conjoint analysis ....

Conjoint analysis in marketing is assigning certain value to certain features of a product. Like for instance when we go to buy a car we have two cars which are the same except for certain accessory features (two variants of the same car: viz maruti Suzuki swift Lxi and Zxi). One car will be the base model and the other will have extra or premium features. Some of those features will be simple and make sense, like leather upholstery, 6 air bags and then there are certain other features that we cannot understand, but we still end up paying premium for it (only so we could brag abt it to our friends:esteem utility), like climate control.
So now we compare each of these features and assign value to it, like leather upholstery will cost you how much and 6 air bags will cost you how much. If the extra cost is justified by the functional utility (and the esteem utility of being able to say those big technical terms to your friends and then gloat about it ) then we pay that price for the high end version, else we don’t buy it.

Life (read zindagi all DJ’iets) is not much different than marketing. We can see how the funda’s (dongre yaad aa gaya, man those days were great) of marketing are applicable in our daily lives.
We all do conjoint analysis every waking day of our lives, not only on the products and services, but also on the people we meet, we interact, we laugh, we cry.

A person is combination of varied characteristics, characteristics that are inherent to them, and those that define that person. How we select a person we want to interact, and the kind of relation we want to have with him/her comes after a conjoint analysis. We break down a person into certain characteristics, and then categorise each into, some that we like, we agree, we respect, or admire, and then there will be some that we don’t like, some we disagree and some we detest. Now after doing this categorisation we give value to each of the characteristics. Decision to be made now is how we rate the things that we don’t like about that person. Are they substantially more important to us then the good things ? if the answer is yes then we reject that person (similar to not buying the car, I know it’s a very material way of looking at a person, a human being, a body with a soul and a beating heart, but its just an idea sirjee), other wise we will accept that person ( you buy the car).

For eg:
I have had experiences in my zindagi with one person, he used to give us all a lot of ‘khali vade’ (false promises). He is a great chap, very brilliant, very intelligent, and definitely a person you can learn something from, but (there is always a but !!).

But there were certain things (very few) which I didnt like, which I didn’t agree. But then even the best of products also have some defects (pardon my materialty please), so thik hain. I stuck to him and have learnt a lot of things.

So in life you have to do certain trade-off’s and do a conjoint analysis before we accept or reject someone/product/service. You never know who may teach you what. After all life’s all about learning.

Zindagi rocks !!!!

Home away from home (finally)…

This was a unexpected, and a long break from an otherwise non-stop stay at SCMHRD. We were given a precautionary leave from college (the govt ordered that, subbu wudnt allow that) to prevent the epidemic spread of the much dreaded swine flu. It was suppose to be from 11 Aug to 18th but got extended till 23. Today is 22nd and I am back a day earlier.
The break:
Well this break was important in terms of an opportunity to see off some friends who were going to US for MS (harsheel ( though the obstinate guy that he is just wudnt say much in terms of how he felt in those final moments in Mumbai) and harshit). Last time I had come to Mumbai, cudnt spend enough time with family. So this time I had decided that I am gonna spend sometime with family too. And then came meeting friends (all kinds of friends:old friends (deven and shashank), DJ friends, special friend). It was all good. But jate hue ek baat dil me jaroor ayi, that all the infy guys will not be there the next time I come to Mumbai (hardik, jigi and all), wud miss them all. Why I came early? coz subbu has lined up a whole range of tests (here we call it FCQ’s) for us, got a little scared. So came back.
When I was leaving Mumbai, hardik had come, to bid us adieu, it felt good, but strangely enough cudnt hug him for the last time, one last time before he left for mysore. But thik hain, my wishes are with you.
Feeling while coming back was as strange as I had never thought it would be. It was good. Somehow for some strange unknown reason I was feeling good about it. The feeling of seeing my roomies padmakar, farraz and other SCMHRDians (they were not all there but jitne bhi the ( sherry, bhaskar, amol, lakhit and all)) was good. The feeling of coming back home from pune for the first time was similar. It was like coming back home. I still cant believe that I felt that way. But then “Life’s illogical (it’s always been).”

I think its because I have accepted this place (situated in a small corner of pune (hinjewadi), where even getting a packet of biscuit will be difficult and only available in a small store called ‘sweety store’(our only source of daily supplies) )to be the place where I would be living for the next 2 years. That helps ….
I think its because knowing that sitting at home and meeting friends isnt going to take u anywhere and that its ‘this’ place thats going to take me to my dreams. That helps too…
I think its because “kuch pane ke liye kuch khona padta hain”.
I think its because: “now that you are here, make the most of it, enjoy it to the fullest and try and learn (a cliché` here: “when God gives u lemon, make lemonade” )”.
And after coming here among the first thing that we all did was what we do best (and enjoyablly so), bitch about the admin at SCMHRD. Its good to be back to my “karmabhoomi”.
That’s how I felt after the longest break that any SCMHRDian has ever got or will ever get.

Zindagi rocks !!!!