Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune (SIBM) emerged as the winners of the Pune semi-finals of the BLoC Boardroom Challenge, which took place on Friday, at the SIBM campus in Lavale. Participants in the victorious team were Geetesh Makkar, Nikhil Shukla, Shivam Aggarwal and Shivani Deshmukh.
The runners-up team — comprising Jayraj Dashani, Ameya Prabhudesai, Neel Chokshi and Vaibhav Chitalia — was also from SIBM.
Five teams — three from SIBM and two from ICFAI Business School, Pune — competed to grab a spot in the final, which is scheduled for October 14 in Chennai. The students had to come up with a financially sound game plan to revive revenue growth for a detergent company.
The jury comprised Shailendra Dixit, Zonal Head, Investor Education, West Zone, Aditya Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company; Prof VV Ravi Kumar, Deputy Director, SIBM, Pune; and S Sivakumar, specialist, human resources/learning and development.
After the first three teams had outlined their strategies, Dixit made a presentation for students on ‘Your First Pay Cheque’, that highlighted the importance of young people starting to invest as soon as they get their first job.
In his remarks about the teams’ performance, Ravi Kumar said: “In future, when you are presenting to the board of directors of your company, remember that they are busy people and want to see the big picture, so focus on that.”
S Sivakumar said: “Most of you made a mistake in telling the jury (representing the board) about the company. Don't tell the board of directors about the company. They already know. And don’t show big excel sheets on screen.”
Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Funds is the sponsor of the event, which is powered by Swiss watch brand Frederique Constant. Vizag Steel Plant and One Crest are the associate sponsors.