NITIE, Mumbai
MANDI
"TOYS ON STREET, MAKING DREAMS CONCRETE"
 

July 30^th will remain a landmark in the careers of the first year students of NITIE's Post Graduate Diploma in Industrial Management (PGDIM) course, batch of 2008.

Mandi happened. And with it, gave NITIE's students an opportunity to experience the thrill of direct-sales of educational toys, made by the NGO Navnirmiti, for a social cause- engendering disadvantaged children.

Conceptualized by Prof. T.Prasad, Mandi stands as a hallmark in NITIE's curriculum as it integrates the theoretical principles of statistics, managerial economics, marketing and basic market research with their practical application.It is a unique socio-marketing initiative and in that NITIE is the first business school in India to adopt the experiential method of teaching.

Waking up to the sound of rain on 30th morning, tense NITIEans enquired if Mandi would happen inspite of it. When we heard that it would, much of our cheer was restored. At the Mandi flag off function, Sri Ved Prakash Arya, the COO of Pantaloons, spoke of direct marketing - a concept already visited by a man who has stood on the store-floor and, by his own admission, "sold 52 shirts in a single day".

His young daughter had a go at the toys and when asked, she insisted on solving a Tangram puzzle without any assistance. The fascination she evinced in the toys, cheered us on as we were shepherded into the NITIE buses that were waiting to take us to various parts of Mumbai- Malad, Lokhandwala,Vashi,Thane,Parel,Vile Parle,Hiranandani, Bandra,Churchgate to name a few.The students were carrying educational merchandise consisting of 3 products- Jodo 3-D Wonder Kit, Tangram and  Pyramid- designed to serve as educational aids in the teaching of maths and science.

Aiyswarya, a management student, feels that any product can be directed both at an individual and at an institution, whatever its use as long as it is projected/perceived appropriately.

She recounts from her own group's experience at Chowpatty beach, " Middle class people who couldn't afford Jodo – the higher priced product- but understood the educational value of the toys, enthusiastically bought out the Tangrams and Pyramids."

NITIE's students have also related instances of Tangrams and Jodo boxes selling like hot-cakes on the suburban railway between Andheri and Churchgate. Interestingly, a manager from HDFC Life insurance and a manager at Shopper's Stop, impressed by a group's sales skills, offered its members part-time jobs and summer internships, respectively.

"A teacher from Kendriya Vidyalaya, to whom we narrated the history of Navnirmithi and its association with NITIE for the past five years, was touched to note that the proceeds of this exercise were to go towards educating disadvantaged children. She bought 3 boxes of Jodo at one go!" according to Aparna.

Abesh recollects, "Through our Rotaract club we approached an NGO, located in Hiranandani, that looked after the education of children of construction workers. Not only did they buy the products, they also requested that we carry out a live demonstration in their organization the following weekend."

Dawn, another management student of NITIE, sums up the twin principles - "Mandi is as much about refining our management skills as giving back to the section of our community that is less fortunate than us."

It is estimated that the 200 odd NITIE students have driven up sales to touch a record 2.25 lakhs. Like in every year, the entire amount collected will go back to the NGO Navnirmiti.

According to Dr.Nandkumar Jadhav of Navnirmiti, this exercise contributes close to 25% of Navnirmiti's annual revenue.

As management students of NITIE, we feel proud to be associated with Navnirmiti's cause which is synonymous to our institution's belief- that management is as much a science as an art form and that it needs to be leveraged in order to effectively straddle the worlds of enterprise and profit with social responsibility.

----------------------------
Harsha Venkatesh
Media Coordinator
Management Class 2007
NITIE, Mumbai
impress.nitie@gmail.com
 

Source: By E-mail (August 1, 2006)

published on IndianMBA.com on August 2, 2006

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