The concepts we learn in class in
MBA are futile if we can’t relate them to the practical world. With this thought,
ARTHASABHA, the Finance committee of IFMR conducted
BATTLE OF BANKS, an event where the participants were given a chance to represent themselves as CEO/CFO of debt-laden Public-Sector Banks and persuade the sceptical RBI (IFMR professors who have worked in RBI) for a bailout.
EVENT DETAILS
Round 1: Elimination Round
Getting into the banking world is not easy and to communicate this, an online quiz was conducted. The quiz tested the participant's knowledge of financial markets and related concepts. We received a whopping 60 teams of 3 each for the quiz.
Round 2:
Final Face-off
Only the top 6 teams made it to the second round which included teams from SIBM Bangalore, Welingkar Mumbai, BIM Trichy, XIME Chennai and 2 home teams.
The public-sector banks included Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Canara Bank, Allahabad Bank, IDBI Bank and UCO Bank. The event asked the participants to research extensively about each managerial aspect of their respective banks be it financials, operations, and strategy to turnaround their state.
All this information was to be presented the form of a 15-min presentation followed by a 5-min Q&A from judges as well as participants.
We didn’t expect much questions as the theme was a little complex. Contrary to our expectations, the event turned out to be very interactive with a lot of questions from both the judges as well as participants. The presenters also were equally equipped with relevant knowledge and appropriate statistics which made the event a grand success.
The winners were SIBM Bangalore who represented UCO Bank and gave great strategies and effectively answered every query. They were given a tough competition by XIME Chennai (Allahabad Bank) and IFMR (Bank of India) who were the first and second runners-up respectively.
In all, the event was a great learning experience and provided valuable insights about the PSBs to both the participants and audience.
BOURSE GAME: Scream to survive
Arthasabha wanted to travel back to a time when the definition of a stock exchange was literally a market where buyers and sellers met and traded through a public outcry system. The Bourse Game was designed to simulate an outcry-based stock market. It was a great platform for the participants to test and hone their trading skills.
Round1: Elimination Round - The preliminary round was an online quiz where we had an overwhelming participation from around 50 teams.
Round 2:
The Finale
We shortlisted 12 teams for the finals which happened on February 11, 2018. Teams that played the finale were from SIBM, Bangalore, LIBA, XIME, Chennai, PSG Institute of Management Coimbatore, Welingkar, Mumbai, IIIT, IFMR etc.
Initially, teams took time in understanding the flow of the game. But after the initial trading sessions, the initial hiccups were resolved and the pace of the game gained momentum. The teams competed in 9 trading sessions spanning for around 7 hours. Out of 3 members, one acted as a broker in each team taking part in the bid and negotiating on behalf of their team.
During each session, a set of micro and the macro-financial news was displayed and the teams were allowed to speculate. The teams were given stocks of 40 different companies pertaining to different sectors to deal with. After this, brokers of the team took part in a bidding where they had to find a counterparty to settle their trade. The most interesting aspect of the game was the outcry in the bidding pit! The brokers had a challenging time settling their trade. But, it was so much fun at the same time!
In case, they could not arrive at a consensus, brokers approached the Exchange to purchase or sell shares. Organizers at the Exchange ensured that prices in the market reflected real-time bid prices and facilitated brokers who could not a find a counterparty to settle. The game started getting really heated up during the last sessions and the outcry was at its peak!
At the end of the last session, team Arthasabha reconciled the cash holdings and portfolio values of all the teams to decide the winning champions. Team Maverick from SIBM Bengaluru won the first place followed by team Wall Street Bulls of IMFR.
All the teams had a great time playing the Bourse game as they found it very unique and interesting. A peek into the feedback…
The entire journey from planning, designing and organising events for Abhyudaya was a phenomenal learning experience for all of us at Arthasabha. We look forward to excite, enlighten and enthrall you by conducting similar events. Till then, its Team Arthasabha singing off!
ARTHASABHA, the Finance committee of IFMR