Two case studies published by the IIM Calcutta Case Research Centre (IIM-C CRC) have won awards in the 2017 edition of the European Foundation of Management Development (EMFD) Case Competition. The results were announced on May 4.
EFMD is an international, not-for-profit, membership organisation of business schools and corporations, based in Belgium. It has been organising this competition annually for the last 30 years.
In the inclusive business models category (sponsored by IMD), the IIM Calcutta team of Prof Indranil Bose and Gaurav Gupta (fellow student) won the award for their case “SIMsePAY at YES BANK: Creating value through an un‘smart’ innovation”. Bose, who also acts as co-ordinator of IIM-C CRC, provided some insights about the case study.
“While smartphones are penetrating the Indian market at a rapid pace, YES BANK discovered a unique opportunity for converting feature phones to smart devices through a simple SIM sticker. SIMsePAY, as it is popularly called, is remarkably innovative for its simplicity, applicability and timeliness,” he said.
The second case study, “Switchon O'nergy: Social innovation challenges at the bottom of the pyramid”, by Prof Ramendra Singh and Menaka Rao, won the award in the sustainable business models category.
Reflecting on this achievement, the director-in-charge of IIM Calcutta, Prof BN Srivastava said: “In line with IIM Calcutta’s vision of developing high-impact, research-oriented output, which can contribute to our localised content and pedagogical goals, these two case studies are a new milestone. I am happy that their effort has been recognised by a reputed international agency, which will motivate more colleagues to double their effort in fulfilling our vision.”