-PART A:
My earliest knowledge about Aditya Birla Group was gained when they acquired L&T Cement under
the name Ultra-tech. My father was an employee of L&T at the time and so it became the news of the
locality. Little did we know that ABG will touch our lives in many more ways in the years ahead?
When we moved to Mumbai, mall culture was slowing gaining grip. The idea of having a one-stop
shop for groceries and other household items was taking shape. More Megastore opened in our
vicinity and fortunately, my family decided to give it a try. The store offered competitive prices and a
wide range of options for every commodity. The layout of the store was simple to navigate through.
The placement of commodities was well designed. Certain areas where higher footfall was expected,
like for food grains, were allotted a bigger space compared to other commodities. These measures
ensured that the customers could shop seamlessly and without much hassle.
Another striking feature that helped in user experience was the multilevel architecture of the store.
The FMCG products were kept on the ground floor while other items were kept in upper stories. This
strategy effectively bifurcated the customers coming in into fast-moving customers and slow-moving
customers. Due to this, each floor had customers having a similar pace of shopping which greatly
improved customer experience as no one was getting behind slow buyers. This feature greatly
attracted customers like my father who are happiest to avoid crowd while also completing his chores
in a single place.
An obvious mention will be Pantaloons which has been my go-to place since childhood. It gives a
promise of quality at a good price. Most of our teenage woes were solved by the BUY 1 GET 2 offers
the store gave almost all round year. To this day, ABG has maintained its variety at a competitive
price. I hope to see more of them in the telecom space
after its merger with Vodafone Idea as I am also a Vodafone user.
PART B:
While life poses many challenges, the simplest ones are the toughest to conquer. It’s no different in
my case. I have a soft voice. As petty as it sounds, it has thrown bigger challenges my way. Group
discussions, debates became a source of fear for me in childhood. I eventually came to avoid such
opportunities. This greatly affected my confidence level which kept me from realizing my
inter-personal skills.
Even so, I could navigate through life with this drawback but only until corporate life started. There I was
compelled to come out of my comfort zone. It was a blessing in disguise and I took it up a challenge,
but with a different approach. I decided to not view my soft voice as a drawback but as a distinct
personality trait. I used it to connect with colleagues and supervisors and could convey my sincerity and
honesty to them.
Even during interview processes for MBA colleges, I stood by the same belief and was successful in
realizing my dream. My drawback helped me carve out my own strategy to capitalize on my
personality trait.
It also helps me see life from a different perspective. It helps me connect with
people on a personal level and extend my honest empathy. It also helps me be a good listener which
is ultimately an important quality to have as a future manager.
This challenge has helped me gain self-belief and realize the importance of seeking opportunities in
challenges. There is definitely room for further improvement and I strive to this end by keeping
no stones unturned.
#IIMRaipur #ABGLPWooMe #MoreMegastore #Pantaloons #childhood #onestopshop #management #family
