Two case studies published by the IIM Calcutta Case Research Centre have won awards in the 2017 edition of the European Foundation of Management Development (EFMD) Case Competition.
The results were announced on May 4, 2018, IIM-C said in a statement.
The European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) is an international, not-for-profit, membership organisation of business schools and corporations, based in Belgium. It is recognized globally as an accreditation body of EQUIS for the quality of management in business schools globally. It has been organizing this competition annually for the past 30 years.
“It is a sweet reward for years of close collaboration that we were having with this hybrid organization, and we have been closely interacting with them as they achieved one milestone over other in terms of solar energy product development, and enhancing their last mile reach and distribution,” Prof Singh said.
In the inclusive business models category (sponsored by IMD), the IIM Calcutta team of Indranil Bose and Gaurav Gupta (fellow student) won the award for their case “SIMsePAY at YES BANK: Creating Value Through an Un’Smart’ Innovation”.
Prof Bose, who also acts as Coordinator of IIMC Case Research Centre provided some insights about the case study. “While smartphones are penetrating the Indian market at a rapid pace, YES Bank discovered a unique opportunity for converting feature phones to smart devices through a simple SIM sticker,” he said.
“SIMsePAY, as it is popularly called, is remarkably innovative for its simplicity, applicability and timeliness. I am sure this unique case study on ‘Digital India’ will be read, analyzed and appreciated by students of management institutions around the world as well as practitioners who are interested in launching impactful innovations in an emerging economy,” he added.
The second case study “Switchon O’nergy: Social innovation challenges at the bottom of the pyramid” by Prof Ramendra Singh and his student Menaka Rao won the award in the sustainable business models category.
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“It is also very fulfilling to see hybrid organizations such as SwitchOn-Onergy get international visibility through this case study, as India headquarters of International Solar Alliance (ISA) that aims to reduce production and development costs of solar products to facilitate higher deployment of solar technologies in remote regions at the bottom of the pyramid,” he added.
Reflecting on the recent achievement by IIMCCRC, the director in charge of IIM Calcutta, BN Srivastava said, “In line with IIM Calcutta’s vision of developing high impact, research-oriented output, which can contribute to our localised content and pedagogical goals, these two case studies by my colleagues is a new milestone. I am happy that their effort has been recognised by a reputed international agency, which will motivate more colleagues to double their effort in fulfilling our vision.”
