Do you want to play a role in improving the technology of human accomplishment?

Would you like to see your ideas make a real difference in making organizations around the world more innovative and more effective?

Are you interested in putting $50,000 to work leading a real-world management experiment inside a progressive global company?

If so, the HCL MBA M-Prize is for you.

The values driving our most powerful institutions are fundamentally at odds with those of this age. Zero-sum thinking, power, conformance, control, hierarchy, and obedience don’t stand a chance against community, freedom, flexibility, transparency, meritocracy, and self-determination. And yet, competitive pressures, executive compensation systems geared to the short term, and entrenched authoritarian management practices all conspire to reinforce the disconnect between individual and institutional ambitions. The result: a widespread culture of fear, mistrust, and disengagement—and organizations that are uniformly less inventive and inspiring than the people within them. We all deserve better. What’s more, our future depends on it.

The MIX invites MBA students from around the world to invent a HACK aimed at redistributing power, unleashing human capability, and fostering renewal in our organizations. We’re looking for the most original thinking, the most powerfully-developed vision, and the most cleverly-designed experiments for making progress when it comes to transforming our management systems, organizational structures, and behavioral norms so that everybody can contribute their best gifts, make the most impact, and reap the best rewards.

• Submit a HACK related to the broad challenges of distributing power, unleashing human capability, and fostering renewal. For more information on these challenges, visit the Moonshots page and review the moonshots listed in the relevant categories (Unleash Capability, Distribute Power, Foster Renewal)

• Participation is open to any Business School student enrolled in Masters or Doctoral programs. Participants can enter individually or in teams.

• To participate, register on the MIX and simply follow the guidelines for submitting a Hack (be sure to indicate you are participating in the MBA M-Prize contest) -MIXers may submit multiple contributions, and may revise and re-post their submissions up until the deadline.

• Submissions may draw on secondary source materials but should be based primarily on first-hand experience or an original idea. In every case, be sure to credit all those who contributed to your hack and provide citations to external reference material.

• The MBA M-Prize will unfold in two stages: a preliminary stage (Deadline: March 20, 2011) and a final round for 10-15 finalist teams (Deadline: April 20, 2011)

• All entries will be judged by a panel of MIX Mavericks (an elite group of leading management thinkers and progressive CEOs). The judges will assess entries based on: clarity of thought and originality, potential for impact, feasibility of implementation, and popularity. Judges will provide targeted feedback to finalists as they refine their entries for the final round.

• Winners will be announced on the MIX site on May 1, 2011.

• Grand Prize: The chance to implement your idea in a progressive global company. HCL Technologies, a global IT Services company and MIX partner, has set aside $50,000 to fund a management experiment based on the winning hack.

• Cash prizes: to top 3 hacks (winner: $5000; 2 runners-up: $2,500) as well as to each finalist ($500 each).

• Global recognition: All winners will be featured on the MIX and MIX partner websites (including, the McKinsey Quarterly, Gary Hamel’s Wall Street Journal blog)

• Featured placement on the MIX (and a substantial boost to your reputational capital and ranking on the MIX)

To enter you must be a registered member of the MIX, press the button below to join now.

Join the Mix

Registered members can submit an entry Story or Hack by pressing one of the buttons below.