IIM Bangalore emerge champions at Steel-a-thon II

Jamshedpur, Dec. 1: The city today witnessed the thrilling grand finale of �Steel-a-thon 2015� � an arduous and intellectual marathon between the best B-School students of India in Kolkata.

The finale was closely contested by teams from 15 different B-schools who presented their business cases live to a jury comprising Peeyush Gupta, VP – Steel (M&S), Tata Steel, Suresh Dutt Tripathi, VP, HRM, Tata Steel, Debashish Chowdhury, Chief-Procurement-O & Services, Tata Steel, Deepa Verma, Chief, HRM Services, Tata Steel, Sarajit Jha, Chief Corporate Strategy, Tata Steel, and Subrat Mahapatra, Head, Education, Corporate Social Responsibility, Tata Steel.

This year, the steel-a-thon witnessed 56 percent higher participation from B-schools as compared to last year, with a total participation of 941 teams (3,095 students). Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, emerged champions of Steel-a-thon 2015.� Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, won the 1st Runners up position and JBIMS, Mumbai secured the 2nd Runners Up slot.

Tata Steel initiated �Steel-a-thon� to connect with the young minds of B-schools and provide them with an opportunity to work on real-time challenges faced in the work environment. This event invites students from top-rated B-schools to present their �Big Idea� to the management of Tata Steel. This year, the presentation spanned across business verticals of HRM, Supply Chain Management, Corporate Social Responsibility, Marketing and Sales as well as Strategy Planning.

Suresh Dutt Tripathi, vice-president, HRM, Tata Steel, said, �We are extremely happy to organise the second edition of the Steel-a-thon and we congratulate all the finalists who are champions in their own way. We are overwhelmed by the response from the top B-Schools of the country at Steel-a-thon, which witnessed the confluence of the best minds in management and helped us build a unique connect with them.�

He further added: �In today�s world, the young minds are always looking for challenges and Steel-a-thon is the ideal platform to dwell on providing solutions to the challenges on a real-time basis. It�s an ideal win-win platform for both the fresh and brightest talent in management and for the company.�

Steel-a-thon 2015 was made more attractive for the �future business leaders� vis-�-vis the rewards. The champions walked away with a cash prize of Rs 250,000 and a trophy, while the first and the second runners-up teams were awarded cash prizes worth Rs 150,000 and Rs 100,000, respectively. Along with a direct entry to the prestigious grand finale, all campus winners received Rs 30,000 and a certificate.

The participants of Steel-a-thon 2015 benefited from the mentoring sessions with the senior management of Tata Steel, which exemplifies the focus on quality and attention to detail. The platform will also help the budding leaders to open their visage to real time business cases and help orient classroom knowledge on a practical front.