Tata Business Leadership Awards (TBLA), a TAS initiative, is one of the most prestigious Business Competitions, organized every year in select premier business schools across the country. The challenge revolves around a strategic problem or situation relevant to the house of Tata. The theme of TBLA 2010 was “A Billion Touch Point Idea”.


The first stage of the TBLA process is the campus round where the shortlisted teams within the campus battle it out for a chance to represent their Campus at the National Finals.

The preparation for the round began with brainstorming for an idea that could touch a billion lives. In addition, it had to make business sense, be contemporary and in line with the Tata Code of Conduct. After numerous deliberations and debates, we finally decided on an idea which we believed in strongly and which had the potential to bring about a positive change in the society. Once we had the idea in mind, we spared no effort in turning it into a viable business plan. This involved extensive research, detailed analysis of the present scenario and the future as we envisioned it.

The campus round saw some of the best ideas presented by our colleagues. It was a great learning experience to have the judges give us valuable feedback and insights on our plans. Although the minutes awaiting result were filled with tense anticipation, the atmosphere filled with thrill as our team, Bhavishya, was announced as the champion for the campus round.
 
The months preceding the finals had us revamping our presentation style in accordance with the feedback given to us at the campus rounds. We spent numerous evenings debating over the strategic details while polishing our content. After all, we had a huge responsibility of representing our campus and wanted to give our best in the finals. The week before the finals was spent in ironing the last of the creases in our presentation.

The finals, which took place on 16^th September 2010 was to be held at The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai. We had been flown to Mumbai a day before by the TAS team and given a plush room at The Taj Vivanta Hotel. Needless to say, we were pampered throughout the stay and every need of ours was well taken care of. On the D-day, the presentations began early in the morning in front of the Senior Management from Tata Group. As we sat watching the presentations from other colleges, we came to appreciate the level of competition we were facing.  Once we had all finished with our presentations, we had a break of a couple of hours as the award ceremony was in the evening. During lunch, we had the opportunity to network with the other teams and exchange thoughts about our business plans.
After the break, the venue at The Taj Mahal had been transformed to match the grandeur of the award ceremony. The event began with an opening speech by Ms. Dharna Dhamija, the main coordinator of the TBLA 2010 who showcased the entire TBLA journey in a short video clip. Following her, the judges of the competition gave a comprehensive feedback on the ideas presented. At the end, Mr. R GopalaKrishnan, Executive Director of TATA Sons gave an inspiring speech about the future of business in India and the contribution of young leaders in shaping it.

Then the awaited moment arrived, as Mr. Gopalakrishnan announced the winners. We were thrilled as FMS was called out to be the 1^st runners up. It was a proud moment for our team especially as we got to share it with our alums present in the audience. The event closed with a note of thanks from Mr. Rahul Krishna, HR of TATA Administrative Services.
















It was indeed an immense learning experience, interacting with our peers from other Institutions and the Industry stalwarts. We were honored to represent our institution in front of all these people. Although we aspired to bring home the Champions trophy, we are sure that FMS will fulfill this dream at TBLA 2011.
Team Bhavishya

(Ankit Jindal, Bandana Handique, C R Akshata, Prachi Bansal)