The Moolah makers

The Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), University of Delhi, South Campus organized a business contest on Ms. Kalpana Sinha. The event was organized by the Entrepreneurship Cell, popularly known as E-Cell at FMS. The guest of honor was Ms. Kalpana Sinha, a prominent member of National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN) . She introduced NEN to the students of FMS. The whole gamut of information ranging from its conception to the initiatives was discussed in brief. Ms Sinha also urged the students to develop the skills required to excel in the field of entrepreneurship. She also enlightened the students about a paradigm shift the industry has been witnessing in terms of the characteristics the organizations look for in a potential manager. Over the years, traditional management has given way to the new management persona that organizations yearn for and that includes the ability to take risks as an entrepreneur. She encouraged students to adapt to this change which is possible if the students dare to take measured risks in context of setting up their business ventures in the time to come.

After the introduction to NEN and entrepreneurship Ms Sinha took her seat and the dais was overtaken by the members of E-Cell who introduced the business game to the students. The rules of the game were discussed and the students were then divided into teams and each team was allotted a supervisor who would look into the way they conducted trade with other parties. The teams were supposed to trade with other teams using the paper money they were provided with before the start of the game. The teams were divided into two countries and a virtual boundary was assigned between the two groups. The members of the E-Cell were playing the role of the government who were in charge of placing regulations on the way the parties conducted their businesses. E.g., placing import duties on intra-nation and inter-nation trade, taxation policies, etc. Once these restrictions came into action, the whole scenario changed in terms of the way the students did trading amongst themselves. To put it in simple words, it was a simulation of the business milieu that one could expect as an entrepreneur once he/she sets up a new business venture. To add to it, there were heavy monetary penalties levied on the trading members in case they did not adhere to the policies of the government.

The theme of the business was based on a jigsaw puzzle that needed to be completed at the end of the game. Each of the teams was given a set of puzzle pieces and they had to trade between themselves the pieces that they thought would help them complete the puzzle. Once the game started, all the team members rushed around looking for pieces that resembled their pieces the most. The whole game had come alive as people wandered from one nation to other nation across boundaries doing a health check on their business.

The students got a real-life simulation of how business happens and what all obstacles one has to face. The organizers had prizes for teams that were able to make the most of the moolah at the end of the contest. There was another prize for the team that was able to complete the jigsaw puzzle the most amongst the groups. There were few teams that stood out in terms of the way they made strategies. For instance, there was a group that was quick to realize that they had the most disparate pieces under the sun and that is what prompted them to rather shoot up the prices of their pieces in order to make the most money. Inevitably, in the end that team was able to make up the maximum amount of money. It was their out-of-box thinking that led to their success. They were quick to realize that opportunity that lied ahead of them and they made the most of it. Likewise, there was enough learning for the students in terms of how business world works.

It was an enlightening session for the new batch of MBA-Management of Services students that provided them exploring new vistas and broaden their horizon in terms of the vast learning that beckoned. To put in two words, it wouldn't be wrong to say that it was an eye opener for the budding managers that would lead the businesses in the time to come.