Perfect Pitch

The project,which is integral to the NITIE curriculum,has been scaled up significantly in size and proportion over the years. What’s more significant is the huge jump in the sales amount collected for helping underprivileged children. For instance,from Rs 2.5 lakh in 2008,the amount collected by the students has gone up to Rs 15 lakh this year.

“The customer market in India is not fixed,the scenarios are not the same. We need business managers and executives who can gauge the customer and the situation and come up with effective solutions. Mandi is an innovative and alternative learning model which evaluates to what extent a management student is able to put theory into practice when they face different situations and people,” said Prof T Prasad,who has conceptualised the project.

“It is based on the concept of learning by doing. The aim is to make management learning fun and experimental. It is their first attempt at direct sales and enables students to apply concepts which they have been taught in the class to actual situations. Students get to learn the nuances of marketing and personal selling in a single day. The experience of the students are subsequently discussed and evaluated,” he said. Prasad says the exercise covers multiple aspects such as business leadership and strategy,business economics,communication skills and personality development,organisation and management,organisational behavior,consumer behaviour,sales and marketing and market research among others.

The toys sold by the students include ‘Jodo’,which allows one to make mathematical puzzles and chemistry structures and ‘Tangram,’ a puzzle that enables children to test their innovation. The students have to make their sales pitch by emphasising the educational value of the toys and how they can effectively complement a child’s learning in the class. “The toys are a great way for me to teach the concepts of mathematics to my children,where there is no disconnect and no need to mug up things,” said Shilpi Narang,a housewife and mother of two,who bought the toys.

This year,around 1,000 students were part of the event. Students from other institutes such as Shailesh J Mehta School of Management (SJMSOM) of IIT Bombay,KJ Somaiya Institute of Management Studies & Research and Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) also participated in the exercise.

The money raised is given to Navnirmiti,an NGO which works with economically-disadvantaged children. “The purpose of Mandi is manifold. It makes a difference in the lives of thousands of children who lose out on basic education. While enabling the management students to apply classroom learning first-hand,the exercise intends to impart an additional dimension to the learning of the students who buy these toys,” he said.