The 7th edition of Tata Steel’s annual business challenge for B- school graduates, Steel-a-thon, witnessed some path breaking innovative ideas and business solutions. Team Pro-Nerds from XIM, Bhubaneswar emerged as the winner, team Godspeed from MDI Gurgaon bagged the 1st Runner-up slot and team Man-agers of Steel from FMS Delhi and team Rhapsody from XIM, Bhubaneswar jointly secured the 2nd Runners-up position.
This year, the competition received 3000+ registrations from 27 premier business schools. The teams were presented with 10 business cases to choose from and present their innovative solutions to the jury. Around 500 teams submitted their case solutions, out of which 38 cases across various domains (Marketing & Sales, Sustainability, Corporate Communications, HR, Strategy & Sustainability) were shortlisted for the pre-finale round. Top 10 teams competed at the grand finale on Dec 19, 2020, to prove their metal and claim the title in addition to the prize money, certificates, and the placement offers by Tata Steel. This year, the competition was conducted online owing to the pandemic.
Peeyush Gupta, Vice President, Steel Marketing & Sales, Tata Steel, said: “Over the years, we have observed a trend where participating students are specially working on their communication and presentation skills in addition to the great ideas, which is crucial for future leaders. Steel-a-thon is a wonderful platform for students to understand the nuances of working on real life business problems, various aspects they need to consider and then come up with innovative recommendations. This year, we witnessed teams incorporate the impact of the new normal and some of the ideas included the new communications narrative. It’s heartening to see that the case solutions are well researched with excellent coverage and new thinking, despite the challenge of WFH. I commend all the teams for putting up a great show and adapting to the new ways of working. We hope to see few of them join us soon, bring their fresh & exciting ideas and energy to the organisation.”
Atrayee S. Sanyal, Vice President, Human Resource Management (Designate), Tata Steel, said: “Steel-a-thon is Tata Steel’s flagship campus connect programme to test the creative thinking, business acumen, and capabilities of the students who are gearing up to enter the workforce. It gives them a taste of the challenges that await them in their professional careers. This year, the quality of the submissions was top notch providing creative solutions on sensitive issues related to inclusiveness, sustainable livelihood, environment and business sustainability. I am impressed by the rigour of preparation and appreciate the eagerness of these young minds to be a part of Steel-a-thon and the Tata Steel family.
Steel-a-thon programme was initially introduced to evaluate strong leadership skills but it has evolved as a programme that goes beyond and gives us an opportunity to identify young minds who can work together to create solutions with lasting impact on business, people, environment and society at large. We are happy to encourage and groom the young talents to become the leaders of tomorrow and wish them the very best for the future.” Atrayee S. Sanyal further added.
Steel-a-thon is an annual business challenge for premier B-Schools in India that gives students the chance to work on real-life business challenges as well as provides an opportunity to get mentored by Tata Steel Senior Leadership and Management. The platform intends to groom the budding leaders through application of their classroom knowledge on the practical front. The programme was initiated in 2014 and since then it has evolved and grown in stature and popularity year on year.
The grand finale jury comprised Peeyush Gupta, Vice President, Steel Marketing & Sales, Tata Steel, Atrayee S. Sanyal, Vice President, Human Resource Management (Designate), Tata Steel, and Sourav Roy, Chief CSR, Tata Steel.
The champion team won a cash prize of INR 2,50,000, along with the winner’s trophy and certificates. The first and second runners-up were awarded cash prizes of INR 1,50,000 and INR 1,00,000 respectively, along with certificates. These teams also received pre-placement offers and internship opportunity (under the Inspire programme) from Tata Steel. The National Finalists received INR 30,000, a certificate and internship opportunities under the Inspire programme.
