And that day I lost with a smile upon my face…
It was the last lecture of CADM. The professor asked us to divide ourselves into 10 groups. I teamed up with my usual batch. After the groups were formed the professor began the final game.
The rules were simple. It was a company that manufactured jeans. We were given the position of senior management. The company performed far from satisfactory last year. The prices were dropping, new competitors were entering the market and decisions were needed to be made to gain back the market share and increase the profitability. The current market price per jeans was 500 bucks.
Decisions had to be made in different areas like product design (research on the material, new designs, new trends), Marketing (incentives to the sales team, advertisements, etc) Operational Efficiency (Cost Reduction techniques, Training of staff, etc) and finance (interest rate on loans, price of the product, etc).
The final results would depend upon the demand and supply. The results completely depend upon the decisions taken by others. Apparently, I am a person who believes in product design and innovation. So, I tried to convince my entire team that we should invest more in the product. However, Swati, one of my teammates, believes that pricing is everything. India is a market where price matters more than design when it comes to mass production and reaching the masses price would play a major role. Rashmi, the other teammate had a different opinion altogether. She believes that marketing should be given utmost importance. Increasing the incentives to sales team would elevate the spirits of the sales team and would result in the increase of sales which would, in turn, increase the revenue.
We were in a perfect dilemma of what to do. The case what supplemented with an excel sheet that would help us in calculating the final probable revenue. We decided to invest some amount in each department and decrease the price of the jeans from 500 to 450. As per the excel, we would be making $100,000 profit.
We submitted the changes for final evaluation and were eagerly waiting for the results. After a short while, the professor announced the results and to my utter surprise, we came second. The team who bagged the first position spent mostly on marketing and reduced the price to 425. That’s it!!!
Well, I was wrong. Cost leader has won! Again! I wasn’t sad. That memory always brings a smile to my face. Practical simulations like these help students have a real-time experience of the market and are prepared for the real-time situation. They train you to look at a problem from a 360-degree viewpoint and arrive at a solution with a calculated risk. It also teaches you the most important lesson of your life: no matter how hard you try, you cannot predict future. Only try to turn the tide in your favour. Trying is important because without that you will not be able to judge and evaluate yourself. This brings in a scope of improvement. In the end, such simulations are fun, fantastic and fabulous!!
#IIM_Raipur
Which Aditya Birla Group company do I wish to join and why?
I would like to join Aditya Birla Fashion and retail. I am a big fan of all the brands. The material used, the design variety and the durability of the clothes makes me fall in love with them. Personally, I am designer by hobby and I can say that company delivers best designs and variety in the industry. Working for a company that produces my favourite brands would be like a dream come true.
Vamsi Kiran Pasula - is a 2nd Year student at IIM Raipur
