Students from Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur Win Accenture B-School Challenge 2021
New Delhi: Accenture, a global professional services leader announced top winners of the fifth edition of the annual Accenture B-School Challenge. The fifth edition of the annual challenge focused on the theme of ‘Signals of Change: Discovering new opportunities in a disruptive world.’ Aimed at igniting discussions on key changes catalyzed by the pandemic sweeping across today’s business landscape, the participants explored trends that pave the way for reinvention and growth.
More than 8500 students from 16 premier business schools in India participated in the month-long competition. The grand finale featured eight finalist teams who were mentored by experts from Accenture. The participating teams presented case studies across diverse industries such as banking, telecom, consumer goods and retail, natural resources, energy, automotive and life sciences.
The first prize was awarded to the team from Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur. The first runner up team was Indian Institute of Management Bangalore followed by second runner up team from Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi. The top eight teams qualifying for the grand finale received a pre-placement interview opportunity with Accenture besides the winners who received other exciting prizes.
The virtual challenge was divided into four stages: Round 1 was a rapid-fire online quiz where over 2800 teams (each team comprising three members) participated, followed by round 2 which identified 482 teams based on business simulation where students stepped into the role of a CEO to make their company profitable. In the next round, the shortlisted 160 teams presented virtually to the Accenture leadership team and eventually top eight teams were chosen for the final round. They underwent a storytelling workshop to prepare for the final presentations and an in-depth industry masterclass to gain deeper business insights.
The finalists were evaluated by a jury comprising of industry leaders from various Indian businesses as well as senior leaders from Accenture. The jury that decided the top three teams included:
Piyush N. Singh, Senior Managing Director, Lead – India Market Unit & Lead – Growth and Strategic Client Relationships, Asia Pacific and Latam, Accenture
Sanjay Dawar, Managing Director and Lead Capability Network – Global Strategy and Consulting, Accenture
Dipti Vaishnav, Managing Director – Strategy & Consulting, Accenture in India
Nagesh Basavanhalli, Chief Executive Officer, Greaves Cotton Limited
Deepak Sharma, President and CDO, Kotak Mahindra Bank
Karunakaran M, Chief Financial Officer, Shoppers Stop
Anil Matai, Former Managing Director, Zydus Healthcare Limited
Samrat Das, Chief Operating Officer, PNB MetLife
Jayanta Banerjee, Managing Partner, ASK Pravi Capital Advisors