In today’s business environment, with increasing complexity and uncertainty, it becomes imperative to learn the skills of Innovative Thinking and Entrepreneurial Action.

Raw War : RAWAR is a business game developed by the Institute for providing these skills to the students pursuing their Post Graduate Programme in Management. It simulates conditions similar to what might be the discussions that members of the Board of Directors, or Senior Management Team, within an organisation may need to undergo before arriving at an innovative and Proneurial decision.

The idea of developing Proneurial Managers was first elucidated by the erstwhile Chairman of ITC, Mr. Haksar, the architect of the diversification strategy which ITC has since adopted to reduce dependence on business results from tobacco products, which he foresaw as being socially unacceptable in the future.

RAWAR, the business game, commenced 3 years ago to provide students the experience of starting and building their own business based on hard core field experience and understanding of how to innovatively harness available resources to deliver business results in their chosen area of operations.

The business game is conducted through one full Trimester. Every week new business environment situations are presented by the coordinator of the game, and exercises are specifically designed in consultation with industry, requiring the students to resolve a given business issue and present their approach and processes to a jury which simulates the context of a Board Meeting. Here the “management team” of students (who work in defined groups), have to defend their suggested and experienced solution to address the given business situation. Several teams are then in competition with each other, simulating the increasingly severe business environment as India progresses with its economic growth intent.

Themes given by the industry encompass all disciplines of management : Marketing, Finance, HRM, Production, etc. and encourage the students to assimilate the value of effective Team Work and blending of different points of view. Leadership skills also get highlighted in the process of Team Work.

Concluding Remarks : RAWAR provides the challenges of the real world, stimulates the urges for leadership and develops the Proneurial manager, irrespective of whether the graduate then manages their own family business, sets off on an entrepreneurial initiative or chooses to join an on-going business.

Proneurial Managers is the need of the future economic leadership of India : Managers that are both Professional in the execution of their management role and responsibility, and Entrepreneurial in the innovative approach to delivering results with limited resources.

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