RSM Case Development Centre

Why do businesses succeed – or fail? We can learn from real-world successes and failures written up in business case studies that address everyday business issues such as ethics, sustainability, change management, marketing, brand management, crisis management, and accounting. Case studies show the key elements of business studies in context; real information and examples bring the issue to life.

Complex scenarios

These studies are widely used in business schools around the world, where reading and discussing complex, real-life scenarios helps business and management students to develop skills in analytical thinking and reflective judgment. Likewise, learning to write business case studies and white papers for reports and proposals is a valuable tool for addressing business challenges.

Guided courses

RSM’s Case Development Centre (CDC) runs guided business case writing courses and workshops for students at all levels, as well as preparing high-quality and award-winning business case studies itself. RSM CDC business cases are widely used in business and management education around the world.

For business managers, leaders, and academics, CDC also runs courses on writing white papers and reports.

Well-written business cases not only help managers in other firms face their challenges. They can also boost your company’s reputation by displaying best practices and good management.

So, you’ve got a great story, rich data or an interesting proposal that you can make into a business case? CDC provides guidance and support for managers preparing business cases. Here’s how it’s done:

• What’s the problem or issue you solved or improved? We’ll review your data and records with you and discuss how to approach writing the business case. You can then develop a synopsis.
• We provide detailed feedback that will help you to develop a more detailed outline. You might need to prepare interviews to complete your data. We can guide and help you through this with devising interview questions, conducting interviews, or even accompanying you to the first interview. Then you start writing your first draft, and we help you with the revisions process.
• When your revised text meets the standards demanded by publishers of business case studies, we’ll help you to polish it, with professional editing and proofreading, and we’ll help you to clear copyrights. Your business case study will be published by CDC via reputable outlets.

We can help you improve your case teaching or writing skills in just a day. Our Case Teaching and Case Writing workshops aim to help people – academic staff, business professionals, and others – to develop, write and teach cases. 

Case Teaching Workshop

Case studies are a common tool for learning and teaching. A teaching case is a snapshot of an actual situation – it describes a challenge faced by an organisation and compels students to step into the shoes of its decision-makers and come up with solutions. 

RSM CDC is dedicated to the case method. If you are new to the method or wish to use the method more skillfully, the Case Teaching Workshop is for you. By using a combination of discussion, theory and practical exercises, the workshop give insight into the dynamics of the case method, as well as suggesting techniques and tools for managing the process in the classroom and analyzing the needs of specific audiences. 

The workshop helps you:

• select the most suitable case material;
• decide the right approach for your audience;
• navigate class discussion; 
• manage class dynamics.  

Case Writing Workshop

Our Case Writing Workshop teaches you the framework to write your own case quickly, easily and with confidence.

A good case writer can explain a highly technical subject in a non-technical way and engage readers with a vivid story. At the workshop, you have the opportunity to develop your case with professional guidance while learning the art and science of case writing. 

You will be coached in: 

• case writing techniques;
• interviewing and desk research techniques; 
• finding the ‘hook’ for your case; 
• writing the opening section; 
• structuring the case; 
• outlining the teaching note; 
• making an action plan to complete the case; 
• arranging case release. 

CDC cases – distributed by Ivey Publishing, Harvard Business Publishing, SAGE Publishing, and the Case Centre (former European Case Clearing House) – are used by universities and business organisations worldwide. Some of our cases have won international prizes and appeared as articles in the Financial Times and Harvard Business Review. We will draw on our experience and knowledge and help you develop cases that you can be proud of.

We give workshops several times a year. If you are interested, you can always contact us via cdc@rsm.nl, and we can inform you about the upcoming workshops. 

Optimise your teaching cases and publication submissions

If you already have cases prepared for using in class or for publication, we can help you to optimise them.

Feedback on teaching cases

You will get detailed feedback on your teaching cases and teaching notes from our skilled and experienced team of case writers. We start with the fundamentals: teaching and learning objectives, discussion questions and potential solutions, content and layout, before helping you to diagnose the important issues in each of your cases. That will involve:

• checking the quality of material against learning objectives
• ensuring there is potential for multiple interpretations
• making sure your purpose and direction is not obscured by unnecessary detail
• checking for clarity of language and ease of reading.

You can use our feedback to test your case, revise it and pilot it for best teaching results.

Quality checks on publication cases

If your case is for publication, our experienced case editors check the quality of writing, style, punctuation and grammar. What do academic researchers think of your cases? We ask them to review your cases and teaching notes and provide feedback from their theoretical perspectives. An academic review of your material can enhance the suitability and usability of your teaching case in class.