9th SJIM-Albers International B-Plan Competition

It is 2025 and businesses are well established in their processes. Companies across the world are growing well, generating value for their shareholders, and setting legacies for years to come. Yet, those at the helm often forget what makes an organization – it is not its brand or its technology or its superior strategies; it is its people, the Employee. With only 21% of the global workforce being engaged towards their work, perhaps it is time to focus on the heart of every organization. Can you find a solution for organizations to bring meaning back to employees? Could you transform management into a gift for the employee?

Would you like to take part in a competition that is trying to find a scalable solution that can bring meaning back into the workplace?
Would you like to collaborate across continents on this impactful assignment?

St. Joseph’s Institute of Management (SJIM, India) and the Albers School of Business (Seattle University, USA) invite you to join hands with students at Albers and SJIM to create the best business plan to solve this crucial problem.

You will be part of a virtual team, collaborating and harnessing different countries’ technical and social expertise towards a critical global issue.

The business plans of all participating teams will be judged by prominent and successful jury members from across the globe. Three finalist teams will get to present and debate their case in front of a distinguished panel at Albers or SJIM, either in-person or virtually.

So join us today to win this unique multi-school multi-nation b-plan competition!

Competition Topic

There is no doubt that management practices focused on efficiency and shareholder value have taken the business world by storm in the last few decades. This has led to strategies that aim to cut costs, boost production, and use more technology. While these changes have mostly helped owners and investors, they often leave out the people who do the work every day. Too often, employees are treated as just a part of a contract, not as people with dignity. Can we use better management not just for business results, but also to help all workers feel valued and respected? Can the power of enlightened management be leveraged to do more in society: to benefit more people across all sections of society by re-centering the worker?

The global survey conducted by Gallup (2024) found that only 21% of employees are actually engaged in their work. This means that almost the entire global workforce, no matter what job they do, is disillusioned with their work-life. Is this the world we want to live in, work in and leave behind for future generations?

In recent times, whenever the Holy Father has spoken about the economy, he has also often called for action from the world to ensure that work itself is not reduced to mere productivity but is recognized as an “anointing of our dignity.” In May 2025, during his prayer intention for working conditions, he urged that management "restore the authentic value of work by abandoning the logic of profit at any cost, and by placing the person at the center.” We are already seeing glimpses of essential workers being strained by systems that fail to provide basic human support. For example, while studies show that over two-thirds of executives report job satisfaction, less than a third of front-line workers feel valued by their organization. Similarly, in today’s world, while corporate profits consistently hit new highs, real wages for many low-skill employees have remained stagnant or fallen in terms of purchasing power.

We are now at the cusp of a necessary ethical change in business, governance, and management. Unlike previous business revolutions, can we use our expertise to institutionalize new practices that carry all sections of society forward and not just a select few? Your task as a young business entrepreneur in these challenging times is to lead the charge on creating processes or developing ideas/strategies that can help companies transform management into a genuine gift to employees. Hopefully, your ideas can then pave the way for a wider acceptance of human-centered management. Can you develop a scalable business model for this purpose? Think beyond just employee handbooks and mandatory training. Can you make a real difference using your business acumen and leveraging the inter-disciplinary and international nature of your team?

Working in international virtual teams, can you develop a financially sustainable and practically implementable and scalable solution for management to bring meaning back to employees?

Think beyond simple HR engagement workshops, training and development programs, and motivational seminars. Think of how your solution can truly have an impact. Remember, you can tackle this problem from any angle and with whatever extent of technicality you wish. Your business idea can cater to the situation either in the country you are from, or it can be at the global level too.

Competition Demands

While this competition is co-hosted by St. Joseph’s Institute of Management (SJIM, India) and the Albers School of Business and Economics (Seattle University, USA), the students of all courses / departments / programs / schools at Advantere, Ateneo de Manila, ITESO, Fu Jen, Regis, Santa Clara, Seattle University and of the St. Joseph’s group of institutions are eligible to join.

The only infrastructure you need is an internet connection! After registration, all students will be assigned to teams. Ideally, each team will be comprised of a minimum of one or two students from each country/school. However, team sizes might vary based on the registrations.

Teams will meet during 2-3 mandatory virtual meetings to discuss their business plans. There will be short gaps of a few days between these meetings to allow for asynchronous work. Finally, each team will have to submit a 7–10-page business plan for the first round of judging by the international jury. Thus, the demand on each individual’s time may be around 3 hours a week, over a two-week period.

For the first round, the business plan should be submitted in a doc/docx/pdf format. All submissions will be passed through anti-plagiarism software. The document should use Times New Roman 12-point font with 1-inch margins all round. The length of the document must be a maximum of 10 pages, excluding any appendices. Judges will read, but not evaluate, any appendices. The required structure of the business plan is below.

• Cover page, which includes the name of the proposed company and the names of the team members.
• The Idea: one page dedicated to explaining the idea (or your solution) in brief.
• The People: The men and women who will be starting and running the venture, their roles, details about any outside parties providing key services or important resources, and so on.
• The Opportunity: A profile of the business itself – what it will sell and to whom, whether the business can grow and how fast, what its economics are, who and what stand in the way of success.
• The Context: The bigger picture – the regulatory environment, demographic trends, technological trends and developments, and any other factor that will inevitably change but cannot be controlled by you (the entrepreneur). How will you be prepared to deal with the inevitable change in the environment?
• Risk and Reward: An assessment of everything that can go wrong and right, and a discussion of how the entrepreneurial team can respond. Financials, like break-even analyses, can be included here.
• Appendices, if any.

The structure listed above is adapted from an article by William Sahlman, Baker Foundation Professor of Business Administration (Emeritus) at Harvard Business School. All teams are encouraged to read this short article, which is available by clicking here

For the final round, the business plan should be submitted in a ppt/pptx format. The structure of the presentation will follow the broad structure of the written plan. Each team will have 15 minutes to present their plan. After all teams have presented their plan, the judges will give each team a set of questions to answer. All teams will get 20 minutes to discuss between themselves, including with overseas team members via the internet. Thereafter, the teams will have to give their response to the judges.

Competition Judges

For the First Round:
For the first round of this competition, we have judges from across the globe who are experts on this year’s competition topic. This multi-member panel of judges will shortlist the three best business plans for the final.

For the Final Round:
The final round will involve finalist teams presenting their b-plans to a multi-member panel of judges. Each of these judges bring their expertise to bear at this competition. At the end of this round, the best business plan will be chosen.

Deadlines

Important Links

Registration (individual or 2-member team): https://forms.gle/od5FMF39ZinG7jhWA

Submission of b-plan for first round: https://forms.gle/ddfnsJqcUSHQHKfH9

Submission of b-plan for final round: https://forms.gle/K3ubywJgvVWcSRFb7


How to Join?
Please register by filling up this form : https://forms.gle/od5FMF39ZinG7jhWA   You will then receive an email by 3rd Nov 2025, informing you of your team members.

Regis University students please contact Prof. Ken Sagendorf (ksagendorf@regis.edu) if you have any concerns or issues.

Ateneo de Manila students : please contact Prof. Miguel Sevidal (asevidal@ateneo.edu) or Ms. Beatrice Chan (beatricemdc@gmail.com)   if you have any concerns or issues.

ITESO students : please contact Ms. Pilar (mplopez@iteso.mx) if   if you have any concerns or issues.

Fu Jen University students : please contact Mr. Curtis Chen (fj03713@mail.fju.edu.tw)   if you have any concerns or issues.

Albers/SU students : please contact Ms. Amelia Marckworth (marckwor@seattleu.edu) if you have any concerns or issues.

SJIM / SJCC / SJCL / SJU students : please contact Dr. Caren Rodrigues (caren@sjim.edu.in) or Dr. Anup Krishnamurthy (anup@sjim.edu.in) if you have any concerns or issues.

Read about past b-plan competitions here :

2017 (1st) : Recycling in Bangalore and Seattle

2018 (2nd) : Combatting Fake News

2019 (3rd) : Defeating Food Insecurity

2020 (4th) : Universal Digital Inclusion

2021 (5th) : Engendering Responsible Consumption

2022 (6th) : Creation of Urban Green Spaces

2023 (7th) : Universal Right to Water

2024 (8th) : SJIM-Albers International B-Plan Competition