V-Guard Industries Ltd is a leading electronics and electrical major dealing in 13 products, having more than 29 branches across India with a turnover of ₹2152 crores (as on 31st March 2017). V-Guard enjoys brand popularity all over India and is now making a global presence with its increasing exports and markets spread across the world. V-Guard’s ‘Big Idea Business Plan Contest-2017’, invited students from B-schools and Engineering Colleges across India to propose a well thought through, creative and comprehensive business plan for V-Guard’s future growth and consolidation. Here are some excerpts from the interview with Kasif Khan, part of the team from XIMB that was declared the 2nd runners-up.
Hi Kasif! First of all, Congratulations to the entire team on being the 2nd runners-up in the V-Guard – The Big Idea Contest! We would like to know why you chose V-Guard over all the other B-School competitions.
Well, the reason why I participated in this competition this year was that I had made it to the nationals last year but did not win. However, after listening carefully to the presentations by other teams, as well as the comments given to them by the judges, I got a decent idea of the requirement of the company as well as the mistakes that we had made. It was a great learning experience. So we decided to try again this year, working hard not to repeat the previous year’s mistakes.
How did your team prepare for the competition?
So, I was a part of the three-member team, with my teammates- Neelabjo and Ashish. The competition required in-depth knowledge of all aspects of business, so it was necessary to have team members with complementary skill-sets. Neelabjo is very good with marketing concepts and Ashish has in-depth knowledge of operations, so they worked on their respective domains, whereas I worked on the company analysis as well as the finance domain. Since we had divided the task into domain-specific parts, it was easier for us to collaborate and work on the case. This way, we were more efficient and could manage the time in between our hectic classroom schedules.
Our first task was to come up with a new product that had high growth potential and was in line with the company’s business growth strategy. After much brainstorming, we zeroed-in on air-purifiers as it satisfied both the requirements. After this, we analysed the existing market conditions, competitors and upcoming technology in the industry. We also interviewed prospective customers and retailers to gain insights. Considering this information, we suggested variants, gave details of the manufacturing process and the marketing plan for the product segment, to the company.
Tell us a bit about your overall experience, from preparation to presenting in the finals and then ultimately emerging as one of the winners.
Like any other premier B-school, the routine at XIMB is hectic and one has to find time to work on such competitions. Primary research, B-plan detailed document creation and PPT making are the most time-consuming tasks. But at the same time, the exposure one gets from such competitions is phenomenal. One gets to present one’s ideas in front of CXO level professionals which is a major confidence booster. Networking and discussions with both, panellists, as well as fellow participants, also help in the long run.
At the event, we got the opportunity to meet the head of the organisation, the strategy head as well as the chief consultant to the organization, along with participants from other premier b-schools like SPJIMR, IIM Kozhikode etc.
After the two-day event, when the results were announced we were elated to know that we had won the 2
nd runners-up prize. We were really happy as it was our first national level award. We won a cash prize of ₹25000 and certificates of merit for each team member.
Any word of advice for the management enthusiasts who are keen on participating in such competitions?
There is no formula for winning in such competitions. You just need to work along with your team, keep asking relevant questions, strategizing and improving on your mistakes and definitely, not giving up if you fail.
Right from the 1
st trimester, all three of us used to participate in corporate competitions on a regular basis. While we were working on the case, we used to discuss our ideas with the faculty members and took suggestions from them. We also searched for relevant data on the online learning resources which were made available to us. With help from team members of Exemplar, the Competitions Committee of XIMB-XUB, we were able to come up with an interesting and informative presentation which the judges liked. I believe all of this, in a holistic way, led us to the final reward.