ET Citi Grand Masters gets off to flying start

MUMBAI: The countdown to the first round of The Economic Times Citi Grand Masters has begun. With just 10 days to go before the deadline for the online case study ends, more than 16 entries from several top-notch management institutes around the country have already poured in.

And several more are expected as the December 6 deadline nears. Management students across more than 120 campuses are expected to compete for a place in the grand finale, a unique business quiz hosted by Derek O’ Brien in Mumbai.

The Economic Times Citi Grand Masters control room in Mumbai has received more than 35 queries from many of these campuses. It’s the same story for the institutes that will host the regional round. Like the Department of Management Studies at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi campus, which will host the northern round on December 16.

“We have just put up posters for the competition and ever since have been getting queries from many students regarding specific questions pertaining to the dates and case study,” said Parthasarathy N of IIT, Delhi, a student at the institute.

Rohit Modi, a member of the placement committee at SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, says that maximum representation is expected from the second year students as the fifth semester has just begun and students are comparatively free.

“I just mailed the link to 400 odd students who are upbeat about the competition as this gives us a common platform to interact with all the B-schools in the country.” The championship consists of three rounds. All schools first participate in the online case study competition which is open till December 6.

The content and methodology of the entire championship has been powered by leading rating agency Icra, who will evaluate the entries. Five teams in every zone will be shortlisted to compete in the zonal round to be held in Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

Here, the teams will be asked to present solutions to live case studies drawn from a variety of business situations. Finally, the winning team from each zone will be invited to Mumbai to participate in the grand business quiz conducted by quizmaster Derek O’ Brien.

If the level of preparation is any indication, there’s every chance that the competition will be intense. But in the end, it isn’t just about winning. Said Aneeta Madhok, Dean for Centre for Human Resources Management, SP Jain Centre of Management, Dubai and Singapore: “These kinds of challenges bring out the spirit to conquer the worst in oneself and brings out the best in all who participate. It helps train the student to gain leadership skills which are beneficial for a future manager.”

The winning team will get a pile of goodies from Philips, Acer and Police, while the institute which they represent will receive a glittering trophy. The television and online partner for the competition are NDTV Profit and Indiatimes.com, respectively.