IIM B’s One Year MBA Team in Finals of Global Marketing contest

Trio from the one-year full time MBA (Executive post-graduate programme in management) beat 1500 teams from 80 countries to reach the finals of the contest to be hosted in Madrid in November by ESIC Business & Marketing School

Ravi Kiran Cheni, Praveen Mokkapati and Kaustubh Sathe, students of the one-year full time Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP) at IIM Bangalore, are among the 6 teams worldwide to make it to the final of the Global Marketing Competition organized by the ESIC Business & Marketing School, Madrid.

Over 4,600 students from 80 countries participated in the 19th edition of the competition that tested their knowledge and skills in a business simulated environment over a 3-month period. It is estimated that from over 1,500 teams that initially participated, 36 teams qualified for the semi-finals out of which 6 teams move to the final.

Over 4,600 students from 80 countries participated. It is estimated that from over 1,500 teams that initially participated, 36 teams qualified for the semi-finals out of which 6 teams will move to the final

The finals will be held in Madrid during November 17-19, 2014 where the 6 finalists will defend their business plans in front of a professional jury. The team from IIM Bangalore will compete with participants from Novosibirsk State Technical University (Russia), Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Spain), Peruvian University of Applied Sciences (Peru), Major National University of San Marcos (Peru), Catholic University of Guayaquil (Ecuador) and Goa Institute of Management (India). The winning team will win a Specialized Master at ESIC Business & Marketing School and EUR 6,000.

During the competition, participants don the roles of Managing Directors of an Automobile brand that will be created and managed from the start. “The simulation environment was exciting and challenging. It certainly helped us apply our knowledge and skills in a market similar to a real one,” said Praveen Mokkapati. 

The IIM B Team 

Ravi Kiran Cheni worked for 9 years in the field of automotive New Product Design, Project Management and Global Sourcing at Maruti Suzuki. He was instrumental in Engineering and process capability development of dispersed Indian and overseas suppliers operating in Japan, China, Taiwan and Korea. A recipient of numerous national and international felicitations, Ravi holds a Mechanical engineering degree from Osmania University and has an avid interest in writing, sketching and Japanese culture. He holds 9 technical Research publications presented at international forums and 3 patents filed in automotive design and safety.

Praveen Mokkapati has 7 years of hands-on entrepreneurial experience in developing and executing strategies for business development and marketing in the engineering analysis technology space. He setup the Indian operations of CADFEM, a leading engineering company headquartered in Munich. For a very specialized industry that grows at 15% CAGR, he helped the company grow at 40% CAGR. Praveen holds a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University, College Station, USA. During leisure, he contributes extensively to the English Wikipedia by writing about underrepresented Indian articles.

Kaustubh Sathe has worked in the Automotive and Aerospace industry for the past 6 years with institutions like IIT Bombay and industry leaders like Cummins, Bosch and Maruti Suzuki. He was instrumental in augmenting the capability of his previous organization (Maruti Suzuki) in the field of automated testing by setting up a test lab for hardware-in-loop simulation and validation of Engine Control Units. Kaustubh holds a Master’s Degree in the field of Digital Signal Processing from The State University of New York at Stony Brook, USA. He has represented his university at the 2007 NCTTA Table Tennis Tournament held in New York.

Oneyearmba.co.in wishes all three the best of luck for the finals in Madrid!