The most exciting thing for a b-schooler is to work on real-world problems of one of India’s top federations. And what better way than to do it with case study competitions? Mahindra War Room is a unique opportunity for business school students. In this series of Mahindra Warriors, we feature the 20 teams – the finalists. The ones who have made it to the last leg of the competition. The series comprises of the Warriors’ journey.
Meet the Mahindra Warriors in this series and tell us who do you think has what it takes to win this year’s Mahindra War Room. Let us know in the comments below!
Introduce each member of your team!
Mridul is the tech head in the group who has the unique ability to make technical ideas very easy to understand, relate and implement in business scenarios. He combines his technical knowledge with strategic thinking very effortlessly which is a great skill for evaluating the actual use and viability of the ideas. He is a great listener who also builds on by consistently contributing to the team discussions and giving a solid shape and form to the idea at hand thus always taking the discussion a notch higher.
Nimisha is the marketing brain of our group. Her ideas have novelty along with relatability for the target group that always click very positively with the audience. Her happy-go-lucky nature builds a very positive work environment and keeps the team motivated even in stressful times. She maintains end – to – end commitment to the task at hand and leverages available resources very effectively.
Lakshya is the creative guy of our team. He stays extremely well informed and aware of the minute details of each and every topic that he works on. His energy and enthusiasm are unbeatable which make him a complete go-getter. Quick turn-around time of any task, detailed thinking and wittiness are his key strengths.
Divya brings the research-oriented and logical thinking mindset to the team. Her thought process is well structured that helps to evaluate any idea from a 360-degree angle before moving forward. Her key strengths are the ability to stay focused and calm even in high-pressure work situations. Her statements are always strongly backed by research and facts and evaluated for meaningful assumptions.
What made you participate in Mahindra Warroom Season 11?
Since its inception, Mahindra Warroom is the most prestigious B – school competition and is regarded highly by students, faculty and also the industry. This competition is a comprehensive test of our overall learning of all domains – entrepreneurship, marketing, operations and finance. The cases are real-time challenges faced by the company and the motivation to see our ideas get adopted in such a prestigious platform by the Mahindra group is the biggest motivating factor to participate in this competition.
After getting to know the group better through the competition, what does Mahindra Group stand for, in your mind?
Through this competition, we understood that Mahindra group, owing to its legacy – that has been built with the experience, the talent pool and the resources generated over time, is now focused on implementing innovative ideas and be the pioneer in multiple sectors. It is committed to achieve this mission by accepting audacious, thought- through ideas and is willing to invest resources generously to support them.
How did you go about picking your case and solving it? Tell us a few team anecdotes.
Since the beginning, our team had the common belief that we would work on the case for which we share a common passion for, as MWR case studies are a huge investment in terms of time, efforts and applying our learnings. When we started the preliminary research for which we met vendors and farmers, we empathised towards their current states as they are one of the most vulnerable sections of our society even though they are the food growers and providers and are not strong enough to disrupt the existing value chain. We as MBA graduates felt that there is a real potential to bring disruptive and positive changes in their lives by working on the agribusiness case.
How are you preparing for the finale?
We're planning to follow what we have been doing for the past 4 months, maintain focus and brush up our skills, practice of every possible permutation and be prepared for any situation that may come, the biggest challenge that stands before us or any other team right now is to have complete control over nerves and emotions on the big stage.
What is the one question you would like to ask Mr Anand Mahindra when you meet him in person?
What would you have done had you been in Elon Musk's place in context to your tweet to him and given that you are also in the same sector eyeing for dominance and excellence in the field of automobiles and automation?
Your plan with the prize money?
We are planning to use a major portion of our prize money for our foreign trip, we plan to buy a lot of gifts for our family and friends, everyone who has helped us on this amazing journey would be waiting for a mega celebration, we're also planning to donate a portion of our prize money to one of the farmer-run Self Help groups in Bulandshaher.