The 16 teams first solved a 12-hour case to find a scalable commercial model for unconventional natural gemstone company RAFU APPU Jewellery, and then a 24-hour case for Logitech that sought to ‘stop the scroll’ and optimise its next decade in social commerce.
The week of the RSMCC is always more than just the competition. Visiting teams explored Rotterdam on the Pancake Boat, visited Logitech's Utrecht headquarters, and celebrated at a gala event at the Rotterdam Wereldmuseum.
Case competitions
The format for the competition is familiar for each round, but the subjects can be very different. Case competitions allow teams of the most talented bachelor students around the world to engage with corporate business by developing and presenting innovative solutions to real-life business challenges. The competitions usually last for about a week and involve teams of students travelling from all over the world to a particular university. Within that week they are presented with two or three business cases which they have to solve in a limited time. Teams usually don’t know what the challenge is until the competition begins. They solve real-life business cases that are written by company professionals and focus on a problem that an organisation is facing.
Last two rounds coming up!
After the Rotterdam competition in April, case competition teams from around the world were preparing for the last two rounds in the annual championship. At the time of writing of this report, RSM teams were preparing for the Chulalongkorn International Business Case Competition (CIBCC) in Bangkok Thailand from 18-24 May, and the International Case Competition @ Maastricht at the Maastricht University School of Business and Economics in the Netherlands from 17-23 May. They have quite a record to beat – last year’s RSM teams won these two competitions back-to-back!
The season so far…
Going back to the beginning of the season that extends through the academic year, the team’s international experiences are described here by Rebecca Armando, Competition Manager for the RSM STAR Case Club:
1. Bangkok, Thailand in October 2025
RSM claimed first place in the first competition of the 2025-2026 season, at Thammasat Undergraduate Business Challenge (TUBC) in Bangkok, Thailand in October. The team outpaced 20 international university teams through strategic clarity, innovation and teamwork. Read about their win in our report of the event here: RSM STAR Case Club wins big at TUBC in Bangkok
2. Guadalajara, Mexico in October 2025
Later in October, the RSM team took on 14 other university teams at the Business Management Case Competition (BMCC) at The Business School of the Universidad Panamericana Guadalajara. The RSM team of four second-year BSc International Business Administration students Frida Blackwood, Ema Pitelova, John Mark Holst, and Leonardo Maestri solved a 6-hour case for Muebles ARTEX in which they designed an experience-led retail strategy centred on a customer ID, in-store customisation, and scaling B2B through data-driven partnerships, and a 24-hour case for Industrias Tajín for which they created a cohesive growth strategy that introduced ‘Shareables’ sachets to redefine the brand’s social role and featured the launch of the Tajintería app. Winning both divisional rounds, the team advanced to the finals, where they tackled a fast-paced 6-hour case for the Atlas FC women’s team.
Despite a strong performance, they finished fourth in the overall competition, with first place going to IE Business School from Madrid, Spain; second place to Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba in Canada; and third place to North Carolina State University in the US.
3. Third in New Zealand in January 2026
Into the new year, and in January 2026 the RSM Case Club team won third place at the Champions Trophy Case competition hosted by the University of Auckland’s Business School in New Zealand after competing in four challenging cases against 12 top international teams. Team members were BScIBA students Anezka Pospichalova, Rebecca Armando, Juan Alba, and Erik Holzkämper who worked ‘old school’ style to solve the business cases, with no access to AI, PowerPoint or the internet. The slides for their presentation were drawn and presented through a projector – this is equipment has not been seen in classrooms since the last century! The team was asked to solve four cases; for Watchful, an AI security company, Lotto New Zealand, an electricity distributor for New Zealand, and an independent Brazilian investor who wanted to test their coffee bean business model before starting a franchise.
4. California, USA in February
The Marshall International Case Competition (MICC) took place at the Los Angeles University of Southern California from 16-21 February 2026. RSM was represented by four BSc International Business Administration students: Leonardo Maestri, Nicholas Cirje, Bruno Zabala, and Emma Vittoz., The competition was won by the home team from the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business. RSM finished 4th in its division of 5 teams.
The competition featured two business strategy cases: Small Beer, a new brand for premium low-alcohol beer that wanted to scale up, and Warren James Inc., a creator merchandise platform, needing to reduce its reliance on hit-driven influencer cycles by launching an owned consumer brand.
5. Third in Copenhagen, Denmark in February 2026
At the CBS Invitational Case Competition 2026 at Copenhagen Business School in Denmark, the RSM team was placed third in the competition of 12 international teams focusing on a 24-hour case for L'Oréal and the Nordic male beauty market from 21-28 February. Team members – all BSc International Business Administration students – were Natalie Zaytsev, Ema Pitelova, Daumantas Ciutas, and Vincent de Laporte. The livestream of the finals is online.
Teams worked on two cases: Flatpay, a digital payment provider wanting to expand internationally; and L’Oreal Nordic, which wanted to grow its men’s beauty segment as well as the whole brand. First place went to the University of Florida, second place to the University of Southern California, and third place to RSM.
6. Montréal, Canada in March 2026
As March rolled around, the RSM Case team travelled to the John Molson Undergraduate Case Competition (JMUCC) at John Molson School of Business, Concordia University in
JMUCC Montréal, Canada. Team members were Andre Akaracharanya, Abdullah Al-jabari, Dávid Páchnik, and Leo Renard. They addressed three 3-hour case challenges, followed by a 24-hour case focusing on Canadian industries including healthcare, maritime transport, and construction and exploring market expansion, operational strategy, and environmental considerations. The competition in Montréal was won by the University of Manitoba, with the National University of Singapore coming second and the University of Toronto third. The RSM team finished second in its division and came top in all of its 3-hour cases, and finishing second in the 24-hour case in its division, but sadly not making it into the final round.
7. Winning in Belgrade, Serbia in March 2026
Later in March, the RSM STAR Case team triumphed at the Belgrade Business International Case Competition (BBICC) in Serbia. Members were Sofia Cima Alvares Correa, Amdo Villemonteix, Malena Neun and Jan Tyrl, all BSc IBA students. Concordia University in Montréal, Canada came second and Maastricht University from the Netherlands came third. The teams worked on three cases: Kafeterija, a Serbian specialty coffee chain with 50 locations, to strengthen its appeal to Gen Z; AbelaPharm, a pharmaceutical and consumer health company with a strong position in probiotics, to position its new generation of probiotics in Serbia and model for long-term growth; and for AFI Serbia, a real estate developer, on a major development project in Belgrade.
The judges were very positive about the winning RSM STAR Case Club team’s energy,
engagement, and presentation style - it was dynamic, fun to watch, and highly engaging they said, and creative, backed by solid research.
8. Another win! Amsterdam in March 2026
The Amsterdam Case Competition (ACC) from 12-17 March saw BScIBA students Natalie Zaytsev, Daumantas Ciutas, Vincent de Laporte, and Bruno Zabala finish first in a competition that featured two cases: an 8-hour case on fast food chain Dunkin’ Donuts expanding its footprint in the Benelux countries, and a 24-hour case about snack company Jack Link’s adopting a growth strategy to expand beyond meat snacks. HEC Montréal came second, and third place went to the University of Amsterdam
9. Podium finish at Navarra in March 2026
The RSM STAR Case Club team members Daniel Beaven, Dora Debesset, Sanaya Roche, Leah Brüggemann – all BScIBA students – finished third in the University of Navarra Case Competition
(UNICC) in Spain during the competition for 16 teams from 15-20 March, with two 3-hour cases and a 12-hour case.
The first 3-hour case – requiring quick thinking and research – was about Velites, a Spanish sport equipment brand wanting to expand beyond CrossFit, and a geopolitics case involving expansion into Qatar for Sygris, a data management platform with a Hybrid SaaS deployment model.
The 12-hour case concerned Cinfa, a Spanish pharmaceutical company with a focus on providing accessible healthcare and expanding its menstrual cycle-based product portfolio. The competition was won by the team from the University of Florida, with Concordia University second and RSM third. The judges said the RSM team showed strong analytical depth and demonstrated well-documented and highly visual solutions.
