Rules of the challenge

Rules of  the #Mazarsforgood Innovation Challenge:

Purpose

The purpose of the #MazarsforGood Innovation Challenge is to recognize innovative ideas that would transform the way companies deal respectively with their employees, society and their clients.

The question asked to participants is: "What would you change so companies do better: for you, the employee | for society | for business". 

This challenge has 3 categories as mentioned above:

• For you, the employee,
• For society,
• For business.

This global contest is open to:

• Graduates (people who have graduated within the last 2 years) and final-year Bachelor and Masters students in the process of obtaining their degree,
• Millennials at Mazars, from assistants to seniors including support functions.

Mazars is inviting the participants to team up, innovate and take an active role in enhancing sustainability in the business world.

Teams have to composed of 2 members minimum or 3 members maximum.

Ideas will be judged based on the following criteria:

• The creativity and boldness of the idea,
• Importance and relevance of the challenge addressed and inclusion of social needs,
• Quality of presentation and the popularity of the idea,
• Feasibility of the idea.

Up to 30 ideas (up to 10 for each category) will be selected for the 1st phase.

• The winning team for each category will receive a prize of USD 20,000, 
• The 2nd team in each category will receive USD 2,000,
• The 3rd team in each category will receive USD 1,000.
• A prize of USD 1,000 will be given for the most popular idea.

All entries must be submitted by 8:00 pm CET on April 14, 2015.

How to enter the challenge

Complete information about the competition as well as the online application form will be found on the platform.

Detailed challenge rules

ORGANIZER

The organizer of the challenge is Mazars Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. Its head office is located at 133 Cecil Street #13-02 Keck Seng Tower 069535 – Singapore. Mazars Asia Pacific will hereafter be referred to as “the organizer.”

OBJECTIVE

The challenge is: “What would you change so companies do better: for you, the employee | for society| for business”

ELIGIBILITY AND ENTRY CONDITIONS

The #Mazarsforgood Innovation Challenge is open to graduates from engineering, business schools and universities worldwide as well as Mazarians and employees in its correspondents firms from Assistants to Managers. The team leader will be the team's main point of contact with Mazars.

Teams may be multidisciplinary in nature and include people from different backgrounds. Participants must have permission to travel outside their country of residence. They must also have as at September 2015 a passport that is valid for at least six months beyond the awards ceremony (December 2015). The following individuals are not eligible for the challenge:

• Individuals involved in organizing or coordinating the contest and their children,
• Individuals with a conflict of interests,

ENTRY DATES

Entries may be submitted from Monday, January 26, 2015 onwards and must be received no later than 8:00 pm CET on Friday, April 14, 2015. The awards ceremony will take place in December 2015 during the Mazars CARL Convention at a location and date to be announced. The organizer reserves the right to change the entry dates of the challenge due to any force majeure or event beyond its control. The organizer will not be held responsible for these changes.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Participants may register for the challenge by signing up on the platform: https://ideasforgood.mazars.com. Incomplete or incorrect registration forms will not be accepted and will automatically and rightly entail the exclusion of the student or Mazarian from the competition. Participants are required to register under their legal identity. The organizer reserves the right to verify this identity as deemed necessary. Participants must create teams of two to three people maximum. No changes to team composition will be permitted once it is submitted. Each team must designate a team leader to represent the team. The team leader will handle all communication with Mazars. The team leader is responsible for coordinating the other team members.
By entering the challenge, participants accept the entirety of the present rules without exception, the challenge’s ethics rules, as well as all laws, regulations and other rules applicable in Singapore.
The organizer is not required to return submissions following the end of the challenge.

PROCEDURE

The selection process is as follows:

PHASE 1: CALL FOR ENTRIES

From January 26, 2015 to 8:00 pm CET on April 14, 2015

During the call for entries, and following the official start of the challenge (communicated via Mazars' websites and social media accounts), the organizer will inform eligible students about the initiative through schools or universities and the organizer’s own communication channels.
Participants are invited to form teams of two to three people, register for the challenge through the website https://ideasforgood.mazars.com and submit their ideas. 

Phase 2: FIRST SELECTION

From April 15, 2015 to May 29, 2015

In conjunction with a jury composed with professionals from outside companies as well as Mazarians, the organizer will select up to 30 projects from the entries it receives, up to 10 for each category. Following the selection process, Mazars will release a list of the nominated projects on the website https://ideasforgood.mazars.com and social networks on May 29, 2015.

Mazars will not accept any claims related to this procedure.

Phase 3: 2ND PART OF CAMPAIGN FOR SELECTED TEAMS

From June 2015 to 8:00 pm CET on August 28, 2015

The qualifying teams will have 13 weeks to campaign for their idea, taking into account the observations of the jury, and explain why they should win in a video they will post on YouTube/Youku as well as a revised idea canvas posted on the platform. The specifications defined by the organizer will be posted on the site: https://ideasforgood.mazars.com.

Phase 4: SECOND AND ULTIMATE SELECTION

On 21/09/2015 - After examining all ideas, Mazars will announce the top 3 ideas per category. Details on the award ceremony will be communicated to the winners by e-mail.

Phase 5: AWARDS

The top winning teams per category will present their idea, know their final ranking and receive their award at the Mazars' CARL Convention in December 2015.

Reminder: the jury has full discretion and is under no obligation to release its selection criteria. For this reason, no claims concerning the selection process will be accepted. Once the jury makes its selection, the 30 teams will be informed by e-mail of the contest results by September 18 , 2015.

REQUIREMENTS

All projects must meet the following criteria and technical requirements. All entry submissions must be written in English.

• PHASE 1:
  • Teams have to post a video of 90 seconds max. explaining their idea on YouTube or Youku. They also have to copy that video and paste it in their space on the platform.
    • Give a name to the idea along with the #MazarsforGood hashtag in the title. The video has to reach a minimum of 200 likes on the platform to be considered by the jury.
    • Intro and outro inserts will be provided on the platform so that teams can add them in their video.
       
  • Fill in the idea canvas
    • We want to learn more about the idea. Complete the lean social canvas with details about the purpose of your idea, the problem in its context, the impact it will have, the solution, its value proposition and what makes it unique as well as the beneficiaries, its social and environmental impact, the key resources needed to make the idea happen and the key activities needed to implement it.

Selection criteria:

• The creativity and boldness of the idea (30%)
• Importance and relevance of the challenge addressed and inclusion of social needs (30%)
• Quality of presentation and popularity (20%)
• Feasibility of the idea (20%)

Details are available at : https://ideasforgood.mazars.com The criteria listed above are applicable throughout all phases of the competition.

• PHASE 2 - Jury will select ideas that will make the cut. Up to 10 ideas per topic will be selected. Observations and comments will be given to the selected teams prior to beginning of phase 3.

• PHASE 3 - Selected teams will then have to campaign again for their ideas, taking into account the observations of the jury, and explain why they should win in a video they will post on YouTube/Youku. They will also have to modify their idea canvas.

• PHASE 4 - Winners for each category will be announced on September 21st.

JURY MEMBERS

Jury members are designated by the contest organizer. The contest jury will be chaired by Mazars' Chief HR Officer. Its members will include other Mazars partners and key collaborators as well as third parties recognized for their experience and professional expertise. The jury is responsible for designating the winners per category. The panel’s decisions are at its sole and absolute discretion and no claims will be accepted concerning its selection.

PRIZE

The teams selected for each category as the grand prize winner according to the terms established by Mazars will receive twenty thousand dollars (USD 20,000). Second-place teams in each category will receive a compensation of USD 2,000. Third-place teams in each category will receive a compensation of USD 1,000. A compensation of USD 1,000 will be given to the most popular idea of the challenge.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

The allocation of intellectual property rights will be made on a case-by-case-basis with the approval of the teams, taking into account local laws. 

PUBLICITY AND IMAGE RIGHTS

Participants declare on their honor that they are the authors of their project, that they have not yet published their project elsewhere and that their project contains no plagiarism.
Throughout the challenge, Mazars will promote information regarding the teams’ identity and the nature of their ideas. Moreover, the teams agree to provide biographical information and photos. They accept the publication of these items on the  website https://ideasforgood.mazars.com, Mazars corporate websites and social media accounts. The winners give their free consent to the use and publication of their name(s) on any media platform, as well as for any publicity or promotional campaign concerning the current challenge.

Any personal data provided by participants for their registration or at any other time during the contest are intended only for Mazars, which may communicate the data to its technical partners. Mazars will only use the data to properly administer the contest and it will destroy the data as soon as they are no longer needed for this purpose, following the conclusion of each step in the contest.

PARTICIPATION FEES

The organizer will handle all travel arrangements to the place of the 2015 CARL Convention for one member of each top winning team, including round-trip airfare and hotel stays. This does not including meals, beverages, travel insurance, personal expenses, trips and entertainment not provided by the organizer, which remain the full responsibility of each winner.

CANCELLATION – CHANGES

The organizer reserves the right to cancel or postpone the challenge if necessary without justification. The present rules may be altered without prior notice at any moment during the contest. Should this occur, participants will be notified through the website and the updated rules will be registered and published in the same way as the original rules. No claims will be accepted concerning rules changes.

RESPONSIBILITY

The organizer will not be held responsible in any of the following situations, though this list is not exhaustive:

• Failure of any reception or communications systems
• Loss of any paper or electronic mail and, more generally, loss of any data
• Transfer problems
• Problems resulting from computer viruses, bugs, malfunctions, or technical issues
• Damage caused to any participant’s personal computer.

Internet access conditions and limitations, notably in terms of technical performance and time needed to consult, process , or transfer data; network congestion; and computer virus risk are the full responsibility of participants. The organizer will not be held responsible for any material or immaterial damage caused to participants, their IT equipment or their data stored on this equipment, nor any impact this may have on the result of the challenge or the personal and professional activities of participants. It is participants’ responsibility to take any and all measures necessary to protect their data and/or software stored on their IT equipment against any risk or attack. Accessing the website https://ideasforgood.mazars.com and taking part in the contest are the sole responsibility of participants. The organizer reserves the right to take legal action against any individual attempting or committing fraud. However, it will not incur any responsibility toward other participants for any cases of fraud.

CONTACT

At any time, participants may address any questions to ideasforgood@mazars.com.sg

HOSTING

The #mazarsforgood Innovation Challenge site is hosted by ...