IIM Shillong Hosts Its Flagship Management Fest- Khlurthma’21

Khlurthma is the Annual Management Fest of IIM Shillong that invites participation from all premier B-Schools across India, which took place from 12th to 14th March 2021. “Khlurthma”, the name translates to a "Battle of Stars", the origin of words being from the local Khasi language, spoken primarily in the state of Meghalaya. It tests the participants’ business acumen and aptitude to solve real-life business problems in various management domains. The competitions aim to challenge the inventiveness, ingenuity, and business intelligence of the students. The 3 days were filled with competitions and performances with a total of more than 2700 participants and the prize money totaling up to 4 Lakhs that is organized by the 8 clubs of IIM Shillong.

‘Close the Loop’ was organized by ConQuest: Consulting and Strategy Club of IIM Shillong, which aimed to test the participants, having a knack for problem-solving and strategic-thinking through a case study problem. The competition saw 375+ participants battle it out and after a rigorous first round, 8 teams made it to the finals. Team Innovationists from TAPMI and Team Korra from GIM were declared as the winners.

‘Nava-Parivartan’, the annual event organized by EcoBiz- the Sustainability & Business Club, was a three-stage event, where the first stage consisted of a quiz on sustainability and business. The second stage consisted of a social business idea submission, testing their imaginative and feasibility aspects. There were five teams shortlisted based on innovation, and the potential social value that the business models offered. In the final round 'Vani: Voice for a cause', the shortlisted teams pitched their detailed business plans. The winners of the event were teams Strategists and Incognito.

bITeSys - the Systems and Analytics Club, brought back another edition of ‘JustBidIT ‘- a virtual bidding simulation event that has always been a favorite among B-School students. Post an online quiz-based elimination round with over a hundred participating teams from highly ranked business schools across the country, the top eight teams were shortlisted. These eight teams made investments in virtual companies with diverse sectoral investments, developing their portfolio across the simulation timeline by trading them, bidding their way towards cash prizes worth ₹50,000, and other rewards - to tackle the various scenarios put forward like the Pandemic, Vaccine Development, Tech Boom and so on. Team Lawgineer consisting of Paras Wadhwa, Paryant Misra, and Yougal Kargaonkar from IIM Shillong finished first.

Zeitgeist- the Literary, Quizzing and Activities Club of IIM Shillong, conducted the Asian Parliamentary debate competition: ‘Coup-de-Grace’. In the first round of the event, participants were asked to submit their writeup for or against a given motion. Those selected for the second round presented a video submission of their arguments on a given topic. Eight teams were selected for the final round. In the end, Avantika Mathur, Dhruv Chawla, and Aayush Gupta of Team Spirit, IIM Ahmedabad finished first.

‘Touchstone’, a case study competition conducted by Markathon- the Marketing Club of IIM Shillong witnessed massive participation from students across B-Schools. This year the event collaborated with a skill-development company called Phoenix Global for a case study problem. The participants proved their mettle with various innovative and creative solutions for the real-world case problem of Phoenix Global. After a great tussle, Team AI from IIM Shillong and The Triumvirate team from NMIMS Mumbai emerged as the winners and runner-up, respectively.

usHR- the HR Club of IIM Shillong successfully conducted ‘tHRive’ – its Flagship quiz and case study competition. The competition was spread across three rounds, an elimination quiz round, a case study round, and the grand finale where the top 5 teams presented their solutions in front of an esteemed jury comprising of “Mr. Rajesh Srivastava," CHRO (Capital Foods), and "Mr. Nishith Upadhyaya" Director, Advisory Services (SHRM). Team Talent Hunters from Fore School of Management grabbed 1st rank.

The 2021 edition of ‘Shrinkhala’ has been one of the most popular events conducted by Opera- the Operations Club of IIM Shillong. Participants from several reputed institutions like IIMs, IIFT, IITs actively participated in this event. Participants were challenged with a case study and after rigorous scrutiny, 6 best teams were shortlisted for the case presentation round. Team Think Tank (Vishakha Gupta, Daniel Sinha, Yash Wani) from IIFT Delhi & Team AKS (Shanmugavel M, Aravinth S, G R Kumar) from VGSoM, IIT Kharagpur were the winner and runner up respectively.

On the last day of Khlurthma, Niveshak- the Finance and Investment Club of IIM Shillong, was geared up with the final round of its event, 'Show Me the Money.' The competition intended to test the participants' financial acumen across various domains such as valuation, corporate finance, mergers, acquisitions, etc. After a rigorous contest among around 400 participants, seven teams finally made it to the final round, wherein they had to present a stock pitch. Team Enigma from K J Somaiya Institute of Management (KJ SIM), Mumbai, emerged as the winners who bagged the cash prize of Rs 30,000.

The event was a resounding success, as the varied and thoughtful business plans provided a new dimension to the clubs’ vision.