Feature

Battle of Minds 2009

Sarah F. Ahmad

BRITISH American Tobacco Bangladesh, one of the leading multinational companies in the country, once again is getting ready to bring the annual Battle of Minds to universities around Bangladesh. BAT Bangladesh introduced Battle of Minds, the most prestigious business case solution competition for university students, in 2004, soon making the event a legacy of British American Tobacco all around the world. Brac University and Khulna University emerged as champions in 2008 and 2007 respectively. With the event taking place in Bangladesh for the last six years, Pakistan Tobacco Company, a member of BAT group, started its own version in 2008. The idea of Battle of Minds has now been picked up BAT group companies in Malaysia and Sri Lanka. Battle of Minds aims to provide young aspiring future leaders with a platform to showcase their entrepreneurial expertise in front of a panel of judges. Apart from fostering healthy spirit of competition, Battle of Minds gives participating students opportunities to take part in one of the most challenging recruitment programmes offered by BAT Bangladesh. So far around 37 former participants in Battle of Minds have been recruited by BAT Bangladesh.

Solving a business case through extensive research remains the core of this competition. Business cases and presentations are based on different industries challenging the knowledge base of undergraduate students, encompassing different subject arenas. This year Battle of Minds aims to do something different for the participants. Earlier, only a limited group of students who were chosen by the faculty members of universities had to register manually to take part in the event. This year BAT Bangladesh introduced an online portal for students to register and everyone who has registered will be eligible to participate in the event, opening a wider scope for a fair competition.

The event will kick off with road shows in 14 top universities starting from 17th October where the participants will be introduced to the challenges that they are expected to face in order to qualify through the rounds and win the title. Battle of the Minds will also give the participants opportunities to join grooming sessions customised according to the requirements of each participating university. Hence, every participant will be gaining something out of the event even if he or she doesn't qualify to the final round. With a difference in the contents of the event, this year's finale will also be very different from what it was the previous years. The new modality and renewed hype will be definitely worth looking for.