Kushankur Datta and Debajyoti Das, PGDM students from XLRI Jamshedpur, have won the latest IBS-BLoC Case Study Contest, presented by Hidesign. The case, ‘Can Vishal Mart sustain growth under new ownership?’, conducted entirely online, was developed by the ICFAI Business School’s IBS Centre for Management Research by Jitesh Nair, Research Faculty, and Shwetha Kumari, Senior Research Associate, at the Centre. The three winning teams received ₹25,000 in gift vouchers from premium leather goods brand Hidesign.

The case tasked the students with formulating a growth strategy for Vishal Mart to grow in the competitive and dynamic retail sector, and come up with a workable strategy to put it back on the top shelf. As part of a well-argued strategy, the winning duo provided a solution to use tech and advanced analytics to enhance the customer experience and understand consumer behaviour.

Innovative solutions

The contest received several hundred entries from B-schools, including IIMA, IIM Kozhikode, NMIMS Bengaluru, and ISB. Prof Venu Gopal Rao, Professor, Department of Marketing & Strategy, IBS, Hyderabad, who analysed the entries, said the winners were able to assess the problem and present relevant data in support of the solution provided. The strategies suggested were not only original but innovative and actionable, he added.

Pragya Shukla, a PGP student at ISB, came second, and received ₹7,500 worth vouchers from Hidesign.; the third place went to Khushi Bhurat and Aakanksha, students of NMIMS Bengaluru, who took home a ₹5,000 gift voucher.

Drishti Batra and Anahita Handa from NMIMS Bengaluru were in the fourth spot, and a solo entry from Sai Sathweek, also from NMIMS, stood fifth. All entries by the winning team and the top four runners-up are published on www.bloncampus.com.