Corporate competitions play an important role in the b-school experience of every MBA student. These competitions witness fierce competition among the students, and you need fortitude, perseverance and skills to win in one. As part of our series on achievers from SJMSOM, IIT Bombay we look at teams from SJMSOM that have managed to achieve success in these competitions.
Team Ozone consisting of Shikha Patel, Aparna Bhoj, Navya Dewangan and Suruchi Mhasde from SJMSOM won Johnson & Johnson Quest 2018. We had a chance to converse with the group and ask them about their preparation and tactics they used in the competition.
Here are some excerpts from the conversation.
1) Describe the structure of competition.
Johnson and Johnson QUEST is a live project loaded with market visits, consumer interactions and mentorship from senior level managers at Johnson and Johnson. There are three stages spread across a time period of six weeks and in the final round shortlisted teams get a period of 5 weeks to work upon the project.
2) How was the experience at QUEST 2018 unique?
Very few Case Study Competitions give you an opportunity to execute and work on live projects. QUEST provides one such platform. This project connected us to industry experts with rich knowledge and global exposure. The project helped us gain immense technical learning, experience of practical execution and peer learning. This experience was special as it allowed us to closely understand how Johnson & Johnson's credo transforms into action.
3) Could you share your experience in the final round?
We had to do a one-month live project to reduce electricity consumption by 10%. So design of the solution and its execution was based on the project’s timeline, feasibility, impact and sustainability. An important aspect that we considered was alignment with Johnson & Johnson’s Utility Department’s values for practical implementation and long-term benefits. This took lots of planning. But we worked together as a team and were able to counter the difficulties that cropped up.