Our journey of becoming the runners up of TATA Steel-a-thon -By Shovan Mohapatra from MDI Gurgaon

The competition consisted of three rounds. The first round required us to submit one slider on the case that we had selected from the given lot. It was followed by a virtual presentation round and national finals. We found these rounds perfectly organized. With the subsequent rounds, we were assigned mentors which guided us throughout the competition. Mock rehearsals were carried out before the finals of TATA Steel-a-thon to familiarize us with the process. 

“The judges were highly experienced, had a strong domain knowledge of the industry and they were extremely critical. This made our job much harder as we faced some of the toughest questions. But we thoroughly enjoyed standing up to the challenge and answering their questions.” 

The preparation process

Since we had our Mid-term exams within the duration of the competition,  it was initially difficult to manage it. We split the work amongst ourselves and worked efficiently, taking breaks to communicate new developments. One thing that worked for us the most was the brainstorming sessions that we had where we tried to explore as many ideas as possible no matter how far fetched they sounded. This allowed us to cover all the aspects of the case and give a well-rounded solution. 

“We got the right guidance from TATA Steel and with new technological infrastructures, we were able to do real-time discussions. We rehearsed the presentations, underwent mock Q&A to emerge as one of the lead runners of the competition.”

The A-Team 

Our team members complemented each other with each one bringing a diverse skill set to the table. While one was good at market research and came up with data-backed insights, the other understood the nitty-gritty of the functional domain helping in refining the business idea and the third ensured that the idea was presented in the best possible way.

We faced situations where we were not able to come to a consensus. In such situations, we moved ahead with the help of data. We wanted to give a feasible solution and hence kept questioning the solution on the table until we were satisfied with the end result.

The learning experience

We felt that it was an opportunity for us to learn since this was our first competition as a team. Our goal was to get as much knowledge as we can about ourselves and corporate competitions in general. TATA Steel-a-thon provided us the perfect opportunity to understand what the real-life challenges faced by TATA Steel are and what we as a team can put forward to tackle such challenges. We struggled a lot while connecting our ideas to the practicality of the business. But it eventually turned out to be a perfect mix of serious work and fun that got us this far. 

We realized that one of the best ways to tackle a case is to ask the right questions and then move on to find solutions. Also, given the fact that we were all sitting hundreds of kilometres apart from each other, we learned the value of online platforms of communication. 

“One final take away from our discussion with the judges is that to come up with a robust business plan, it is absolutely critical to analyze the risks associated with it. While we did analyze the risks associated with the solution, we could have done better.”

The joy of winning

The feeling is indescribable. At first, we were in disbelief that we were able to make it this far and bag the coveted trophy of the runners up of TATA Steel-a-thon, but then it finally settled in. It was a mixture of relief, excitement and pride and a little bit of something that cannot be put into words. Knowing that something that we worked so hard on was finally being recognized just felt great!