The case team
The team, consisting of Sheila Hood (BE), Roderick Vos (IBMS), Nicholas Smeele (SMM) and Bram van Walstijn (BE), had been following weekly training sessions for months in order to prepare optimally for this competition. By winning the 3rd prize they have been rewarded for their efforts. Not only the team won a great prize, lecturer and coach Gerard van der Star received the award for 'Most Inspiring Coach'.
The NIBS Worldwide Case Competition is an annual case competition where 16 qualified teams from around the world compete against each other. This year the competition took place from 28 February to 5 March in Texas, USA. The competition started with groups in which four teams competed against each other. The numbers one and two from each group continued to the quarter-finals. Rotterdam belonged to one of the two teams that were allowed to quarterfinals. Here they took on the team from Vermont. The jury could divide 11 points in total and rewarded the Rotterdam team with 6.5 points. A beautiful victory that brought them to the next round. In the semifinals the University of Carleton in Ottawa unfortunately was too strong for the Rotterdam team which ended the championship with a well-deserved 3rd place.
One of the 16 world wide teams
In November, the team from Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences managed qualify for this prestigious competition. In total only 16 teams from all over the world can join. Other participating universities were among others from Canada, Britain, China and Germany. Host of this 21th edition was the St. Mary's University Bill Greehey School of Business.
International business issues
The NIBS Worldwide Case Competition is one of the oldest case competitions in the world for undergraduates. Students who participate must have problem solving skills, business acumen, cultural understanding, communication skills and be able to work together. Teams from various universities compete in teams of four students. The teams receive a written case which is based on international business issues and they have limited time to give a well-funded recommendation to the organisation. The recommendation must be presented to the jury consisting of (senior) managers, policy makers and academics.
Besides this Case Competition Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences also participated in competitions in Montreal, Leuven and Navarre. The case trainings are provided by KEESSIE, the Case Education Centre of the Kenniscentrum Innovatief Ondernemerschap in collaboration with schools, RBS and IFM.