IIM-A holds Amaethon 2008

Amaethon is an Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad initiative towards developing a platform for sharing vision, ideas, and strategies in the field of Agribusiness. The aim is to enhance and inculcate sensitivity and awareness about different avenues in this field. With a humble beginning in 2005, Amaethon has become the biggest business summit of its kind in Asia-Pacific.

Amaethon 2008 in partnership with RPG Spencers, GSFC, TCS, Rabo Bank India Finance, Kunvarji, Ernst &Young commenced on 11th January and spanned over three days with a gala closing ceremony on 13th January. CNBC Awaaz and The Indian Express were the media partners for the event which got wide coverage in Ahmedabad as well as in national media.

Over 2500 students participated from more than 80 B-schools and Agricultural Universities across India. The event for the first time had participation from international colleges like S.P. Jain Dubai, University of Stellenbosch, ESSEC-France, and Nanyang Technological University Singapore.

Teams from IIM Lucknow, IIM Indore, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, FMS, XLRI, MDI Gurgaon, IIFT, IRMA, SP Jain Mumbai and all the top business schools in India competed in Amaethon 2008. Teams from IRMA, MDI Gurgaon, IIM Lucknow won or were runners up in different events. Amaethon 2008 had many "on the spot" events with lots of prizes for which no pre registration was needed and students participated in huge numbers.

Amaethon 2008 theme was "Change, Emerge and Sustain" which imbibed the Indian spirit of equitable and sustainable growth. The eminent speakers shared their vision under this broad theme. The summit was organized under three main sessions "Growth Catalysts: Inducing Transformation", "Growth Crucibles: Emerging Sectors" and "Growth Collaterals: Securing Tomorrow". The "Inducing Transformation" session concentrated on the impetus provided by various factors towards the growth of Agribusiness. The "Emerging Sectors" session was dedicated to discuss and understand various industries which have been created in Agribusiness. The "Securing Tomorrow" session was based on the basic premise of analyzing the underlying phenomenon and core competence required to make our growth sustainable. The lecture series, panel discussions and speeches by eminent speakers made the participants think constructively about Agribusiness. The participants interacted with the esteemed speakers and gained from their rich experience and advices.

Amaethon 2008 had eminent speakers like Mr. V Vaidyanathan Executive Director, MicroFin ICICI, Mr. V Shanmugam Chief Economist, MCX, Mr. Sanjeev Astahana President & CE, Reliance Agribusiness, Mr. Devinder Chawla Partner, Ernst & Young and Mr. Kalyan Chakravarthy, Country Head FASAR, Yes Bank amongst other luminaries. These speakers conducted expert session, panel discussion and seminar on diverse topics such as Commodity Trading, Microfinance, Infrastructure, Power Situation in India, Information Technology and its potential usage in Agribusiness, equitable growth and all inclusive development.

Amaethon 2008 also had completely online events like Strategia a game on corporate strategy, Comm-Trade a game on Commodity Trading, which collectively saw participation from around 350 teams across India. These games were played as multi round games and tested the participating teams on various facets of operation management, business strategy, trading and communication.

"Omniscient: The Outstanding Manager" event was open for top 12 B-schools of India. The elimination round was launched earlier with a case analysis contest on different business areas. Following rounds were played across three days of Amaethon 2008 with debates, quizzes and presentations by 5 teams shortlisted for final round, at IIM Ahmedabad campus. The business quiz was conducted by the famous quiz master Avinash Mudaliar. Team from IIM Ahmedabad won this event with IIFT New Delhi taking the second position. The winners got a cash prize of Rs 100000 and the team members got Pre Placement Interview offers from Ernst & Young.

The program "Management Development Module for Students" was designed for young minds to get insights into MicroFinance, Logistics Management, Retail Sector, Sales and Marketing and Commodity Trading. They interacted over 3 days with the industry leaders and policy makers on these topics and were rewarded with participation certificates.

Amaethon 2008 had many case contest presentations and paper presentations from the shortlisted teams. The judges from knowledge partners like Rabo Bank were all impressed by the depth and practicality of the solutions devised by the students for the various scenarios. The teams were tested on diverse themes such as Retail Sector, Agri Business Zones, Carbon Trading, Universal Education, Rural Finance, Corporate Strategy and all the facets of management.

Amaethon 2008 achieved its purpose of being a summit to bring the focus on Agribusiness in India by exploring issues and opportunities in this sector. It challenged the participants to devise sustainable strategies in the field of Agribusiness. The message sent by the esteemed speakers and various management games was loud and clear that we cannot wish away a business segment which still has dependency of around 65% of our population. The correct strategy would be to take these people along and generate viable and effective business models for Agribusiness so that India can compete globally on equal terms. The platform Amaethon 2008 provided for the interaction between industry, academia and students was unparalleled and it would gain strength in coming years.

For further details please visit http://www.iima-amaethon.com