RSM STAR
Case Competition 2021

The seventh edition of the RSM STAR Case Competition in Rotterdam will take place from April 16th until April 23rd, 2021. This year, in order to take RSM STAR’s Case Competition to the next level, we are expanding from 12 to 16 top-level business teams of four students. During the case competition two real-life business cases are to be solved, consisting of one 12-hour case and one 24-hour case. In addition, several social activities, such as a city tour in Rotterdam and multiple academic events, will be organized to stimulate cross-cultural interactions.

This year, the RSMCC is organized by the board of the RSM STAR Case Club. For more information on the Case Club visit their website here.

Any violation of the rules will lead to penalties for the team. These penalties will be made known within 24 hours after the violation has been registered. The penalty will be determined by the organizing committee. No appeal can be made to the decision. The most severe penalty is disqualification of the RSM STAR Case Competition for five years. Any decision is final. Please note that only the most important rules are highlighted be-low. When in doubt please refer to a member of the organizing committee.

• We expect you to work fairly within the rules. Since we were forced to move online, we have limited capability to monitor this. Therefore, we trust your sportsmanship and fair play. If you do not adhere to the rules, penalties will follow.
• No outside help is allowed during the case solving and presenting, this includes, but is not limited to; help from faculty staff, other students and any non-team member.
• The faculty advisor is not allowed to be in contact with the team about the case content, solution, or presentation in between case submission and Q&A.
• The teams are allowed to use textbooks and internet resources in order to prepare and research the case solution. However, the internet resources they use must be open-access.
• All materials produced by the teams during the RSM STAR Case Competition are the property of the RSM STAR Case Competition, these include presentations, photos and videos.
• The presentations are final, no modifications to presentations are allowed after the hand-in deadline.
• Per case, teams must hand in: a one-page executive summary, a slide deck, and a presentation video. These files must be conjoined and submitted to Innoflow using a .zip file.
• All presentations must be in English.
• The 6-Hour Case Presentation will consist of a 15-minute presentation, with use of a maximum of 55 slides. The team may decide how to allocate these slides between the main presentation and appendix slides. It must include page numbers. The slidedeck must be handed in as a .pptx file.
• The 24-hour case presentation will consist of a 20-minute presentation, with the use of a maximum of 55 slides. The team may decide how to allocate these slides between the main presentation and appendix slides. It must include page numbers. The slidedeck must be handed in as a .pptx file.
• The presentations need to be recorded and there must be at least two members of the team presenting the solution. These team members must be visible and the powerpoint slides must be visible. The team members are not required to be in the same room while presenting. In case the team is unable to meet in person, this will not be taken into account in grading. The video must be handed in as a .mp4 file, with a maximum file size of 300 mb.
• The day after the case solving, the teams will be questioned by a jury during a Q&A session. This session takes 10 minutes for both the 12-hour and 24-hour case. During the Q&A at least two members of the team need to be present, but preferably all four members. Faculty Advisors are allowed to join the Q&A session of their team, but they must stay muted and switch off their camera throughout the entire session.
• The 10-minute Q&A time starts when the moderator indicates this. In case a team faces technical difficulties during the 10-minute Q&A, the moderator will stop the Q&A time, and continue when the difficulties have been solved. However, the time will not be paused for longer than 5 minutes in total.
• Executive summaries must be written in English, and handed in as a .docx or .pdf file. Both executive summaries cannot exceed one page, and must be written in Times New Roman, A4, pt 12, text spacing 1, and with use of normal mar­gins (2.54 cm).
• Executive summaries are required for both cases.
• There is no specific writing style (i.e. bullet point / essay style).
• Teams may use icons and images in the executive summary. These must be referenced. They may also refer to their presentation slides.