CONTENTS

1. Keep Challenging

2. The CXO Challenge

3. The CXO Problem Statement

4. Timelines

5. Prizes

6. General Guidelines

7. Contest Rules

8. Cognizant Contact

1. KEEP CHALLENGING
Over the past 20 years, Cognizant has constantly challenged the status quo and continually
reinvented itself to stay relevant to its stakeholders. While our core tenets that form our unique
cultural DNA remains, we have adapted ourselves to the changing marketplace dynamics to
emerge as the fastest growing consulting, technology and business services company, globally.
In the midst of the once-in-a-decade shift driven by Digital forces, we are once again
challenging ourselves and we believe that we are well positioned to continue to do so in 2015
and beyond, in the new SMAC enabled digital era.
Keep Challenging, as the theme for THE CXO CHALLENGE encourages business school
graduates like you to explore this emerging school of thought. The challenge is to find
opportunities, see them through and get to work. Because now more than ever, the future
belongs to those who challenge the present!
Welcome to THE CXO CHALLENGE, 2015!

2. THE CXO CHALLENGE

Inspired by insights from last years CXO Challenge, the CXO Challenge 2015 will give business
school graduates an enviable opportunity to be mentored by, and have personal interactions
with Cognizants very own C-Suite executives. This first part of The CXO Challenge comprises
of four phases:
Phase I - Registration and Evaluation
To compete in The CXO Challenge, individuals will need to register on our Campus2Cognizant
portal - https://campus2cognizant.cognizant.com/Events/Index/. The registered candidates will
have to pass a four level online rigorous evaluation round.
Phase II Assignment and Orientation
Contestants whose overall scores are amongst the top ten will be shortlisted to move to the next
phase, where Cognizants CXOs will give the contestants a real-time business problem to
solve.
Phase III Mentoring
Business consulting managers will mentor each contestant individually on the strategy to adopt
while addressing the CXO problem statement.
Phase IV Final Presentation & Grand Finale
Contestants will present their strategy response plans to the CXO panel for evaluation and the
top 3 will be selected.

3. THE CXO PROBLEM STATEMENT

CXO Challenge 2015 expects students to don their creative hats, challenge business
assumptions and be future ready. The CXO problem statement will be communicated to the
contestants during their orientation.

4. TIMELINES
Key activities and target completion dates will be as follows. Cognizant reserves the right to
change these dates as per its discretion and convenience without any liability.
Phases

Activity

Date

Registration

August 13 August 19

Evaluation

August 21 September 11

II

Assignment & Orientation

III

Mentoring

IV

Final Submissions and Presentation

September 14 September
25
September 14 September
25
September 26 October 05

5. PRIZES
First Prize:
INR 1,25,000/Second Prize: INR 1,00,000/Third Prize: INR 75,000/Cash Prizes indicated are pre-tax amounts and will be subjected to applicable and appropriate
tax deductions before payout. The decision of the judges will be final and binding.

6. GENERAL GUIDELINES
6.1 Participation Guidelines
6.1.1 In the case of a student pursuing a one year MBA, the individual participating should be
completing their MBA in the year 2016 and in the case of a student pursuing a two year MBA,
only final year MBA students can participate.
6.2 Phase I: Registration and Evaluation
6.2.1 Combined overall scores across the four evaluation levels will be taken into account
before announcing the finalists who will be shortlisted for Phase II.

6.2.2 Ten participants will be selected to go on to Phase II of the challenge.

6.3 Phase II Assignment and Orientation
6.3.1 Finalists of Phase II will be decided and announced by Cognizant.
6.3.2 All finalists will be given a CXO problem statement by Cognizant.
6.4 Phase III - Mentoring
6.4.1 All finalists must be present for the entirety of each of the mentoring sessions.
6.5 Phase IV Final Presentation and Grand Finale
6.5.1 Each participant, for the final phase will be required to present their strategic response
plan to the CXO problem statement. The presentation will be made to a panel of judges
consisting of senior management at Cognizant. Each presentation will last 15 minutes and will
be followed by a 10 minute Q&A round from the judges. It is mandatory for finalists to be a part
of the Grand Finale and no remote presence will be allowed for the same.
6.5.2 Strategic response documenting:
6.5.2.1 The proposed strategic response plan must not violate any intellectual property rights.
6.5.2.2 The participants must not contact judges at any phase and judges must not contact any
participant during the course of the contest.
6.5.2.3 All soft copy documents must be submitted in MS Word, MS Excel and MS PowerPoint
formats.
6.5.2.4 No application materials or copies of materials will be returned to the applicant.
6.5.2.5 Margins must not be smaller than 1 inch on any side.
6.5.2.6 The text must be in Arial font (size 10 and single spacing).
6.5.2.7 Each participant must meet all the stipulated requirements at every stage. Participants
that submit incomplete packages will be disqualified.
6.5.3 The strategic response must:
6.5.3.1 Highlight the business relevance and provide a detailed competitive analysis.
6.5.3.2 Outline relevant financial projections, including expected cash flow and budget analysis
where necessary.
6.5.3.3 Describe relevant working models or prototypes.
6.5.4 The package must include:
6.5.4.1 An executive summary not exceeding 3 pages in length.
6.5.4.2 A strategic response plan not exceeding 20 pages, inclusive of appendices and
attachments.

6.5.4.3 The file naming convention for this phase will be: Name_CXO.doc; Name_CXO.xls
(e.g. SPARK_CXO.doc).
6.5.4.4 The subject line for this e-mail drop will be: Name_CXO.
6.5.4.5 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 ability to implement the strategic response plan
Presentation skills
Overall attractiveness of the strategy

6.6 Financials to include

Your finance section must indicate particular costs as well as gains in percentage terms. It must
indicate the specific areas of investment, and the timelines involved. It must include any planned
investments, savings, and necessary expenditures. It must address a simple projection of sales
and revenues. Charts and graphs must support and defend all information presented in the
Strategic Response Plan. The Strategic Response Plan must be concise and easy to follow.
6.7 Content to include
The Strategy Response Plan must be concise and interesting, while addressing specific
approaches, goals, prospective markets and investors, and the actions needed to accomplish
them. It will be a detailed expansion of the Executive Summary, and will contain no redundant
information. It must include market research and implications for the next five years. The
necessary function of a strategic response plan is to:
6.7.1 Present the resources needed to convince judges of the strategic direction.
6.7.2 Explain the market for the goods or services presented. This must include a detailed result
of a profound market research. The market research may include market size, anticipated
growth, key changes, driving forces of the market, detailed research into unique capabilities of
the company, market penetration, and so on.
6.7.3 Present the findings of thorough research where applicable.
6.7.4 Determine and prepare for the risks and benefits of the strategic decision for the business.

7. CONTEST RULES
By submitting a Strategic Response Plan to Cognizant in connection with The CXO Challenge,
each contestant specifically agrees to be bound by and to comply with the terms and conditions
set forth in this contest overview, including but not limited to, the following terms and conditions.
7.1 General Limitations
This contest document in no way constitutes an agreement between Cognizant and any
participant. The information contained in any documentation made available to a participant is
provided in strict confidence and shall be used only for purposes of participating in this contest.
Cognizant reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify or change the scope or terms of
this contest and contest materials at any time during the contest process, including during
judging the submissions. Neither the invitation to participate in the contest, nor the contest itself,
is or shall be considered an agreement to award any prizes or any other consideration to any
participant. Cognizant reserves the right to cancel this contest with respect to one or more
participants at any time without any liability or obligation to Cognizant, if in its sole determination
Cognizants best interests would be served.
Cognizant may use any judging criteria and evaluation process it deems appropriate in its sole
discretion to evaluate business plans and other information received. Cognizant reserves the
right to make any award, group of awards, or no award of prizes as it determines, in its sole
discretion, to be in the best interest of Cognizant. In the interest of furthering competition,
Cognizant reserves the right to waive minor informalities or procedural requirements during the
contest process.
Contestants will prepare and submit business plans in accordance with the requirements set
forth in the contest materials provided by Cognizant. Cognizant may reject any submission,
without permitting the participant to make revisions, if that submission fails to conform to the
stated requirements.
In no event shall Cognizant be liable to the Contestants or any other person or entity for any
direct or indirect damages, whether such liability is based on an action in contract, warranty,
strict liability or tort (including, without limitation, negligence) or otherwise.
7.2 Ownership / Confidentiality
Once submitted, business plans and other materials submitted in response to this contest by
contestants, including but not limited to, all ideas, concepts, and other intellectual property
therein, will become the property of Cognizant and will not be returned to the participants.
Accordingly, business plans and other materials submitted may be freely disclosed to thirdparties and used in any manner deemed appropriate in Cognizants sole discretion without any
limitation or restriction of any nature.
Contestants will acquire no right to use, and will not use, without Cognizants prior written
consent, the terms or existence of this contest, the names, characters, artwork, designs, trade

names, copyrighted materials, trademarks or service marks of Cognizant, its related or

subsidiary companies, parents, employees, directors, shareholders, assignees, successors or
licensees in any manner whatsoever.
7.3 Cost of Participating
Each contestant will be responsible for all expenses they may incur in developing and
submitting responses to this contest. Cognizant is not responsible in any way for any expenses
incurred by any participant in the preparation or submission or presentation of a business plan
in response to this contest or for the costs incurred during the evaluation and award process.
7.4 Originality of Plan
Each participant represents and warrants to Cognizant that any ideas, concepts, content,
documentation, data, information, instruction, design, technical specification or other materials
provided by or on behalf of the participant in connection with the contest, are the original work of
the contestants, and that Cognizants possession, use or modification of any such materials will
not infringe or otherwise violate the intellectual property rights of any third-party.
7.5 Compliance with the Eligibility Guidelines of the Contest
Each contestant has reviewed the Entry Eligibility Guidelines and by his or her execution of the
following Confirmation of Intent to Participate certifies that this entry and the team or individual
she/he represents complies with the guidelines and agrees to abide by the guidelines.
7.6 Waivers and Releases
Each contestant understands that each of the judges, mentors, organizers, and Cognizants
directors, officers, partners, employees and consultants are volunteers and are under no
obligation to render any advice or service to any contestant. The views expressed by the judges
and the organizers are their own and not those of Cognizant or any other person or entity.
In consideration of the time, expertise and other resources provided by the organizers, each
contestant hereby voluntarily releases each organizer from any and all liabilities, responsibilities,
and accountabilities relating to or arising out of such organizers participation in the contest.

8. COGNIZANT CONTACT
Please note that any and all registrations will take place through the placement officer at your
campus and all queries should be addressed to bschool@cognizant.com. All updates will be
communicated via mail and from Phase II onwards via mail and the Campus2Cognizant portal.