, Feb. 23, 2024: NIUIA Valuation Challenge registration deadline
- Friday, March 8, 2024: Registration deadline for the Big Idea Pitch Competition, Accountancy Data Visualization Competition and AI Superhuman Competition
- Friday, March 8, 2024: NIUIA Valuation Challenge first-round written report due
Prizes
- First place: $200/person
- Second place: $100/person
Although changes are not anticipated, the College of Business reserves the right to make changes to the competition/rules at any time. Should a change occur, all teams will be notified.
2024 Sponsor
