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VANTAGE POINT ISSUE2
The Awesomeness called ‘Kamal’
Everyone was waiting for this moment- the famous Ulaga nayagan being within
arm’s reach. Looking suave in his suit, he was welcomed with a huge roar of
applause and cheers. True to his audience of business students (and faculty and
admin staff), he started off with the relationship between business and cinema.
Explaining how the entrepreneurship spirit kick-started the industry, he brought to
light the immense opportunities we MBA students have in cinema, which is usually
thought to be a far cry from the traditional consulting, finance, marketing sectors.
Proving to be the perfect speaker for our Vista ‘13, he explained what he aspired
the future of cinema to become through the inspiration of technological advances.
He believes that each and every movie-goer would be able to achieve what is the
ultimate entertainment- get exactly the type of movie that he/she desires.
His answers to some questions from our enthusiastic audience revealed various
sides to his persona. His patriotism was obvious when he abated the implication of
an Oscar for an Indian movie. A student asked what his take was on Tamil’s declining
influence, and immediately the veteran actor gave a witty retort that the question
could have been asked in Tamil! Kamal’s humbleness was evident from how he
spoke at length about the influence his favorite actor- Dilip Kumar- has on him. And
finally, his brilliant repartee seen in his statements like "Rome can be vandalized by
Caesar and recreated by vandals" and “My mom is the most beautiful woman
according to me” evoked smiles and laughter from everyone in the audience.
However, as all good things have to come to an end, the Padmashri award winner
left, but leaving our participants more excited about what Vista has to offer in the
next two days, having set such a high standard on Day1.
The Vantage Point team:
Viveka, Udit, Leela Krishna, Soumyak,
Hamsini, Sathya, Vignamitra, Sooraj
Events to watch out for on day2
28th Sep 2013
Smiles for Sale: Make a Wish Tree “But wishes are only granted in fairy tales”. So it is said, but not anymore.
IIMB Vista 2013, in association with Make a Wish Foundation and team
Vikasana, is making wishes come true; wishes of young children who
dream big but are disadvantaged by medical conditions to achieve them.
Simple wishes such as gifting a 12 year old boy a birthday dress or gifting
a drawing set to a girl who wishes to be an artist, is sure to bring immense
happiness and inspire them to realize their dreams.
Through the novel concept of ‘Make a Wish Tree’, people can choose to
sponsor a wish of their choice. New wishes are added frequently and the
tree will continue to post wishes throughout Vista and the Joy of Giving
Week. So this Vista 2013, make a difference, fulfil wishes and experience
the joy of giving. After all, happiness doesn’t result from what we get, but
from what we give. Spread the joy by tweeting and following the twitter
handle #makeawish #iimbvista
2 IIMB | VISTA 2013
Hey there! Glad you picked up today’s Vantage Point. I really wanted to report
something extraordinary I witnessed here last morning. By chance, I had walked
into Vidheyak, the public policy competition conducted by Bharath Society.
Apparently, the participants were supposed to talk about increasing the involvement of the common citizen in elections.
It was an unusual concept for me as we minions are very clear on our agenda of blindly serving the ultimate master.
However, it was a great experience to learn about the electoral process of your country, the current challenges it faces
and more importantly, how they can be addressed.
All the 6 teams that presented showed a great level of maturity in their analysis of the problem. It was clearly evident that
all of them had put in a lot of effort in the collection of primary data, secondary research and synthesis of their results.
What was also heartening was the genuine interest the participants appeared to have in addressing the core problem.
At the heart of the analyses by all teams was a demographic segmentation of the Indian voter, an analysis
of the motivations and barriers for each of these segments to vote and how these can be used to improve
voter turn-out. These were followed by different ways of marketing the need for voting a leader worth
following to power. While each team had a unique approach, some ideas like using Surf Excel
advertisements to encourage voting tickled a few ribs in the audience. I must admit it was a great effort
by both the organizers and the participants and I wish them the best. Just so you know, the bong team
from IIMA was placed first while Team Chanakya from IIMB came in a close second just beating Team Squadron from
NMIMS.
As students of business we are awed by buzzwords like intellectual capital, brand
equity, proforma profit and loss statements and returns on invested capital. While
these strategies are glamorous to talk and make presentations about, they are
hardly tangible. As the saying goes, “It ain’t real unless the money is in the bank”.
This is what operations is all about – bringing real impact to the bottom-line of
companies. Operations’ events have been drawing large numbers to Vista
traditionally and this year has been no different.
Miebach, the global supply chain leaders, continued their association with
Vista by sponsoring and judging the “Miebach Milestones” event this year. The
preliminary round attracted strong participation from B-school students across the
country and consisted of a very interesting optimization case in the e-commerce
industry. Five teams were chosen for the final, two of them from our very own B.
The quality in store was evident as the sponsors started of the event by explaining
that the solutions offered by the students in Round 1 were pretty close to the ideal
solution that they expected. In the final round, contestants were given the chance
to present their improved solution and the variety of thought in display was
astounding. The judges who lauded the solutions given by the contestants
corroborated this. It was also a great learning opportunity for the students. IIM A
walked away with the honors of the winners of the operations challenge while our
very own IIM B team came in a close second. The team from SJSOM came in a
deserved third. But perhaps the greatest tribute for the event was the team from
IIM Shillong who had taken a 60-hour long train to Bangalore.
3 IIMB | VISTA 2013
How to conquer the invincible? How to surpass the insurmountable? How to overcome the impossible?
The answer to all lies in one word – Strategy. There is no better portrayal of the Art and Science of
strategy than the centuries old narration of the Trojan defeat at the hands of the Greeks. This art and
science was on ample display at IIM Bangalore’s Vista’s flagship event Brigade Trojan Horse. The
participants faced the challenge of dealing with a LIVE case, a never-done before opportunity to work
on the Marketing strategy for one of the Top 10 developers in the country – Brigade Group. They came
up with innovative strategies on how to improve its digital media marketing for its hospitality division.
In the course of the event, they also got to interact with the senior Management at Brigade Group who
also formed the judge’s panel. The chance to see the relevant strategies implemented and also
internship/ live project offers for the winners acted as lucrative incentives for the participants and spurred them on to put their
best forth and brainstorm innovative solutions to the problem at hand. But make no mistake- every suggestion was questioned,
counter-questioned and had to be justified right down to the last assumption. A fair number turned up to witness the
strategizing whiz-kids battle it out. The coordinated execution of the event bore testimony to IIMB and Vista’s commitment. In
the end Team “Neo” from Christ University walked away with the grand prize followed by IIMB’s “Magnicient 3”.
Be firm to run your firm: Excelsior Strategy is easily one of the most important concepts that
comes into play every day, yet goes virtually unnoticed.
Right from making one’s ‘To-do’ list to taking multi-billion
dollar business decisions, strategic thinking is crucial to the
point of being inevitable. To commemorate its significance
in business world, IIMB presented ‘Excelsior’ a game to test
strategic thinking in the areas of finance, marketing and
operations, given a firm to lead by yourself. The game
witnessed 5 teams from IIMC, IIML, IIMK, FMS Delhi and
IIMB, battling it out for the position of the ultimate
champions (Excelsior meaning ever upward) in the
battleground of Vista ’13. With each team armed with
specialists from Finance, Operations and Marketing who
were selected by an innovative bidding process, the event
took off to a great start on its first day.
The teams represented different firms whose future lay in
the strategies put forward by these players. On the 1st day
of the event, the functional skills in areas of finance and
operations were tested rigorously by three judges who
were experts in investment banking, M&A and other areas
of finance. The 2nd day of Vista holds in store, even more
competitive rounds in marketing and general strategy.
Being a two day event, Excelsior will come up with the
overall winners and winners in each domain on its 2nd day.
Imbibing the reach of strategy in every functional area, I
must agree with what Leon Trotsky once said, “You may
not be interested in strategy, but strategy is interested in
you”. Indeed.
“This is how our market can be segmented...these are our
target customers”. Familiar words from a still fresh
Marketing course roared back to life as I entered the
MarkGuru finals arena. Present before were hardcore
marketing enthusiasts, 6 of them (2 each from IIM - A, B,
one each from IIMK and PESIT BANGALORE), each as
determined as the other to follow Kotler’s steps (one team
was even called Kotler’s Army!!).
This Vista Flagship Marketing Event required teams to
design a go-to market plan for Atomberg Technologies – a
company that operates in the field of remote monitoring
and control. The teams had to develop target segments,
positioning themes and also had to deliberate on the
various applications they felt Atomberg Technologies
should focus on, including a separate market study on
Smart Water Meters. Each team chosen for the finals had
the chance to interact with the company directly and
improve the content they had presented for the prelims.
The entries were then presented before a panel of judges
from Atomberg Technologies.
Laced with marketing jargons and faced with tough
questions, each team literally fought a battle to strike the
right chord with their rationale. Finally one team from IIM-
A and one from IIM-B came out scathed but barely alive to
be adjudged the winners.
4 IIMB | VISTA 2013
Day 2 Schedule:
Time Slot Event Venues Event Description
09:00 - 21:00 Excelsior C-22 After an action-packed first day, the second promises to be even better!
09:00 - 12:00 Sparsh Finals L-22 An event with a social angle, Sparsh gives opportunities to work live with NGOs to solve their current problems.
09:00 - 12:00 Drishtikone - Round 2 & 3
L^2 Watch Presidential style debates to settle issues between contestants as they show great astuteness and persuasive skills to get the deal.
09:00 - 11:00 Street Smart Finals K-12 It’s all about numbers in this one. Watch participants convince PE managers of their investment ideas
10:00 - 13:00 Bzzwings Finals C-21 The finale of the biggest B-plan event at Vista. Don’t miss this one!
11:00 - 14:00 Master the Market CC - This event tests the portfolio management skills of participants.
11:00 - 12:00 *On-spot
Ex-Sell Prelims L-11, L-12,
For all those marketing enthusiasts who didn’t get the chance to test their skills on Day 1, your wait is over! Go through a preliminary marketing quiz followed by an interesting product sales pitch to a CEO. On spot registration with teams of 3. Prizes worth INR 15,000
12:00 - 13:00 *On-spot
Barter Prelims L-Cluster Bring to the table your negotiation and trading skills, skillfully procure raw materials from other firms, estimate demand, strategize manufacturing and finally sell your products. May the best negotiator win! On spot registration. Prizes worth INR 20,000
12:00 - 14:00 Numero Uno - Round 4
L-Cluster Numero Uno saw amazing response in Day 1. Cheer your campus representatives on as they are tested in further grueling challenges.
13:00 - 16:00 Barter Finals L-11 The finals stages of negotiation. Whose product will sell?
13:00 - 15:00 Corporate Czars Finals
L-12 Strategy is what makes companies click. Watch contestants mull over key decisions that will determine the success of a big player
14:00 - 16:00 Get Nashty Finals K-21 The culmination of the game theory events that was much-enjoyed by the contestants on Day 1
16:00 - 19:00 Numero Uno - Round 5
Things are hotting up as eliminations begin and the victory is that much closer!
16:00 - 18:00 Bizzare Elimination Round
Audi A Quiz with a twist – it is quirky in all respects, starting from the quizmaster, a doctor at a B-school to the formal.
18:00 - 20:00 Bizzare Finals Audi
18:00 - 22:00 Ex-Sell Finals L-11, L-12
The finals of this marketing event that makes participants sell ‘n’ number of products to companies and complete the sale
20:00 - 21:00 Creative Mind - Director's Cut Final
L^2 Watch the only video-making event at Vista. To get the taste of the creativity on display, follow the videos on the facebook page
21:00 - 00:00 Numero Uno - Round 6
C-21 The battle finally winds up as the most eligible CEO is crowned. Are you ready to cheer him/her on? Be at C 21 to see who will get the bragging rights of having the most charismatic leader in Vista
21:00 - 00:00 Bidwiser Finals L^2 This is a one of a kind event that gives the finalists the chance to experience the thrill and the pressure of a live auction. Watch them bid their way to building their dream team for their company as they put their strategy and nerves to the fore.
23:00 - 00:00 Pot Pourri Elimination Round
L-Cluster Relax and unwind at our very own L^2! Dumb Charades, pictionary, WTGW - you name it, we got it. Piece of cake, you think? Ah ha, not so soon! They come but with a business twist, so be sure to watch out! Prizes worth INR 15,000 to be won!
00:00 onwards Pot Pourri Finals L^2