Imperial MBA Students Compete in Pop-Up Market Challenge

MBA students at Imperial College Business School in London got out of the classroom recently for some real-world learning paired with holiday fun.

For the 360 Challenge, nine student teams set up a pop-up market on Queen’s Lawn, Imperial reported in a press release. The market was open to Imperial students, staff and the public and featured everything from tech accessories to Halloween novelties. Some MBA students even donned Halloween costumes to attract customers.

“It’s been great to work with new people and bring together everyone’s skills and ideas to create a fun pop-up market stall,” Imperial MBA student Saleem Anwar said. “It’s been a real learning experience in deciding which products to choose for the stall and then seeing which ones have actually sold in reality.”

The goal of the pop-up market was to help Imperial MBA students put the theories they are learning into practice and to gain more understanding of themselves as leaders.

The 360 Challenge began with students pitching their ideas for the market to a panel of industry experts. These “investors” then allocated money for the students to set up and stock their market stalls.

“The teams were all fully engaged in the process, from formulating their business ideas to delivering their pitches,” panelist Robert Harrold said. Harrold is a co-founder of WinstonCycles and an Imperial MBA alumnus from 2014. “The challenge really tests the key skills you learn in the early stages of the MBA, making you take your learnings from the classroom and applying them to a real-life situation.”

The team that earned the highest profits at the pop-up market was treated to a dinner with Diane Morgan, Imperial’s associate dean of programs, and Imperial alumni.

 

regions: London

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