Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA) aced the semi-final of the BLoC Boardroom Challenge in Chennai on Wednesday. The runners-up were from IFMR Graduate School of Business, Sri City. The other teams in the fray were from IIT Madras Department of Management Studies and Great Lakes Institute of Management. The event was held at MOP Vaishnav College for Women, Chennai.

The winning team, comprising Joe Sundar Kishore J, Kaviliga Arvind Madhwa and Chebrolu Maha Padma Prakas, presented the jury with several different scenarios in their strategy for a detergent maker to increase revenue growth and return to higher profitability.

The runners-up from IFMR-GSB were Sumit Jha, Umesh Pareek and Anshumali. The team's recommendations were marked by an adherence to the case facts.

Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Funds is the title sponsor of the event, which is powered by Swiss watch brand Frederique Constant. Vizag Steel Plant and One Crest are the associate sponsors.

S Gururaj, Assistant Vice-President, Investor Education and Distribution Training, Aditya Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company, made a presentation on ‘Your First Pay Cheque’, highlighting the importance of making regular investments as soon as one starts earning and sustaining this practice.

The jury comprised Vishwadeep Kuila, Founder, Brand Vectors; S Sivakumar, a Performance Development Enabler with Potential Genesis; and Radhika Merwin, Associate Editor, BusinessLine Research Bureau.

Addressing the students, Kuila said: “It’s important to keep the solution straight and direct. If you keep the objective firmly in mind when looking at the numbers, your solution will be unbeatable.”

Radhika pointed out that when coming up with such corporate strategies, it helps to brainstorm with the other CXOs in the team, even if they do not all agree with one another, as different views help one think laterally.

Sivakumar said it’s important to be crisp in one’s presentation, and focus on the learnings from the data rather than the numbers themselves. “Remember to use the five Ws and the H when solving a case such as this one,” he added.

Dr Lalitha Balakrishnan, Principal, MOP Vaishnav College for Women, referred to Agatha Christie’s fictional detective Miss Marple’s ability to look at what-if scenarios when solving a case, pointing out that such an approach could help in corporate situations as well.

Dr Lalitha presented mementoes to the winners.