Terms and Conditions of the International High School Business Challenge Contest

hereinafter referred to as “the Terms and Conditions”, as published online at www.businessismore.eu

Article 1
Background information

The main organiser of the High School Business Challenge Contest (hereinafter referred to as “the HSBC” or “the Contest”) is Europejska Fundacja Rozwoju Przedsiębiorczości, KRS: 0000836387 NIP: 5213894656, with its registered office at ul. Czerniakowska 24/39, 00-714 Warszawa (hereinafter referred to as “the Organiser”).
The main Organiser cooperates with the following national co-organisers (hereinafter referred to as “the co-organisers”) in organising the Contest:
1. Studenckie Koło Naukowe Biznesu przy Szkole Głównej Handlowej w Warszawie, in Poland,
2. Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, in Czech Republic,
3. Közép-Európa Társaság, in Hungary,
4. Študentský parlament NHF, o.z., in Slovakia.
The HSBC is financed from funds obtained from a Visegrad Fund grant, own funds of the Organiser and other funds obtained from partners and sponsors of the Contest.
The HSBC is organised to meet the following purposes:
1. a. fostering entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviours among high school students,
2. developing young people’s abilities to analyse phenomena which take place in the economy, business sector and private life and which affect entrepreneurial behaviours,
3. developing abilities in youth which involve analytical and synthetic thinking, planning and pursuing business projects, finding creative solutions to problems, effective communication, searching for and practical use of information to make decisions, cooperating in a team and negotiating,
4. building a positive environment for business,
5. providing the participants with interdisciplinary knowledge of finance, marketing, psychology and human resource management as well as the ability to analyse and interpret data to build foundations for effective business and asset management in the future,
6. giving the participants opportunities to practise public speaking,
7. encouraging high school students to take up studies at economic universities.

Article 2
Rights and obligations of the Organiser

The Organiser shall, in particular:
1. a. organise the HSBC in accordance with these Terms and Conditions,
2. ensure the necessary logistic support and financial resources to conduct the Contest,
3. ensure adequate communication with the Contest participants and school community,
4. run promotional activities which popularise the HSBC,
5. exercise supervision of the correct running of the Contest,
6. appoint Regional and National Commissions as well as the Central Commission, and monitor their operations.
The Organiser shall have the right to disqualify a team which violates these Terms and Conditions.
In special cases, the Organiser shall have the right to promote more teams to the next stage than provided for in the Terms and Conditions.

Article 3
Rights and obligations of the participants

Participation in the HSBC is open to students of high schools in Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia where the curriculum ends with a matriculation exam (hereinafter individually referred to as “a Participant”).
Participation in the HSBC is voluntary and free of charge.
The HSBC is a team contest. A participating team may include between 3 and 5 persons. A team is entered for the Contest by its leader through the registration form available at www.businessismore.eu, with the full name of the team mentor provided.
The role of the team mentor may be assumed by an adult person who has expressed his/her consent to do so. The Organiser recommends that the aforementioned person should be able to support his/her team by providing substantive input during preparations to the Contest.
Participants shall have the right to register individually, expressing their consent to be grouped in teams by the Organiser.
Registration of individual participants shall be closed 7 days before the team registration deadline provided in Paragraph 8 of this Article 3.
Participants who have been grouped in teams by the Organiser shall elect their leader between them and notify the elect to the Organiser by the last day of the team registration period referred to in Paragraph 8 of this Article 3.
Team registration shall be open between 23 November 2020 and 22 January 2021.
The leader of the team consisting of participants who have registered individually is responsible for sending the data of the team supervisor.
Members of the team composed of participants who have registered individually should agree as to the person who will become the team’s substantive supervisor.
In the absence of a consensus in making the decision referred to in paragraph 10, the decisive vote belongs to the team leader.
A team shall be assigned to the region corresponding to the location of the school attended by its leader.
A Participant shall:
1. read and comply with the Terms and Conditions of the HSBC,
2. follow all instructions of the commissions which supervise the course of respective stages of the competition,
3. provide his/her correct personal data for registration, as required for participation in the Contest, and to hold and produce a document which will allow the Organiser to verify the data,
4. inform the Organiser of any irregularities noticed in the course of the Contest.
A Participant shall have the right to appeal against a decision made by the Organiser accordance with the procedure set forth in Article 10 of the Terms and Conditions.

Article 4
Course of the Contest

The HSBC is a four-stage contest composed of:
1. Stage I school qualifiers,
2. Stage II regional qualifiers,
3. Stage III national qualifiers,
4. Stage IV international qualifiers.
The level of difficulty grows with each stage of the Contest.
Tests and tasks in qualifiers at all levels are developed by the Team of Task Authors appointed by the Organiser.
The results of each successive stage of qualifiers shall be announced on the HSBC website at www.businessismore.eu.

Article 5
School qualifiers

The school qualifiers shall begin on 24 January 2021 concurrently at all schools upon presentation of the test sheet to the enrolled teams.
The school qualifiers require the contesting teams to solve a test sheet with 25 (say: twenty five) multiple-choice questions in the business management case study formula.
The teams shall have 14 (say: fourteen) days after the presentation of the test sheet to send their answers on the form provided by the Organiser.
Upon verifying the answers sent, the Organiser shall publicly announce the results of the school qualifiers in respective regions.
The regional qualifiers shall involve 5 (say: five) teams with the highest score from each region.
When Participants of the school qualifiers at one school get the same score, the team with a higher score for solving higher-graded test questions shall qualify for the regional stage.
When the score in respective score groups is the same, the qualification for the regional qualifiers shall be decided by the date of sending the answers, with the team that send their answers earlier qualifying for the regional stage.

Article 6
Regional qualifiers

The regional qualifiers shall be held on 20 March 2021 in the following cities:
1. in Poland: Gdańsk, Kraków, Poznań, Warsaw and Wrocław;
2. in the Czech Republic: Prague, Brno and Ostrava;
3. in Hungary: Budapest, Győr and Debrecen;
4. in Slovakia: Bratislava and Košice.
The respective regions in Poland include the following provinces (Polish, singular: województwo):
1. Gdańsk: Zachodnio-Pomorskie, Pomorskie, Warmińsko-Mazurskie;
2. Kraków: Małopolskie, Podkarpackie, Świętokrzyskie, Lubelskie;
3. Poznań: Lubuskie, Wielkopolskie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie;
4. Warsaw: Podlaskie, Mazowieckie, Łódzkie;
5. Wrocław: Dolnośląskie, Opolskie, Śląskie.
The respective regions in the Czech Republic include the following administrative regions (Czech, singular: kraj):
1. Prague: Hlavní město Praha, Stredocesky kraj, Liberecký kraj, Karlovarsky kraj, Jihočesky kraj, Plzensky kraj, Ustecky kraj, Kralovohradecky kraj;
2. Brno: Vysocina, Jihomoravsky, Pardubicky kraj;
3. Ostrava: Olomoucky kraj, Zlínsky kraj, Moravskoslezsky kraj.
The respective regions in Hungary include the following counties (Hungarian, singular: megye):
1. Budapest: Pest, Bács-Kiskun, Fejér, Somogy, Tolna, Baranya, Nógrád, Csongrád-Csanád;
2. Győr: Győr-Moson-Sopron, Komárom-Esztergom, Vas, Veszprém, Zala;
3. Debrecen: Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, Heves, Hajdú-Bihar, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok, Békés.
The respective regions in Slovakia include the following administrative regions (Slovak, singular: kraj):
1. Bratislava: Bratislavský, Trnavský, Trenčiansky, Nitriansky, Žilinský;
2. Košice: Banskobystrický, Prešovský, Košický.
The regional qualifiers shall be held concurrently in all regions and shall consist of a single leg in which the competing teams deliver multimedia presentations on a subject related to business management. The deadline for submitting the presentation shall be two weeks starting on the date of announcing the task by the Organiser.
The regional qualifiers shall be conducted by Regional Commissions of at least three members each, appointed for each respective region by the Organiser.
Each Regional Commission shall have the right to disqualify a team for violating the formal requirements laid down in these Terms and Conditions.
The time for delivering the multimedia presentation shall be maximum 15 minutes.
A team presentation may receive maximum 50 points from each member of the Regional Commission. The final score which can be received by a team shall be the average of the scores awarded by each respective member of the Regional Commission.
When teams are awarded the same score for their presentations, the qualification to the national stage shall be decided by the Regional Commission.
The national stage shall involve 5 (say: five) teams from each country, of which at least 1 (say: one) team from each region.
The detailed course of the regional qualifiers shall be regulated by an instruction prepared and communicated to the HSBC participants by the relevant Regional Commission 7 days before the start of the qualifiers.
The HSBC regional qualifiers shall be documented by the relevant Regional Commissions. In each region, the documentation shall include:
1. a report on the course of the regional competition,
2. the Commission score sheets,
3. presentations delivered by the teams.
The Regional Commissions shall submit to the Organiser their regional qualifier protocols with annexes, including sheets with scores awarded by respective Commission members and the presentations delivered.
Responsibility for underage participants in regional preliminaries shall be borne by the team’s substantive supervisor or another adult appointed by the legal guardian.

Article 7
National qualifiers

The national qualifiers shall be conducted by the respective co-organisers in cooperation with the Organiser.
The national qualifiers shall be held on 17-18 April 2021.
The national qualifiers shall be held under controlled autonomy conditions. The Organiser may disqualify a team if the latter’s answers are found to be not original or if the formal requirements laid down in the Terms and Conditions and the instruction attached to the test sheet are not met.
The HSBC national qualifiers shall be documented by the respective National Commissions. In each country, the documentation shall include:
1. a report on the course of the national competition,
2. the Commission score sheets,
3. solutions to the tasks prepared by the teams.
For each minute of delay in submitting the tasks, the National Commission has the right to charge one penalty point, which is deducted from the score for a given case study of a specific team. If the number of penalty points obtained exceeds the maximum number of points to be obtained for a given task, the team automatically receives a score of 0 points for the given task.
In the first leg of the national qualifiers, the teams must solve a short case study about business and entrepreneurship, in particular about management, marketing, data analysis and interpretation or corporate finance. The only deliverable subject to assessment shall be the report submitted by a competing team presenting the results of the team’s work. The teams shall have three hours (180 minutes) to solve their tasks.
The detailed rules of the national qualifiers shall be regulated by an instruction prepared and communicated to the HSBC participants by the relevant National Commission 7 days before the start of the qualifiers.
In the first leg of the national qualifiers, a team may receive between 0 and 25 points.
In the second leg of the national qualifiers, each team must solve a case study, prepare a report presenting their solution, and then present and support their solution in public. Support of the solution shall involve answering questions asked by the National Commission members regarding the solution presented by the team and matters related to the subject of the presentation.
The total time allowed for preparing the solution and report shall be five hours (300 minutes).
The time allowed for the presentation shall be 15 minutes.
In the second leg of the national qualifiers, a team may receive between 0 and 50 points.
The place taken by a team shall be decided by the score received in each leg of the national qualifiers.
The results shall be announced on the day on which the competition ends. The list of HSBC finalists, including the names of their schools, shall be published on the HSBC website.
Responsibility for underage participants in national preliminaries is borne by the team’s substantive supervisor or another adult appointed by the legal guardian.
In order to be admitted to the national qualifying rounds, at least 3 members of a given team must be present, persons who will not appear in the national qualifying rounds may be removed from a given team by the decision of the Organizer. Failure to meet the requirement of at least 3 people is the basis for disqualification of the team. In special and justified cases, the absence of a team member is possible, provided that the Organizers are notified of this fact in advance.

Article 8
International final

The international final will be held on 6-9.07.2021 in Warsaw.
Detailed information about the course of the international finals will be made available by the organizer to the participants no later than 7 (say: seven) days before its commencement.
The Central Commission appointed by the Organizer is responsible for the course of the international finals.
The Organizer undertakes to cover the costs related to the transport and stay of the winners in Warsaw during the international finals in the agreed scope and, if possible, financially possible by the Organizer, after presenting appropriate documentation confirming the costs justified and accepted by the Organizer.
The organizer reserves the right to change the date of the international finals.
The responsibility for underage participants in international preliminaries is borne by the team’s tutor or another adult appointed by the legal guardian.
In order to be admitted to international eliminations, at least 3 members of a given team must be present, persons who will not appear in the national qualifying rounds may be removed from a given team by the decision of the organizer. Failure to meet the requirement of at least 3 people is the basis for disqualification of the team. In special and justified cases, the absence of a team member is possible, provided that the organizers are notified of this fact in advance.
The final stage will consist of two separate, unrelated parts.
The first part will be assessed at a maximum of 40 points, and participants will have 2 hours to solve the problem. The result of the participants’ struggle will be a report saved on a computer, without access to the Internet.
The second part will be assessed at a maximum of 60 points, participants will have 3 hours to solve the case study, they will not have access to the Internet. The result of their work will be a presentation, presented on Friday before the jury.
Lack of independence in the performance of tasks is the basis for disqualification of a given team.

Article 9
Detailed rules

The Organiser shall make all efforts to organise the HSBC at easily accessible locations to ensure that disabled participants enjoy similar conditions of participation in the Contest.
The Organiser does not guarantee participation in the Contest to a participant who failed to arrive for the competition due to a sudden illness or any other serious accident.
Persons admitted to compete in the regional, national and central qualifiers must hold a valid identification document (a student card, an identity document, a passport or other ID with a photograph).
The Organiser reserves the right to conduct the regional and national stage remotely with the use of means of electronic communication.
The Organiser reserves the right to change the dates of individual stages of the Contest in the event of extraordinary or unexpected circumstances.
Detailed information regarding changes in the course of the Contest shall be communicated to the Participants in due advance.

Article 10
Appeal procedure

An appeal against a decision of the Regional or National Commissions can be lodged with the Organiser within 3 (say: three) days from the date on which the results of the relevant stage are published (the e-mail send date shall be decisive).
The appeal can be lodged by the team leader on behalf of his/her team. The appeal shall be sent by e-mail to info@businessismore.eu
The Organiser shall consider each appeal and send its reply as soon as possible, within maximum 7 (say: seven) business days from the day of its receipt. The reply shall be given by e-mail.
No appeal shall be possible against decisions made by the Central Commission.

Article 11
Prizes and rights

The following terms are used in the classification of HSBC results:
1. Winner – the winning team of the international final,
2. Laureates – the winning teams of respective national qualifiers,
3. Finalists – other teams taking part in respective national qualifiers.
The Winner of the international stage shall receive the prize of € 2, 400.
The Laureate of the national stage shall receive the prize of € 500.
The 2^nd place Finalist of the national stage shall receive the prize of € 250.
The 3^rd place Finalist of the national stage shall receive the prize € 150.
The prizes shall be reduced by due taxes if the obligation to pay such taxes lies on the side of the Organiser.
The Organiser reserves the right to award other Laureates or Finalists prizes in cash or in-kind as permitted by the resources held, and to increases the prize amounts set forth in the Terms and Conditions.
The prizes will be transferred no later than the end of August 31st, 2021 to the bank account number indicated by the group leader. The given account number cannot be registered in a bank with its seat outside the European Union.

Article 12
Processing of personal data

By applying for participation in the HSBC Contest, every participant acknowledges to have read these Terms and Conditions and undertakes to comply with it.
To be admitted to participate in the HSBC Contest, consent must be given by a student (in the case of adult students) or his/her legal guardian (in the case of underage students) to processing of the student’s personal data by the Organiser and HSBC partners. The participant acknowledges also that:
1. the controller of his/her personal data processed as part of the HSBC is Europejska Fundacja Rozwoju Przedsiębiorczości, KRS: 0000836387, NIP: 5213894656, with its registered office at ul. Czerniakowska 24/39, 00-714 Warszawa
2. his/her personal data will be processed solely for the purpose of running and documenting the HSBC, publishing the results of individual HSBC qualifiers (including in the media, in the Internet, on the HSBC website) and for the purpose of the required reporting, under the consent given by the participant,
3. his/her personal data may be made available to entities which cooperate with Europejska Fundacja Rozwoju Przedsiębiorczości, including its corporate partner and partners of the “High School Business Challenge” Contest, as well as other entities which process personal data controlled by Europejska Fundacja Rozwoju Przedsiębiorczości under relevant agreements with Europejska Fundacja Rozwoju Przedsiębiorczości,
4. his/her personal data may be made available to entities listed in Paragraph 2c of this Article 12 for the purpose of running and documenting the HSBC Contest, publishing the results of individual HSBC qualifiers (including in the media, in the Internet, on the HSBC website) and the required reporting, as well as for the purposes of promotion and marketing of entities which cooperate with Europejska Fundacja Rozwoju Przedsiębiorczości and HSBC partners.
5. provision of his/her personal data is voluntary, but a refusal to provide it shall prevent participation in the HSBC contest,
6. he/she has the right to access and rectify his/her personal data,
7. he/she has the right to object to further processing, and if he/she has given his/her consent to processing – withdraw that consent. The decision to exercise the right to withdraw the consent shall have no effect on the processing which took place before that withdrawal,
8. he/she has the right to lodge a complaint with the personal data protection supervisory authority in Poland,
9. his/her decision to enter for the HSBC is equivalent to a free-of-charge consent to the use of his/her image in Contest-related information and promotion materials and to the publication of that image in the media, including on the website (photographs and videos reporting on the course of the HSBC)

Article 13
Final provisions

All disputes and claims related to the Contest which cannot be resolved amicably shall be resolved by a common court with a proper jurisdiction for the Organiser’s registered office.
The Terms and Conditions may be amended by publishing a new content on the Organiser’s website, unless the amendment infringes the rights acquired by the Participants or affects equal opportunities of the Participants.
Matters not regulated by the Terms and Conditions shall be subject to the provisions of the statutory law of the country in which the Organiser is based.
These Terms and Conditions shall come into force upon their adoption.
As regards interpretation of these Terms and Conditions, the English version shall apply.