Abhinav Yadav (National Winner - L'Oréal, MBA - IIM Kashipur, 2019-21)
"Being an automobile enthusiast and a good student of mathematics and physics, I completed my mechanical engineering from SGSITS Indore to fulfill my childhood dream of getting placed in an auto giant - Honda.
My role at Honda developed an interest in data analytics and
enhanced my love for statistics and probability, as I used to deal with a lot
of structured and unstructured data to form strategies aimed at increasing
sales and improving process quality at dealerships. Eventually, I realized the
need to improve my Business Administration skills & decided to do an MBA from
IIM Kashipur, majoring in Analytics, Marketing, and Finance."
MA: What was your first year of MBA like?
Abhinav: It was full of new experiences. Late-night discussions for group assignments; designing & organizing events; completing tasks on shorts deadlines; midnight cricket & tennis matches, are the highlights of my MBA first year. I was never in a hurry to get a good summer internship which ensures a PPO to finish my MBA chilling in the coming months. I believe that not looking for a comfort zone is the key to your learning experiences, especially in MBA.
MA: How was the overall experience of Loreal
Sustainability Challenge? How did you go about preparing for the final day?
Abhinav: The overall experience of the Loreal Sustainability Challenge was
full of learnings, late-night constructive discussions, and virtual meetings.
The case challenge was open but specific at the same time. You can think of any
sustainable idea but have to keep the consumer's behavioral change in mind.
Because of which we had to rethink and revise our solution multiple times. But
that's what helped us in building our critical thinking ability and develop
ourselves throughout this journey.
For the D-Day, we just prepared for any kind of question that
can be asked by the Jury. We thought of every possible question and answered it
to each other in the simplest possible way. Our presentation and script were
already prepared, and we have rehearsed it multiple times in advance.
MA: What do you think is the most important thing to crack a case study competition?
Abhinav: To clearly understand the case challenge. I would say in our
case we spent a lot of time in this phase, attended different webinars
organized by loreal to clear our doubts. It is critically important to
understand the expectations of the company. You may have to limit your
intelligence sometimes because they want something easy to implement, something
feasible, something simple. The whole Jury must be ready to buy your Big idea the
seconds you are completed with your pitch.
MA: Do you think the team that you
participate with matters a lot?
Abhinav: Yes, Team is the heart of any activity we do. When I say
heart, I mean the heart of all the team members must be into it. If competition
does not come in the priority list of any one member of the team you may clear a
few rounds, but it is impossible to win it. Because it takes a lot of coordination and understanding. Senseless arguments must be replaced by
constructive discussions. Yes, there will be fights but will to respect each
other’s opinion is all it takes to come to the right strategy and solution. I
was lucky to work with my dearest friends Udit and Saransh for this
competition.
MA: What would you advise the students
preparing for such prestigious Corporate competitions?
Abhinav: My two broad advises would be to Clearly understand the case challenge and to keep your solution in line with all the judgment parameters. While presenting you must be able to clearly communicate your idea, questions in Q & A session should not come on asking for clarity on something which you have already talked about. They should be ready to dive deep into your solution while asking questions and you must take the opportunity to properly show your research and calculations while answering them.
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