Sapphire_Synapse 2014 | Page 32

SYNAPSE - 2014 SYNAPSE - 2014 analysis. SAPPHIRE at ENSEMBLE 2013 War of Wits and Enthrone XLRI witnessed a record participation in this year’s edition of its annual management fest Ensemble with a huge number of participants from prestigious B-schools all across the country fighting it out to show their supremacy in a battle of wits, pizzazz and skill. As the HR committee on campus, SAPPHIRE hosted 2 events at Ensemble 2013, its Flagship event War of Wits in association with Accenture and its domain event Enthrone. While the first round of War of the Wits tested the general HR and OB knowledge of the participants, the second round tested their analytical and problem-solving skills to the max through a very complex business case round presented in association with Accenture. A total of 383 teams from a staggering 103 campuses including MDI, SCMHRD, TISS, XIMB, SIBM, IMI and others registered for the first round and after a rigorous elimination the shortlisted teams were asked to rack their brains over the case study in the second round. Of the final submissions, the 9 best entries were shortlisted and invited to the third and final On-campus round to present their solutions to the case in front of the Accenture judging panel and prove their mettle. At the same time, SAPPHIRE also conducted Enthrone, its HR Domain event for the students of XLRI. The first round of Enthrone tested the ability of the students to come up with precise and concise answers to diverse HR problems through a number of challenging & esoteric caselets. A total of 26 teams registered for the event of which a total of 7 were deemed worthy of making it to the second round of the competition. The second round was a 2-part event, the first being an HR crossword covering both classroom topics and the latest happenings in the world of HR. This was followed by a simulation round that tested the adeptness of the participants at making decisive and successful strategies in a tense and thoroughly competitive environment. The round pitted each team against the other in coming up with a strategy to recruit the most desirable students across multiple functions from some of the top campuses in the country. The simulation required quick-decision making skills in choosing the campuses to visit and whether to spend on promoting your brand in the campus and factored in real-life variables such as utilizing limited resources (total budget) to recruit the maximum possible number and type of students for their brand. ‘Citi Day @ XL’ by Citibank Sapphire hosted Citibank on campus for ‘Citi Day @XLRI’ on 23rd Jan 2014. Citi being one of the largest foreign banks in India and was awarded the Best Investment Bank in India for the 6th consecutive year in June 2012 by Finance Asia Country Awards 2012. Sapphire was majorly involved in promoting the event among the students and conducted prior sessions to clarify any doubt that they might have had. The event was organized exclusively for the students of XLRI and witnessed enthusiastic participation from both the first and second year students. Following were the events and talks that took place during the day at XLRI:  Business Case for Diversity  Making educated compensation decisions Other Events… Doubt Clearing Sessions A major initiative taken up by Sapphire this year was conducting guidance sessions for the junior batch about the various courses that they would face in the course of their first year. The sessions covered a wide range of topics right from the rigors of a specific course to its