Kharagpur – One of the final year students brought another laurel to the Vinod Gupta School of Management (VGSoM) at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur (IIT KGP) by winning the “Business Standard Best B-School Project Award” for Business Expansion Plan in Tier-3 towns in India. Chirag Anil Patil has been awarded for developing an expansion plan and low-cost promotional strategy for McCain India Pvt. Ltd.
“The objective of my project was to expand McCain geographically and innovate to reduce the costs incurred in promotions. McCain provided me the resources and access to experienced professionals working in the company to successfully complete my project. I devised a model, which predicted sales of any new town using multiple parameters. My town visits helped me validate this model. Apart from this, I recommended a new cost effective idea for promotions and validated my idea by executing 3 pilots,” said Chirag.
Asked to comment on the honor, Vinod Gupta, the soft-spoken man behind the launch of the successful VGSoM and an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur, said “I am thrilled and proud that our students are winning international competitions.”
Barnali Nag, who is the VGSoM-faculty mentor for the project, said, “Such projects help young MBA students to overcome the disconnect they often feel between the courses they do and real life applications. The sales model devised in this project can be implemented across various industries.”
Echoing the sentiments of Nag, Himanshu Garg, Zonal Sales Manager-West India at McCain Foods India Pvt. Ltd., who mentored Chirag at McCain said, “Summer interns help in testing innovative hypotheses for the company.”
“Apart from doing theoretical research, Chirag has been instrumental in doing pilot project overcoming various on-ground challenges and successfully deliver his project objectives. He has been able to make recommendations which are going to be useful for McCain” added Himanshu.
“The MBA program at VGSoM enriches the student experience to variety of subjects, which broadens their vision. The summer internship gives them a platform to implement their acquired knowledge to solving real world problems in a structured way,” said Prabina Rajib, Dean of VGSoM.
The project provided cost-effective expansion for the company in eight small towns. Chirag set up counters to promote McCain’s French fries outside grocery stores to establish his hypothesis.
Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) is one of the most sought after sectors by B-School students. Students of MBA programs have often been interning at FMCG companies.
Vinod Gupta, through The Vinod Gupta Charitable Foundation, founded the school in 1993 to develop upcoming management professionals and future CEOs who will lead technology-driven and knowledge-based industries. Gupta has donated over $6 million to set up the school.
VGSoM has evolved from being the first B-school in the IIT system to one of the premier B-schools in the country in just over 2 decades. The school is the foremost B-School in the IIT system and offers both a Master of Business Administration (MBA), and a Post- Graduate Diploma in Business Management (PGDBM). The two-year MBA program spans four semesters of full-time residency, including a six-month internship. The PGDBM program, designed for working executives, offers a flexible, nonresidential program. Both promote rigorous study through a state-of-the-art infrastructure.