WAR OF WITS
War of Wits, the flagship HR event of Ensemble ’10 organized by SAPPHIRE(Students’ Association for Promotion of Personnel Management and Human Resources), saw enthusiastic participation from over 45 teams across various B-schools. An elimination round comprising a case study was conducted to shortlist the finalists. The six teams which qualified were from renowned institutes such as IIM Shillong, TISS, XLRI and XIMB. They were invited to campus to compete for cash prizes worth Rs. 75000 sponsored by Murugappa Group.
The event comprised three rounds, each designed to test a different aspects of HRM. The cumulative scores of these rounds decided the ultimate winner. The three members of each team had to put themselves in the shoes of consultants at ‘WoW Consulting’ and provide solutions to the issues at hand.
In the first round, the teams were engaged in an Employer Branding case, which required them to strategize and present ways of retaining existing employees and attracting new talent. The presentations were judged by our esteemed faculty, Prof GlorysonChalil.
The second round tested the teams’ ability to fit the right people in the right jobs. Evaluation was done on the basis of accuracy shown by the teams in identifying the correct functional area and hierarchy for every job description provided to them.
In the last round, the teams got a chance to interact directly with the client, a PSU in the telecom sector, to redesign their Performance Management system. They were expected to extract relevant information in a given time frame and incorporate the findings in their suggestions to the client.The presentations offered various opinions on how to transform a bureaucratic PSU into a modern competitive firm with regard to its Performance Management system. Prof R.K. Premarajan assessed the teams on the comprehensiveness of their presentations and gave valuable feedback.
The lead was exchanged several times before ‘Team JEDI’ from TISS emerged as the winners followed by team ‘Evangelists’ from IIM Shillongin second place. All teams enjoyed the diverse challengespresented to them during the event and appreciated the learning value of the experience.
Our association with Murugappa Groupwas instrumental in pulling off War of Wits successfully. XLRI looks forward to continuing this association with Murugappa Group in the years to come.
TEAM SAPPHIRE
November 20, 2010
xlrisapphire
