This is the first time these games have come to the east, said P Roy, AIMA vice president and a senior executive of Tata Iron & Steel Company.

The two-day event is titled `Simulated battle for the survival of the fittest' and will be played with the help of the Chanakya software developed by Infosys. Apart from Indore and Calcutta the other regional rounds are being held in New Delhi and Coimbatore. The finals will be held in New Delhi on September 20.

Top management institutes of the region like the IIM, Calcutta, XLRI Jamshedpur, and IISWBM Calcutta are participating in the eastern rounds.The game is open to participating teams with four members each from AICTE accredited management training institutes. Two top teams from each of theregions will participate in the national finals on September 20.

Roy explained the procedure of the game: ``The teams will be given a business scenario and will be asked to come up with business solutions to the problem facing a company, as its directors. They will get a two-hour brief at the beginning of the first day.'' ``At the end of the second day, the participants will have to make a 45-minute presentation to the panel of judges. Thereafter there will be a two-hour long question-answer session,'' Roy added.

Chanakya software will be judging the effect of the decisions taken by the students on the bottomline of the company. The financial results will be worked out by the software.

``The teams will not be judged only on the effect on the bottomline. Other factors like social responsibility and practical applicability of the solution will also count. Total mercenary policies aimed at maximising profits are not likely to be rewarded,'' Roy added. The games will focus on the following areas --functional focus, operating decisions, strategic options, corporate objectives, analysis of the past and forecasts for the future, situational responses and top management view.

Roy said,``The games will also contribute to the development of skills in the participants who learn about these things in their courses.''Over the last eight years, AIMA has conducted these games for over 11,000 student participants, involving 250 corporates and 120 management schools.