Ensemble 2010 Day 3 Update

At XLRI School of Business and Human Resources, Jamshedpur, the final day of Ensemble 2010 started with ‘Evolvere’ - the B-Plan Contest, in association with Aircel. The teams had to devise a profitable and sustainable plan to exploit opportunity in 3G services and strategize how Aircel can attain at least 30% market share in the process. The two teams from XLRI, vying for a prize of Rs 80,000, will be judged on whether they present a comprehensive ‘go to market’ strategy and implementable, innovative ideas by Rohit Narayan, Marketing Head BTC, and Indrajit Mukerjee, professor of strategic management at XLRI.

In part two of the Quest Adventura series organized by the adventure club XLANC, six teams completed an obstacle course and a treasure hunt in the campus on Sunday in a bid to bag the Rs 30,000 cash prize. Yesterday, the teams had gone rafting at Dimna Lake and participated in wall-climbing competitions. The winners will be announced after the completion of all events and compilation of results.

A cycle rally, organized by SIGMA under the Faster Fitter Greener Initiative of BSA cycles, was flagged off today. Thirty students cycled their way from the XL campus, through the Jubilee Park road to Sakchi and back.

Strategikon, the flagship event of CRESCENT (Committee for Research, Strategy, Consulting & Entrepreneurship), saw five teams from IIFT,NITIE, NMIMS, XLRI and IIM Shillong battling it for the final prize. The event, held in association with Cognizant, consisted of a two-stage case analysis on the issues of green consulting and cloud computing. The eventual winners were NITIE, who won a cash prize of Rs 45,000, while the team from XLRI came in second.

For the third edition of the SBI Idea Summit (held in association with the State Bank of India) renowned Bollywood lyricist, script writer and Deputy Executive Editor of Hindustan Times, Neelesh Misra is slated to speak to the students today evening. Tomorrow we will have Mr. Prahlad Kakkar in the SBI Idea Summit.

The results of Saturday’s events have also started pouring in. Inverted Apple, the team from XLRI Jamshedpur, won CIRCUS MAXIMUS, the flagship event of MAXI, the Marketing Association at XLRI. The cash prize of Rs 50,000 was divided between the winners and runners up -- team Two and a Half Degrees from IIM Calcutta. The event comprised three rounds, the first of which was a case study, the second a market simulation and the final round a field activity that tested the selling skills of each team in the real market by asking them to sell in-house handmade products of NGO-Neev.

The overall winner for Strike or Yield, the flagship Industrial Relations Strategy event was SIBM, Pune. They won a prize money of Rs 25,000.SIBM played strategically in all rounds of the event to increase cumulative scores. The overall runner up was XLRI, Jamshedpur, taking with them prize money of Rs. 15,000.

Day 2 Update

Finance whizzes ruled the day at the second day of Ensemble 2010 at XLRI School of Business and Human Resources, Jamshedpur, with the launch of Prometheus, the flagship event of FINAX [FINance Association of XLRI] is a unique case study based competition that helped participants understand the lender and promoter's perspective. The event had two rounds, the first of which was an online case study and presentation conducted by executives from the main sponsors of the event, L&T Finance Holdings. The second round was another case study organized by FINAX, wherein the teams were required to analyze and restructure a company in distress. They were then evaluated on the basis of a presentation made to Prof. Ram Kumar Kakani of XLRI. Vinmaya, the team from IMT Ghaziabad bagged the first prize, a whopping Rs.80,000 while Prometheus Bound, the team from MDI Gurgaon emerged runners up, winning a prize money of Rs.60,000. On the whole, Prometheus provided a stimulating learning environment for both the participants and the audience.

MAXI, the Marketing Association at XLRI conducted its much awaited flagship event CIRCUS MAXIMUS on Day 2 of Ensemble. A unique event, it focuses on providing the participants with hands-on experience in marketing. The event comprises three rounds, the first of which is a case study, the second a market simulation and the final round a field activity that tests the selling skills of each team in the real market by asking them to sell in-house handmade products of NGO-Neev. Of the preliminary registrations, the teams from IIM Calcutta, IIM Shillong, NMIMS, XIMB and XLRI were chosen as finalists to compete for a total prize money of Rs.50,000.

Strike or Yield was the flagship Industrial Relations Strategy event, open nationally to all B-schools conducted by the Forum for Industrial Relations(IR) at XLRI. The event comprised of 4 rounds that tested the depth of IR knowledge, strategic Thinking, Presentation skills and Negotiation tact and vision. The event saw participation from the top B-schools of the country specifically schools with strong HR/IR focus including finalists from MDI, TISS, XIMB, XLRI and SIBM. The esteemed judges are Professor Santanu Gupta, who works in the area of Public Economics and Political Economy, Professor S N Bagchi who focuses in the area of Performance Management with interest in decision making and Law Professor P K Padhi. The teams are currently competing for the first prize that stands at Rs. 25,000 and second prize for Rs. 15,000.

The adventure club XLANC organized the first edition of its two-part Quest Adventura series where six teams went rafting at Dimna Lake and participated in wall-climbing competitions. The results will be announced after the completion of the second edition of the event scheduled for Sunday.

The results of Friday’s numerous events have also started pouring in. War of Wits, the flagship HR event by SAPPHIRE in association with the Murugappa Group which had six teams brainstorming about employer branding, was won by Team Jedi from TISS Mumbai. The winners Adfer Muzaffar, Swapnil Kudle and Souvik Mazumdar will share a cash prize of Rs 45,000 while the runners-up from IIM Shilong -- Bhavya Aggarwal, Divisha Agrawal and Nagendra Singh – go away with Rs 30,000.

The first prize for 'Etincelle' - BOSCH Case Study conducted by FIRE@X (Forum for Industrial Relations at XLRI) was bagged by team Pax Proles from XLRI -- Sushant Warde, Charu Priyadarshi, Sangeet Saurabh and Varun Boob -- for their comprehensive case analysis and practical recommendations. The first and second runners-up were team Phoenix and Yellower Helmet. The session ended with a discussion on the 72-day strike at the company’s Jaipur plant with the president of the Mico Bosch Union, Mr. Bhagwan Singh Ranawat, and the Union Secretary Mr. Ved Prakash fielding questions from students.

In Pandora, a business simulation event on the telecom industry in India organized by XLRI’s IT society SOCRATES, the team comprising Kunal Kaul, Nitin Gupta and Ambhuj Srivastav from Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai, bagged the Rs. 30,000 prize. NMIMS Bidders G Sumanth Varma, Dhaval Pandya and Bhargav Padh came second from among 70 participating teams from across the best b-schools in the country.

AXIOM, the Operations Society at XLRI, conducted their flagship event Helios on Day 1 of Ensemble. The winners are Free Riders from MDI Gurgaon (Bhavesh Singhal, Pankaj Gupta and Vinamra Sangal) and runners up are Crackers from XIMB (Vinaykumar Patel, Pankaj Kumar Goinka and Sumit Gupta). The simulation game tested concepts from various areas of Operations Management.

Showdown @ Dalal Street, an event conducted jointly by FINAX [FINance Association of XLRI] and NCDEX [National Commodities & Derivatives EXchange], is a simulation event that provides a hands-on actual commodity trading experience to the participants. Of the 30 participating teams, the team from XLRI comprising Anshuman Sharma and Abhijit Shukla bagged the first prize.

Day 1 Update

Ensemble 2010, the annual management festival of XLRI School of Business and Human Resources, started in Jamshedpur on Friday with a galaxy of business luminaries addressing the Idea Summit series.

Inaugurating the fest, Mr. Jagdish Capoor, Former Chairman, HDFC Bank & BSE; Former Dy. Governor, RBI, put forth enlightening insights about the history and future of stock markets in India. He spoke at length about Capital Account Convertibility besides other steps that might be taken to strengthen the stock exchanges and raise trading volumes. He also touched upon the relevance of these in insulating the markets from the repercussions of overseas shocks. Mr. Capoor ended his talk by noting that further opening of globalisation will have positive connotations for the markets in India.

The Idea Summit Session II saw a first: 'Etincelle' - BOSCH Case Study conducted by FIRE@X (Forum for Industrial Relations at XLRI) was the first of its kind where an Industrial Relations (IR) dispute resolution case study was jointly evaluated by labour and management.

To set the stage, Mr. Nandkumar D.V. – Vice-President, Bosch India conducted a discussion on the macro level factors affecting the IR scenario of the country. He shared perspective on the projected future scenario and expectations and the power of collective bargaining of the workforce of the country.

The event was an IR case study competition for students of XLRI students where students presented their solutions, perspectives and ideas and the management and union of the plant, in turn, presented their viewpoints to the student body.

This was followed by a panel discussion. Representing Management were Mr Nandakumar VP, IR, Bosch; Mr Ashok Abraham, Plant Head, Bosch Jaipur; Mr Sudarshan HR Head, Bosch Jaipur. Representing labour were Mico Bosch Labour Union (MBLU) President, Shri Bhagwan Singh and the Shri Ved Prakash, The General Secretary of MBLU.

As put succinctly by Mr. Nandkumar, “We came looking for ideas, you were more capable brains. Although most decisions are taken on-the-spot, we were very eager to know what we could have done better.”

Being held for the past 7 years, War of Wits, the flagship HR event by SAPPHIRE (personnel management committee at XL), focused this time on building employer branding strategies and designing organizational structure. With a cash prize of Rs 75,000, six teams (chosen from 45 initial entries) from TISS, IIM Shillong, XIM Bhubaneswar and XLRI are battling for the grand prize. “Placement season is coming up and such events help refresh our fundamentals and give us an opportunity to learn as well. Coming to a premier B-school like XLRI to push our creativity to the limit and compete with the best is a unique opportunity that we grabbed with both hands,” said Esai, Siddesh and Ruchi, the team from TISS Mumbai.

Other events such as Pandora and Helios also saw high participation. Pandora, the flagship event of XLRI’s IT society SOCRATES, is a business simulation event on the telecom industry in India and saw the largest participation at Ensemble with a preliminary registration of over 70 teams from across the best b-schools in the country. Of these, teams from NMIMS, NITIE and IIFT Delhi have been selected as finalists.

AXIOM, the Operations Society at XLRI, conducted their flagship event Helios on Day 1 of Ensemble. This is a simulation game that tests concepts from various areas of Operations Management. From over 50 teams that registered for the preliminaries, teams from MDI, NITIE, IIFT Delhi, SIBM Bangalore and XIMB have been shortlisted for the final round.

Day 2 of Ensemble 2010 will see more unique and challenging business competitions like Prometheus, Strike or Yield, Circus Maximus and Quest Adventura.

Ensemble 2010!

XLRI's annual management fest, Ensemble, is back and it's bigger than before! Scheduled for Nov 12-14, it's our stepping-out party; a showcase of the brilliance and sheer talent that resides within our hallowed portals. Awe-inspiring in its scope, marvelous in its execution – Ensemble is all that and much more.

This year, the theme for Ensemble is ‘towards a greater tomorrow’. It is a clarion call for change, when we cast off the uncertainties and fallacies of the past and embrace the infinite possibilities that lie ahead. Glory belongs to the pioneers, not to those who resort to feeble excuses for their own weakness.

The Idea Summit – our speaker series – has an august assemblage of speakers, including –

• Mr. Jagdish Capoor – Former Chairman, HDFC Bank & BSE; Former Dy. Governor, RBI
• Mr. Nandkumar D.V. – Vice-President, Bosch India
• Mr. Prahlad Kakkar – Renowned Ad Film Director, Marine conservationist and Restauranteur
• Mr. Neelesh Misra – Dy. Executive Editor, Hindustan Times; award-winning Journalist, renowned Author, Lyricist and Musician

We also have a dazzling array of events this year straddling the entire spectrum of managerial and cultural pursuits. Some of these are –

• Domain Events, covering all management domains such as HR, Finance, Marketing, etc. A new innovation this year is the introduction of an Industrial Relations event, which is the only event of its kind across India. We also have a B-plan event on the subject of 3G services in India
• Quest Adventura, the only B-school event to be held in Air, Land and Water
• Online events, revolving around quizzes, treasure hunt, elevator pitch and social marketing
• Informals, fun-filled cultural events that will be a welcome break from the academic humdrum. These include Nukkad Natak, dancing and musical competitions
• My Events, which are events conducted by Xlers for Xlers

The climax will be a scintillating performance by the sensational rock band Faridkot – a fitting finale for a festival that will be remembered for a long time to come.