Runners Up – Entrepid

Entrepid was a combination of four different rounds, the first two being qualification rounds for the next rounds. The first round was an online management quiz round, which was hosted on dare2compete.com. It was a fun round, with questions varying from Marketing to Strategy and Business to M&As, putting our management concepts to test. We had to answer about 30 questions in 30 minutes, and the fastest teams won.

We were shortlisted for the second round, which was a case study round. The deliverable for this round was a 5-slide powerpoint submission of the case analysis. The case was about an imaginary company Indore Engineering Works (IEW), a machine tool company and the strategies that it followed. We had to analyse their operations and suggest strategies for their operations and finance. This was a little unexpected as this industry is not a very glamorous one, and not many cases and information are easily available. We based our research on the existing companies in India, especially ITL, which is one of the most successful companies in this industry. Learning about a new company and a new industry was definitely the highlights for us, as our aim to participate in the competition was to learn something new. Getting selected subsequently was an icing on the cake.

Top six teams were shortlisted for the final rounds – 4 from IIM Indore, 1 from IIT Kharagpur and us. The final part had two rounds and was to be conducted on their campus. The first round was an online business simulation game, which tested our strategy execution skills. This was definitely one of the best rounds and an exciting one too. Our experience of having worked on Capsim, in the subject Decision Analysis By Simulation, helped us tremendously; we beat the other teams by a huge margin.

The last round was the presentation of the case that we had submitted, in front of two Strategy professors from IIM Indore who were the judges for the events. We had not put much time into our research and that showed in our presentation. We missed being the winners by a whisker; a little more effort and time would have clinched the trophy for us.

Our slides and presentation was well appreciated; again the result of learning some good tricks in the subject Business Communication. Uncluttered yet having all relevant information, simple yet captivating – we feel these are some basic requirements of a powerpoint submission. It’s an all-round effort of good research and essential insights coupled with a good presentation that can take you all the way through.

Entrepid was a very fascinating combination of different kinds of rounds – quiz, case study, simulation and presentation, culminating in one winner and one runner up. And a simple mantra that we follow when we participate in competitions: “Go with an open mind to learn something new. You will enjoy it.”

 Submitted by: Team SParK

Priyansh Maru
Kaushal Kapadia
Srijon Sil

Design Thinking wave at campus!

Insightful! Innovative! Iterative! These words describe the 4-day workshop on “Design Thinking & Innovation” that was conducted by Dean, Dr. Banerjee and Dr. Das for PGPM participants at SPJIMR, Mumbai between 23rd and 26 October 2015. This is the first time this discipline has been formally taught as a credit-based course to participants at campus. The institute stands among the leading business schools across the world to include “Design Thinking” as a part of its MBA curriculum.  Design thinking is a creative process and human centered approach of devising innovative solutions to unstructured problems for business and communities. One of the cornerstones of this process is empathy for customers.

Participants were immersed in a four-day workshop, where the last day was an exhibition of ideas developed by participants through this process. In the first few sessions, students were exposed to various practical examples of design thinking used by leading businesses and groups. One such remarkable example was the low-cost baby incubator called Embrace Warmer, developed by Stanford graduate students that solved the problem of neonatal hypothermia in low-income and middle-income countries at a cost less than 1% of the price of a state-of-the-art incubator.

Dr.  Banerjee said that Design Thinking is an approach where you don’t work “for” the customer but “with” the customer. He also said that the mission behind this course is to help students develop a learner’s mindset and enable them to use design thinking outside the classrooms to solve business or community related issues. During the workshop, participants were thrown the challenge to design up with a feasible and viable business idea that addresses a gap or a need within Bhavans campus.  Participants came up with numerous thought-provoking solutions such as:

1. Parivesh – This aims at creating a greener and more self-sustained campus by following the principle of waste segregation and practicing reduction, recycling, and reusing paper & bio-waste.
2. Anveshan – Exploring business opportunities and challenges in real world: A way to explore business, people, culture and the world outside b-school and prepare yourself for the real life.
3. Food Train – Food That Follows You. Your Time, Your Place, Your Convenience!
4. Eco Rental – Making communities connect through cycling: Building stronger community bonds and promoting healthy lifestyles facilitated through cycling, cycling events and local partnerships.
5. Campus Dhobi – Tired of the laundry guy taking 3-4 days to get your clothes done? It’s 2 AM & you don’t have proper clothes for tomorrow? Worry no more when you have this App!

The Dean and Dr. Das & other faculty members who evaluated the exhibition on the last day, were impressed with the 15 solutions presented by the students and requested few of the groups to make a formal presentation to the entire faculty after this course. As part of the course, students also had to gather relevant material/videos from the web pertaining to applications of Design Thinking in their areas of interest. Based on these they were encouraged to post their insights on social media.

One of the participant, Nikhil Mishra, at the end of the workshop shared, “Design Thinking approach that included observation, empathy maps, insights, ideation and prototyping definitely helps in bringing out the best solutions.”

This elective was a perfect start to the elective phase for PGPM participants!

Learning the McKinsey Way at SPJIMR!

Do we know if our strategy can give us competitive advantage? Do we know how to measure the strength of our strategy? PGPM participants got answers to a lot of such questions during strategy session held on campus.

Ten tests on competitive strategy Mr. Toshan Tamhane, who leads McKinsey & Company’s Corporate Finance & Private Equity Practice in India, shared his insights on the “Ten Tests” on Strategy. McKinsey’s ten timeless tests are used for determining success in a given market, for determining competitive advantages, and for determining granularity for competition. The session, held on 10th October, was well-received. It stimulated students to think beyond frameworks/processes that are used for crafting strategies.

Dandiya Night

It’s amazing how you put in so much effort into organizing an event and how you wish that everything works out well and in the end when it’s all over, you crave to relive that moment. The Dandiya Workshop organized by the Cultural Committee on the night of October 29^th was one such event. The preparations for the event began a week ago, when students exchanged excited murmurs about the traditional Gujarati attire they were planning to wear. The level of excitement was such that there were practice sessions late at night in the hostels post all the assignment submissions. To dance on traditional garba music, to learn the art of synchronizing and matching steps with your partner and then in the end, to forget it all and just dance happily into the splendid night. The memories of this night will stay with us as a beautiful part of the memories from college. It was nothing short of a surprise to witness Prof. Prem Chandrani, Prof. Suranjan Das & Prof. Rajiv Agarwal as part of the event. Aditi ma’am and Ratika ma’am along with the members of the Cultural Committee took the initiative to make even the non-dancers learn a step or two and eventually the students had one of the best nights in this college.

Talk on Changes and Challenges in the Print Media Industry

On the 24^th of October 2015, the CEO and Industry Integration Committee organized a talk on the changes and challenges in the print media industry. The speaker for the event was Mr. Ashwin Rao, an alumnus from SPJIMR, from the batch of 2007. Ashwin currently works with the COO of the Times Group and offered the students a fresh insight into the print industry and the innovations and changes happening in that space.

In sharp contrast to the west, print in India is still enjoying a growth phase despite the rise of new-age news-mediums. In light of this, Ashwin focused on the growth potential and the lucrativeness of the sector. The talk focused on the operational and marketing innovations that newspapers, in specific the Times Group, employs to garner support of the advertisers. He further touched upon the integrity of print and the ethical rules that large houses play by. The session was highly interactive and the students made good use of it to clear their queries about the industry.

Before leaving, Ashwin also gave a heart-to-heart description of his life after SPJIMR and gave tips on what the students can expect. Having a background in consultancy, and sensing that many in the room were keen in that field, Ashwin proceeded to explain the intricacies of the consultancy business and revealed few helpful tips to the students.