SME Students Win "Creativity Highlight Award" at RSM Intl. STAR Case Competition

participants with Prof. Lin Bilian

This competition is held by RSM, a long-established European Business School League, brings together top-level business students from around the world. Under the leadership of Professor Lin Bilian, Team CUHKSZ impressed the judges with excellent performance, creative display, and tacit team cooperation. Team CUHKSZ competed with Guanghua School of Management of Peking University, Hong Kong University and other Asian teams in the preliminary round. After three rounds of intense competition, only 12 of the 35 teams moved on to the finals. Finalists for this year's RSM Intl. STAR Case Competition are among the world's top 20 business schools, including IE Business School (Spain), University of St Gallen(Switzerland), Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, (Netherlands),University of Technology Sydney (Australia), USC Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California(USA), Ivey Business School (Canada), University of Calgary (Canada), HEC Montreal (Canada), Korea University (Korea), National University of Singapore (Singapore) and Chulalongkorn University (Thailand).

Chen Jiazhe, a senior student majoring in Marketing at School of Management and Economics, said that they competed with elite global business schools not only in language, but also in creativity. “In the 24-hour Coca-Cola case, we customized the recycling scheme for beverage bottles for the Hong Kong market. We used reverse thinking. Based on resources shortage in Hong Kong and the limited processing capacity, we proposed a plan to reduce recycling volume. Increasing reuse rate will lead to full usage of each bottle, and the number of bottles that need to be recovered will be reduced. Our scheme is not only in line with Coca-Cola's "zero waste" goal, but also adapts to local conditions in Hong Kong.”

“In the RSM finals, we competed with top business teams from all over the world. Their strengths and styles are varied, some with in-depth analysis and others with comprehensive plans. We decided to adopt a differentiated strategy, that is, through ‘breaking, processing and remaking' our innovative reserves to propose an innovative plan that includes the specific landing of labor, finance, and property.” He Zili, a junior student in Global Business Management, said that the team had received pre-training with high-intensity, which allowed them to acquire a systematic knowledge base and gradually grasp the rhythm of case analysis. They also learned to hack out a plan that solves the customer's pain points under high pressure with a plan that can be successfully landed.

Li Yiyun, a Finance junior, believes that the competition is a very good learning opportunity. "The time-consuming, high-intensity and difficult competition is undoubtedly a great test of will power of every team member. If any one of us showed less perseverance, our team would not be able to complete the final demonstration in such a fierce competition. Though each of us slept for less than 1 hour, we hacked out the Coca-Cola case within 24 hours. Everyone was highly concentrated. In the last hour, we completely forgot the exhaustion and successfully finished the presentation. After we heard that Coca-Cola’s administration expressed recognition of our display and creativity in the review session, we felt that all the persistence and efforts were worthwhile.”

"From the beginning to the finals, my teammates and I have experienced a barbarous growth." Finance junior Wan Tianyou said that they cannot gained such award without the support of University, SME teachers and senior students. “In the past months, Professor Lin Bilian has given us systematical training in case analysis, turning us from rookie to competent contestant. The senior students have shared us experience without reservations, which allowed us to grow rapidly. Before the finals, we trained day and night. Under the guidance of Professor Lin Bilian, we know how to optimize work flow, sort out logic, and accumulate large quantities of materials. In the competition, we adjusted the strategy according to the actual situation and solve the practical issues raised by the judges and the company."

“Participating in the business case competition is a very good experience for students to demonstrate their strength. For business schools, it is also a good opportunity to display capability, enhance reputation, and communicate with other schools.” Professor Lin Bilian, instructor of the Team said that the team's solution in the last round of 24 hour-case competition was unique, practical and logical. With unanimous recognition of judges and company executives, the team won the "creativity highlight" . “It takes a lot of hard work to gain such achievement and I am very proud of them,” Professor Lin Bilian said, “During the six-month training, we received strong support from the school and the University. We would like to express special thanks to Professor Ming Yu for providing many suggestions for the students in the operation and management, and also to Ying Yue, Li ziqi, Fu Qiu Shuhao, Chen Mingjia, Zhu Fan, Gan Hanlei, Jin Tinghua, Wan Wei, and Wu Silin for sharing experience with the team. I also want to thank Wu Wanlin for her efforts and dedication in assisting the training. Each of the four contestants is a contributor to their own. Thank you for your trust and persistence. Your hard work has made the name of Team CUHKSZ shine in the international competition.”CUHK-Shenzhen students will stay true to their heart and never cease moving forward with a modest and life-long-learning attitude.

four participants

Team CUHKSZ is showing campus map printed on the silk

Prof. Lin Bilian and other advisors

Intro on RSM Intl. STAR Case Competition

With a history of 40 years, The STAR Association of the Rotterdam School of Management of Erasmus University, organizer of the event, annually invites renowned business schools within the cooperation network to participate in the competition. When choosing participants, The school’s achievements in previous case competitions and outstanding reputation are important criteria for the organizing committee.

This year, 35 top international business schools are invited to the competition. Each school needs to select students for the preliminary competition. Outstanding Asian business schools, including Guanghua School of Management at Peking University and Hong Kong University, participated in the preliminary round. The participating student teams were required to write a case analysis report for a micro-nano satellite manufacturing R&D company in Europe in the preliminary round to provide solutions. After a rigorous screening in the preliminary round, a total of 12 business schools moved on to finals held in Netherlands. The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen is the only university in Greater China (including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) that made it to the finals.

School list in RSM Intl. STAR Case Competition

IE Business school (Spain)

University of St Gallen (Switzerland)

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (Netherland)

University of Technology Sydney (Australia)

Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California (US)

Ivey Business School (Canada)

University of Calgary (Canada)

HEC Montreal (Canada)

Korean University Business School (South Korea)

National University of Singapore (Singapore)

Chulalongkorn University (Thailand)

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen（China）