What is Outcry?

    
Open outcry is a communication method between professionals on a stock exchange or futures exchange which involves shouting and the use of hand signals to transfer information primarily about buy and sell orders. The trading floor where this takes place is called a pit.

Over the years, this method of trading has been replaced by electronic systems. Atharva gives you a chance to live up the ‘Dalaal Street’ of India once again. Participants shall be given an initial corpus of funds and asked to trade among themselves by use of whatever signaling mechanisms they can think of. Be it vocal or hand or any other. Interruptions and shocks shall prevail in the game too. Find the buyer, match your frequency and square the deal.

So start exercising your vocal chords and be ready to shout your lungs out while we get to you three hours of nerve-wrecking trading filled with loads of Fun, Frolic and Drama!

The shortlisted teams are called for the final round at TAPMI during Atharva in January.

For more details:

Visit: www.tapmi.edu.in/atharva
   

Kiosk

The Retailing War

“Competitive Advantage” is a depiction that the company or its products are each doing something better than their competition in a way that could benefit the customer.

Interesting definitions!!!

How about getting on to some real action now?

It is time for a litmus test for all those who think they have mastered the concepts of Marketing. Here is the occasion where you finally need to apply the STPs, the 4Ps and all the business gyaan taught in B-School classrooms. 

Calling on all those marketing geniuses who believe in toiling and getting the hand dirty rather than sipping coffee over long boardroom discussions on pie-charts, graphs and trend lines. This game would give a participant a chance to run the entire show all by themselves, a one time chance to be a retailer. Teams would be managing real money and running their own custom made KIOSKS. From product assortment to price, location to promotions you will be deciding what your retail outlet would be all about. 

To sum it all, it will be a battle of the best marketers and a spectacle to watch. If you think you are street-smart then this is the place to prove you are.

Skills required:

Basic knowledge of marketing and the uncanny ability to think on one’s heel.

Rules:

Each team can have a minimum of 2 members and maximum of 3 members.

Teams would be shortlisted from a preliminary round, based on a write-up on current topics relating to marketing. Both 1^st year and 2^nd year students are eligible to play. 

For more details, visit www.tapmi.edu.in/atharva

"Marketing" is an instructive business domain that serves to inform and educate target markets about the value and competitive advantage of a company and its products. 

Kiosk 08-09 Preliminary Round

KIOSK

The Retailing War

Preliminary Round

Wal-Mart fails to make profit in China! Keeps loosing on sales ranking, year after year

October 19th, 2008, Retail Biz

After closing down its operations in South Korea and Germany, and downsizing operations in Japan, Wal-Mart — the world’s largest retailer– is finding the going to be tough in mainland China as well. Not only, the giant retailer has failed to make profits in its 12 years long existence in the world’s most populated and fastest growing country, its sales ranking vis-a-vis its counterparts is also steadily going down. China’s Department of Trade, which provides information on relative strengths of retailers in the country, has ranked Wal-Mart at No 30 in 2005, compared to 20th in 2004, and 17th in 2003. In a significant move, Wal-Mart has recently announced to locate its Asia headquarters in Hongkong. This was in contrast to earlier belief that its China headquarter in Shenzhen would also be chosen to act as its Asia headquarters. Sanghai and Singapore were incidentally also in running for the honour. Shenzhen will continue to act as Wal-Mart’s Global Procurement Center, though. Wal-Mart is hoping a lot from its proposed foray into India with Bharti Retail. While, it has set up a joint venture with Bharti for wholesale ‘cash and carry’ retail, it is offering technical and sourcing services to Bharti for front-end retail. Bharti has already unveiled its front-end supermarket chain called Easy Day in Punjab, the joint venture is expected to rollout its first wholesale store in early 2009.

You are required to give a critical review on the strategy adopted by the Wal-Mart across the world and
suggest an entry strategy for the Retailer in the Indian Market.

Participants would be judged on the following parameters

1. Originalityof the Content
2. Conceptual and Contextual Knowledge
3. Clarity of thought

Rules for the preliminary round

1. The write-up should NOT exceed 5 pages including the cover page.
2. The cover page should clearly mention the Names of all participants, Team name and Institute they belong to.
3. The format should be: 1.5 line spacing, Font size 12, Font Type Times New Roman and 1 inch margin on all sides.
4. All soft copies should be in .doc format
5. The file should be named in the format ‘TeamName_InstituteName.doc’
6. It is mandatory to mention references, in case any external sources have been used.

Important Dates:

Last date for receipt of write-up
25^th November 2008.

Mail your entries to atharva09.tapmi@gmail.com

Quiz on the Beach - QOTB

The light ocean breeze, the cool soothing sands, a challenging quiz master and a vibrant crowd buzzing with excitement, set the mood for a novel concept in quizzing - The Quiz On The Beach. Set against the backdrop of the Kaup Lighthouse, QOTB is an arena that tests the participants’ business knowledge and aptitude for spontaneity. The event, complemented by informal audience games, has proved to be Atharva’s biggest crowd puller. The country's only B-school quiz on the beach is a totally unique quizzing experience which has over the years created a successful brand. The event invited corporate participation for the first time at Atharva 2004 and ever since proved to be one of the most keenly contested quizzes. Mr. Giri “Pickbrain” Balasubramanium of the TATA Crucible fame conducted the event last year. The event is open to corporate participation as well as student participation.

Also, have a look at the QOTB Photo Gallery.

Young Business Leader - YBL

    
The T. A. Pai Memorial Young Business Leader (YBL) is one of the most coveted and reputed events on the B-school circuit. With participation from only the top student from the top B-schools selected by their respective directors, it truly is a clash of the titans. The most prestigious event of its kind, YBL usually carries prize money around Rs. 1 Lakh.

In the search for the ideal leaders for tomorrow, the participants are put through a rigorous framework. They are tested for their Managerial Skills, Business Skills, Inter-personal Skills, Physical fitness, General Awareness, Analytical skills and Personal Orientation. The overall selection of the Young Business Leader will be based on a comprehensive assessment centre developed exclusively for this event. The assessment centre will ensure objectivity and accuracy in the evaluation, through tools like role-plays, live projects, case studies, games and presentations, mock press conferences and industry analyses. The event is a platform to bring the potential leaders to the fore.

Sankalp 2008-09 Launched!!!

Sankalp is a competition that helps you explore your innovative side and involves identifying, conceiving and conceptualising viable and profitable business ventures. And Sankalp 2008-09 is officially open for entries. So get your creative juices flowing and bring out the entrepreneur in you.

Event in Brief:

A team of maximum 3 members, in order to participate in 'Sankalp 2008-09', will have to first submit an 'Executive Summary' of the business plan by soft copy to atharva09.tapmi@gmail.com . This submission has to be done before 30th October, 2008 11:55 pm. The Executive Summary should not be more than four pages long (including the cover page).

Based on the Executive Summary, some teams will be shortlisted for the next stage. In this stage, the team will have to submit one hard copy and one soft copy of the complete business plan. The last date for the submission of the soft copy is 30th November, 2008 while the hard copy would have to reach by 3rd December, 2008. For the address to which the hard copy has to be sent, please refer the 'Sankalp Leaflet' available in the Atharva website.

Final entries will be shortlisted based on the complete business plan provided above. These finalists will be given an opportunity to interact with the judges who evaluated their business plan. This will give the finalists an opportunity to improve upon their original idea. These finalists would then have to present their Business Plan in front of a panel of judges during Atharva.

Prizes worth:

So what do you get for all the trouble?? Well, the trouble is surely worth it because the stakes are very high.

First Prize: Rs. 50,000

Second Prize: Rs. 30,000

Third Prize: Rs. 20,000

All the Best !!!

Disclaimer: The above details are brief and probably incomplete. The purpose was just to give the reader an idea about the event of the Atharva festival. The reader is encouraged to go through the Atharva website and also the Sankalp Leaflet & Tool-Kit (also provided in the website) before participating in the event. Please verify the dates and other important details mentioned above with the website as these details may not up to date.

Sankalp - The Business Plan contest

Conceptualized and organized by the students of TAPMI in 1999, SANKALP, was the first national level business plan formulation contest. SANKALP provides a platform to the budding entrepreneurs to test run their entrepreneurial skills. The famed event gets an overwhelming response to the call for business plans. The business plans are then evaluated on the basis of their technical, financial and market feasibility, uniqueness of idea, quality of presentation and report writing. After initial scrutiny the selected teams are invited for final presentations and are judged by the academia and domain experts from the industry, including leading bankers and venture capitalists.

Atharva - The Concept

T. A. Pai management Institute, popularly known as TAPMI, is one of India's top management schools and has continuously supported the effort to look beyond management education. "Atharva" is the culmination of these dynamic and futuristic efforts to synergize the best of minds and celebrate the indomitable spirit of modern enterprise. This colossal event is set in the mecca of modern education Manipal, with 20,000 students from over 50 institutes with diverse educational backgrounds.


As TAPMI continues to Nurture Wealth Creators, Atharva - in addition to creating a unique confluence of energy, entrepreneurial zeal and managerial skills, provides ample opportunities for all involved. Organised and hosted by the student community at TAPMI, this pursuit of excellence reflects the caliber of creative perfectionists that TAPMI strives to create.


Atharva – TAPMI’s annual inter B-school management festival, is a platform for an interface of promising business leaders. It is a congregation of the brightest managerial talent in India who come together annually for three days of intense competition and enriching experiences. The spirit of Atharva is reflected through the tough but healthy competition generated among the students through the gamut of events. The festival has Management Events - a range of Management Games which test functional expertise, Quiz On The Beach - the innovative business quiz, Sankalp – the business plan formulation contest, Young Business Leader – the business leader contest, Polemic – the big fight among corporates and Informals – a range of fun games.

Team Atharva welcomes one and all to participate and witness this grand festival.

PS: Do visit the Atharva website for more details.