CIMP director V Mukunda Das hands a cheque of Rs 1,000 to Rajeshwari Komal for her performance in the competition. Each team member received Rs 1,000 from the institute. Telegraph picture

A team from Chandragupt Institute of Management, Patna, has secured second place in a competition that brought participants face-to-face with practical challenges from the world of business.

Goa Institute of Management, Panaji, organised the daylong Smart Manager Competition on August 23. The team of second-year finance students at Chandragupt Institute of Management, Patna (CIMP) — Rajeshwari Komal, Amrit Raj and Rajeev Ranjan — thought like experienced management hands and designed strategies to increase the market share of their company to secure second position.

Explaining the event, Amrit said: “Participants had to act like experienced chief executive officers and design overall strategy for the profitability and larger market share of the companies concerned.”

The competition had participants from 150 and odd business schools, including Indian Institutes of Technology, Faculty of Management Studies, TA Pai Management Institute and Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development.

To reach the Goa round, the teams first had to clear an off-campus online management assignment.

In the final round — on campus live analytical exercise — Amrit said decisions had to be made on different management aspects such as product portfolio, marketing initiatives and human resources. The participants were asked demonstrate live the strategy and the winner was decided on the basis of solutions provided.

He added: “Apart from business acumen, the ability to work in a high-pressure situation, time management and a team’s working skills were tested. After every round, new constraints were added and the time allotted went down every consecutive round.”

At the end of the event, CIMP walked away with the second-place honours. KJ Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research, Mumbai, came first.

Rajeshwari Komal, Amrit’s teammate, said: “We were successful in incorporating classroom lessons in a difficult practical situation, proving that we had the qualities to become successful managers and eventually, good leaders.”

For its second-place position, the CIMP team received a cash prize of Rs 10,000. Back at the institute, all three students received a cheque of Rs 1,000 each. Congratulating the students, CIMP director V. Mukunda Das said: “Apart from academics, this kind of national and international exposure help students in their short- and long-term career goals. Participation in these events also helps mould their personality.”

He also asked first-year students to participate in such events. The institute would soon participate in Technion Multi-Cultural Team Project—Israel Institute of Technology later this year.

The international project offers MBA and graduate research students experience in multi-cultural teamwork. Teams from US, UK, France and Austria will take part in the event scheduled for October or November. CIMP and Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, are the only teams shortlisted from India.