ABFRL ShowStopper And Its Show Stopping Winners!

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd. (ABFRL) is one of India’s leading fashion houses offering a bouquet of fashion brands across retail platforms in 35 countries across North and South America, Africa, and Asia. The fashion powerhouse is present in 900+ cities in India alone where it engages with a diverse customer base from across the nation. The company recently presented first-year MBA students with a unique case study challenge- the ABFRL ShowStopper. The aspiring future leaders could showcase their creativity, problem-solving skills, and innovative abilities and interact with the leadership at ABFRL through this competition. 

The business case study challenge which ran for over one month was a huge success, with both participants and the organizers walking away with border smiles and great insights. This article brings to you highlights from the competition journey and the final accomplishments. 

ABFRL ShowStopper: B-School Case Study Challenge

Open for first-year bonafide MBA students from all B-Schools across the nation, ABFRL ShowStopper witnessed 10,963 registrations and a whopping 15,73,582 impressions. Candidates had the option to either partake as individuals or in teams of three. The competition was an excellent way to expose the developing talent to real-life business scenarios and push them to the limit to think, ideate, and solve the challenges. 

ABFRL ShowStopper was split into four rounds which put them in the driver's seat. They got first-hand experience on how to tackle real-world business situations and how to leverage industry trends.

The challenge structure was rigorous and at the same time kept the participants on the edge of their seats. 

Round 1: Online Aptitude Assessment

Round 2: Business Case Submission

Round 3: Business Detailed Case Submission

Round 4: Grand Finale

600 meritorious teams progressed from the online aptitude assessment to the business case submission round. The participants were presented with four case study problem statements:

• Brand Building in Small Town India
• Footwear Segment and Growth Case
• Pantaloons E-Commerce Business Case
• Pantaloons Ethnic Category Case

Check this out: Challenge Yourself With These B-school Competitions

Grand Finale Jury Panel

Teams that progressed to the grand finale got the opportunity to present their ideas in front of an esteemed jury panel. 

Panel 1 (Footwear Case)- Jacob John, President Premium Brands, ABFRL; and Pankaj Keyal, Principal, Growth & Category.

Panel 2 (Pantaloons Ecommerce)- Swaminathan Ramachandran, Chief Supply Chain Officer, ABFRL; and Mayank Satpal, Senior VP, Head- Ecommerce, Operations & Strategy, ABFRL.

Panel 3 (Ethnic Pantaloons)- Sandeep Pal, CEO Tasva, ABFRL; and Shantiswarup Panda, Vice President Marketing (CMO), Pantaloons, Jaypore, Marigold Lane, & Business Head, Style Up at ABFRL.

Panel 4 (Ethnic Pantaloons)- Amit Kumar Dwivedi, VP & Head Strategy & Business Development, ABFRL; and Arashdeep Singh Taneja, Head HR (GM), Innerwear & Athleisure Business, ABFRL

Panel 5 (Small Town India- Allen Solly+ Pantaloons Ethnic)- Anil S Kumar, COO, Peter England & Head Ecommerce, ABFRL; Dheeraj Chawla, VP- Marketing at Van Heusen Athleisure & Innerwear, ABFRL; and Richa Pai,  COO, Allen Solly, MFL, ABFRL.

Winning Teams

Each team that moved to the grand finale had 10 minutes to present their ideas to the impeccable jury and 5 minutes to the Q&A session. The Team Vidyut from IIM Ranchi snagged the winning title for the Brand Building in Small Town India case for ABFRL ShowStopper.

Here is what Team Vidyut had to say about their experience at ABFRL ShowStopper:

The competition was very well framed and gave us insights into the real-time problems faced by the industry. The quality of judgment was impeccable and the execution of the event was very smooth, ensured by Unstop. 

We made daily visits to the stores and got information from 200+ customers. One of the challenges that we encountered was filtering out the relevant data of our users. But we managed to get everything done with sheer determination and perseverance. Looking back, the learnings we gathered include the capability to convert ground-level information into useful insight, and the value of quality market research. ABFRL ShowStopper was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we will cherish for a long time to come.

Also read: Case Study Competitions- Details, Winning Strategies, And More!

There were two winners for the Pantaloons Ethnic Category Case- The A Team from IIM Taipur, and Shruti Kulkarni from MICA Ahmedabad.

Here is what Shruti Kulkarni from Team Chic had to say about her experience at ABFRL ShowStopper:

My winning strategy entailed conducting thorough research, analyzing the data, and coming up with meaningful consumer insights. It took about 25-30 hours to build the basis of the entire solution. The challenging part was time management as there were multiple deadlines during that period. But every hardship was definitely worthwhile.

The judges were very knowledgeable and the feedback they provided was very insightful. The organization and framing of the competition were excellent as well. It was a great opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge from my MBA to finding solutions to real-life problems. ABFRL ShowStopper has provided me with memorable hands-on experience and a new perspective to look at things. The competition pushed me to go beyond my capabilities and hence helped me realize my potential and grow personally as well as professionally.

For the Pantaloons E-Commerce Business Case also two teams were awarded the winning title. They were Team Betelgeuse from IIFT, New Delhi, and Team Redesign from IIM Kashipur. 

And finally, the winner of the Footwear Segment & Growth Case was Team Parampara, Pratistha, Anushaasan from XIMB Bhubaneswar.

The winning teams under each case category won a cash prize of INR 1,00,000 along with PPOs for the ABFRL Summer Internship Program. The ABFRL ShowStopper was a magnanimous success where talented participants from B-Schools all over the nation partook in invigorating challenges. We congratulate the insightful jury/ top leadership at ABFRL and the participants for the constant effort for growth in the retail fashion industry.

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