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!
Introducing Team Freshly Brewed From MICA...
Q1. Introduce each member of your team!
Harsh Bhatt – Harsh is passionately curious, and believes curiosity to be the most important trait of any marketer. Being an INTP, he prefers to socialize with only a limited number of people. His hobbies include reading, playing badminton and video games. World of technology and possibilities which data science have opened up fascinates him a lot. He likes to keep constant tabs on the major events across the world and prefers to be called as an occasional quizzer.
Suman Kundu - Suman is an astute observer and sees life through the lens of rationality. He is a lifelong learner who finds his peace within the world of music and lets his competitive side out while playing both mind and physical sports.
Sushant Sharma - Sushant is a sports enthusiast who would love to talk about economics at any hour of the day or even night. He enjoys playing football and ultimate Frisbee; other than running marathons.
He loves travelling outdoors and exploring new places - meeting new people and understanding different cultures. On a Sunday, he spends time in a shopping mall, looking at the fashion trends and going to a cafe to drink his favourite drink - hot chocolate.
Vishesh - Vishesh is a movie junkie; he sees life through a lens of a Bollywood director - everything should be magnificent. He has no idea about how he survived three years of his life at SRCC amidst some of the most talented left brain thinkers in the country. Today, he has no idea how is surviving life at MICA amidst some of the most talented right brain thinkers in the country. Therefore, he conveniently calls him a centrist - at the intersection of the left and right brain.
Q2. What made you participate in Mahindra War room Season 11?
We were aware of Mahindra War Room even before we joined MICA, there has always been the highest amount of fervour for War Room on campus, since MICA has been the back to back champion of season 8 & 9. Apart from that Mahindra War Room is one such competition which asks its participants to provide comprehensive business solutions to the live business challenges, which opens up a huge playground for all the teams and provides an immense learning opportunity. These are few of the reasons why we look up-to Mahindra War Room every year and participate.
Q3. After getting to know the group better through the competition, what does Mahindra Group stand for, in your mind?
Mahindra for us is a conglomerate that isn't afraid of taking bold decisions; yet is bounded with prudence and rationality. It stands not only for the products and services but dawns a more significant meaning in the people living by inspiring positive change in the society.
Q4. How did you go about picking your case and solving it? Tell us a few team anecdotes.
We spent a lot of time discussing the different case briefs. Initially, we were not poised to take Comviva as we believed that we could inherently do a better job with other cases such as the agribusiness case or the classic legend case. However, the idea of launching a new banking mobile application in an international market got us really excited and upbeat.
Some of the team members had earlier pursued studies in International business; while others had experience with technology and banking. Therefore, we blended with alchemy as each one of us brought something unique to the table; just as if all of us completed a jigsaw puzzle.
Q5. How are you preparing for the finale?
The clock is ticking and with that our excitement is increasing exponentially. We are preparing ourselves to be calm and composed for the D-Day. As far the preparations go, we are brushing up on each and every aspects of our presentation, at the same time revising the content to not miss any crucial point in the final delivery.
Q6. What is the one question you would like to ask Mr Anand Mahindra when you meet him in person?
At the time of international mergers and acquisition, what are the challenges which Mahindra Group faces while culturally integrating the other organization?
Q7. What's your plan with the prize money?
All of us are football fanatics. With the prize money, we want to travel to football Asia Cup in Doha to watch India play their first game against Thailand on 6th January, 2019. It will be an unbelievable opportunity for us to cheer for the Indian national team wearing the tricolour paint on our faces.