XIMB Bhubaneswar Students Win INR 2,50,000 and Placement Offer Via TATA Steel-a-thon 2021

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'Not all dreamers are winners, but all winners are dreamers.' Here we have with us the dreamers and the Grand Finale Winners of TATA Steel-a-thon 2021-Team Wings of Steel. 

TATA Steel-a-thon 2021: A Quick Review

Tata Steel’s Steel-a-thon 2021 was a Business Challenge for premier B-Schools in India. It offerred students an opportunity to work on real-life business challenges as well as provide a chance to get mentored by Tata Steel Senior Leadership and Management. The competition included the following rounds:

Round 1: Executive Summary Submission Round

Round 2: Detailed Presentation Submission 

Round 3: Virtual Presentation Round

The Grand Finale Winner Team won a cash prize worth INR 2,50,000 and PPO along with Inspire Internship. Let’s learn about their experience of participating in the TATA Steel-a-thon 2021. 

Biggest B-School competition!

Team Wings of Steel had three players from Xavier Institute of Management (XIMB), Bhubaneswar-Akanksha Gupta, Subhasree Subhasmita, Piyush Kumar Nayak. When we asked them about their excitement regarding TATA Steel-a-thon 2021, the team said that they were eagerly looking forward to participate in the event. For Piyush, TATA Steel was one of the top companies he dreamt of working with and the competition gave him an opportunity to do so. He said,

“We all have our set of dream companies where we want to work and TATA Steel was one of my top favorites. I was actually so keen for the same that I used to follow them on various platforms and even felt really proud when they achieved something for the nation. And, when I saw this competition as an opportunity to be a part of such a big brand, it felt like we had a chance to make it.”

For Subhasree it was the sheer motivation and the people she looked up to, that made her participate in this competition. She said,

"Everyone knows that TATA Steel-a-Thon is one of the most coveted case competitions of all, but for us it was something close to our hearts. We have seen Team Pro-nerds winning it for XIMB last year and we felt really inspired to go out there, give it all we have and retain the title."

Their third team mate Akanksha Gupta believed that TATA Steel-a-thon was one of the biggest B school competitions and gave students a candid opportunity to place their raw ideas in front of esteemed judges and employees of TATA Steel. 

A strong team ensures a strong performance

The members of Team Wings of Steel knew their strengths and worked accordingly. While Piyush banked on his creative skills, Akanksha handled the financial part. And Subhasree’s unbeatable PPT and Canva skills gave them an edge. Overall, the team worked together and resolved their conflicts through discussions and constructive criticism.

But there were other challenges as well. Due to the online mode of study, the team members had to operate from their homes which led to miscommunication at some points. However, good coordination between the team members worked well for them. When we asked Akanksha about the same she said,

“We surely had conflicts. But my teammates and I are friends first and then professional partners. So we always had candid conversations and cleared everything out properly.”

Adding to it, Subhasree said,

"I think the whole team will agree on this that the any team's forte lies in the coordination that we have with each other on personal level. A well-coodinated team knows how to be resilient and dedicated even at the face of all odds. So even though we did have conflict of opinions, we made sure that we understand each other's views and come to a solution together. Infact it helped us to improvise and brought more creativity to our project." 

Keeping preparation on the right track

The competition required the participants to have a proper strategy. And Team Wings of Steel had made their game plan well in advance. When asked about the preparation, Piyush said,

“We brainstormed about the headers which we wanted to add upon and divided the task accordingly. Thereafter, we moved on to the execution phase. We decided to be very dynamic considering the working hours that were needed to work on the problem. The most challenging phase was deciding the key metrics and the strategic imperatives. Our primary search was detailed and the interviews with shareholders helped us pave the way.” 

For Akanksha, major hard work went into 2 levels of the competition. She said,

“Most challenging phase was surely the first 2 rounds. That is when we worked really hard on building the base of our presentation. Remaining rounds were more about refining the PPT and prepping well.”

Toughest competition?

The competition had 9 teams in the finals. When asked about the neck to neck competition, Piyush, Subhasree and Akanksha had one team in mind. They believed that even though all teams were well-prepared, the Iron Girls from IIM Shillong were their toughest competitors.

“I loved their presentation which they had made and they actually put up very good solutions there. I am pretty sure my other teammates would also agree with me. They were not only good with their PPT, but their content and question answer session as well.” Piyush said.

“Achieve anything big in life by taking small and focused steps”

TATA Steel-a-thon 2021 was a great learning experience for Team Wings of Steel. Their knowledge enriched at every step. When we asked Piyush to share his experience, he said, “This has been a big learning sphere, firstly from my teammates, then from the people I met in the process who enlightened me a lot about the house building process, the finalists who helped me to get exposed to new ideas and also our judges who actually helped us to see those perspectives which we as a team overlooked.” 

His team mate Akanksha's journey was both demanding and enriching. “I have learnt so much. I have learnt that to achieve anything big in life, take small , focused steps and perfect each of those steps. The final outcome will automatically favor you.” she said.

And for Subhasree, the competition helped upgrade her skills. She improved upon her problem solving skills, decision making in complex situations and public speaking skills. The competition brought out the leader in her!

The winning experience!

The winning moment was a dream come true for Team Wings of Steel. Subhasree felt that their journey of sleepless nights and infinite efforts ended with a positive outcome. She said, "The feeling that came when we saw our team's name on the screen, cannot be put into words! I felt that all our hard work and efforts finally paid off."

For Piyush, the winning moment was an emotional one. “I was actually pinching myself hard just to convince myself that it’s not a dream! We have actually fulfilled it!”

And for Akanksha it was nothing short of a pure happiness. “Because we had put in so much of effort, we were expecting a good result but being the National Winners was something that took us a while to sink in. It was truly surreal. The happiness on my teammates' faces was totally worth the wait.”

Kudos to Team Wings of Steel !