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It all happened at NITIE- Prerana 2003
The convention hall of Renaissance Hotel in Mumbai was bustling with
activity since early hours on October 10 th, 2003. The
stage was set for the opening of the Prerana Business Meet 2003
organized by NITIE in association with FICCI. This was the
starting point for the three day long Prerana festival, which
is an annual business event of NITIE- Mumbai. The events that followed
in the next two days included summer project contest, strategy games
and finally the international business quiz hosted by Derek O’ Brien.
www.indiabschools.com was
the online media partner for the event.
The business meet had eminent speakers on the panel, for discussion on
the theme “Made in India” An Indian Evolution- a Global
Revolution. The inaugural address presented by Shri. Manohar Joshi,
Honourable speaker of Lok Sabha set the stage open for discussion on
the topic. The panel discussions emphasized on building India as a
brand and distinctly suggested that the lower costs should not be the
distinguishing parameter for the Indian companies in the world market.
Mr. Sushil Jiwarajka, Chairman FICCI (WRC) stressed the need
for Indian industries to invest into consumer research, brand building
and R&D. This aspect was complimented in the presentation made by
Ajay Piramal, Chairman, Piramal Group as he spoke of the markets post
expiry of patent protection, insisting that investment in technology
was the path to escalation. Ganesh Natrajan CEO Zensar Technologies
highlighted that real profits are in the design itself and the ability
to provide “better, faster, cheaper” solutions. While the
acute shortage of human resources that the world would face by 2020
was surfaced by Kiran Karnik, President NASSCOM. He conveyed that
movement up the value chain was possible through R&D, activation
of human resources as assets and through thought leadership, extending
the thinking process from Made in India to Conceived in
India.
Day II was the day for summer project
contests. The contest was divided into six functional areas of
Marketing, HR, General Management, Supply Chain Management, Finance
& Systems. Each functional area was judged by a jury, which
constituted of luminaries from the corporate world. The elimination
rounds where already conducted and 5 finalist from each functional
area were asked to present their project presentations.
Most of the presentations were on topics relevant in current scenario.
On Day III the stage was set for Srijan-The
Strategy Game. The contestants where required to develop a
comprehensive strategy for the launch of a product in the snacking
segment for Britannia. After many elimination rounds, 5 teams
made it to the finals. The contestants evolved a strategy encompassing
almost all aspects including the pre launch advertising and sales and
distribution network etc. evaluation must have been a tremendous task
as all the presentations were equally interesting, but the strategy
evolved by the students of IIM- Ahmedabad was the one which received a
nod from the corporates for being the most practical solution.
The grand finale was the International Business Quiz (IBQ) to be
hosted by Derek O’Brien. This event was the clash between the finest
from the corporate world with the best from the B-school students.
About 150 teams participated but only 6 teams made it to the finals,
J.P Morgan-Citicorp, Mahindra & Mahindra- Om Kotak and TCS from
the corporates and NITIE, Welinkars and IIFT from the B-schools. It
was a perfect quiz in all aspects, an excellent quiz master, strong
competing teams giving each other a very tough time and a very
intelligent audience. In
the end the best teams did emerge victorious, with boys from
Wellinkars Institute of Management finishing first with a lead of 10
points ahead of the team from TCS in the second place.
Prerana 2003, came to thriving completion, but this point of zenith
marked the beginning of a new chapter - Prerana 2004 we look forward
to ……….
Shaaista Bhat - C fore
(Complete list of winners of various categories and events is
available on the awards won section.) |
