Dr. Dumblekar is India’s most experienced authority and the only researcher in software-based simulations and games. He is the only Indian on the Steering Committee of the International Simulation and Gaming Association. He has pioneered the design, business plan, launch and implementation of the software based management simulation games on a national scale in 1998 which goes by the name MANTIS.
The students of FMS had the privilege to play the same under the module ‘ICEBREAKER’. The session was a refreshing change from the rigorous classes and assignments routine as it provided a practical edge to the learning. The whole class was divided into groups of four and were asked to run a car manufacturing company for two quarters. Each of the team members were asked to don a role of one of the following: CEO, CFO, CMO or COO.
The objective was to achieve maximum profits and to learn the workings of a start up company. Different teams came up with different ideas to maximize their profits and increase their market share. What followed was an interesting and an exciting game where in some had good profits, some were losers, while some just managed to keep their necks above the waters.
Two rounds of this game gave practical understanding of the business to the budding entrepreneurs; while some learnt that there are many factors that govern the success of a product with price topping the list; some noted that intuition rather than factual data is what drives a good business decision most of the times.
Neha Gupta, a first year student, said, ” It was a tremendous learning experience for all the students and everyone participated with full enthusiasm. For most of the us, it was the first tryst with balance sheet, income statement and cash statement. But the primary focus was on self-learning, working synergistically in team, even committing mistakes, and improving on them. In the nutshell, the mantra “Discovery Is Learning” was implemented and utilized to the fullest”.