The economic institute of the school, HR Business School, is organising this competition together with Research Centre Business Innovation. The school has been participating for years in other large case competitions, such as the 'Network of International Business Schools', where last year we reached the quarter finals. Business case competitions have been a popular means for the last fifteen years to allow students to come to great achievements while under the pressure of time.
Rotterdam business cases
This competition is extra special because we have chosen to use 'live cases' of businesses and organisations from the Rotterdam region. In this way students help Rotterdam entrepreneurs solve complex problems. Leadership qualities, strategic insight, teamwork and innovation are all needed. Businesses and students work together; co-creation is key.
The teams that participate are from the United States, Canada, Brazil, Thailand, Ireland, Germany, Finland and the Netherlands.
The Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences team
Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences has a team participating. On Friday 6 October the ‘Dutch Final’ was held. The members of the team representing the school at RICC were announced. They are Bart Scheffers (Business Administration), Tiana Schipper, Lars Vonk (Business Economics) and Ankie Lemmens (Business & IT Management). The jury was impressed with their advice for a growth strategy they had developed for a game developer, a business case for which they only had four hours.
Multidisciplinary approach
For 29 competitions the teams will battle to find the best and most innovative solutions to problems of Rotterdam businesses and organisations. The teams are made-up by specialists in the fields of marketing, finance, operations, human resources and strategy. A multidisciplinary approach is very important. The students only get a few hours per case in order to get to a solution. They present this to a jury of people from the business community and lecturers of the school. The four best teams will proceed to the finals on Friday 17 November.
Valuable collaboration of education and professional practice
About forty partners from the Rotterdam and regional business community are sponsoring the event by turning in cases, or by participating in the jury. Collaboration between the school and the business community is valuable for all involved. It is not only an excellent preparation of the practice for our students, but they also contribute in this way to the development of Rotterdam.