This is the story behind the name 2x2. Though this name was incidental due to my analysis and presentation style during my MBA, there is I believe quiet a bit of philosophy behind it.
It all started with the marketing case study in quarter 2 of MBA course. Our team had to present the positioning of major detergent powders in Indian market and I came up with the idea of presenting the positioning in two dimensions at a time. This concept was a hit and from the next assignment onwards I did not have to take up any part of the work, I did not have to browse for examples - all I had to do was come up with as many matrices as possible.
The fundamental idea behind this is that 'You don't gain something without losing something'. The universe always tends to gravitate towards equilibrium - remember Newton's third law - 'For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction'. This is equally applicable in the business scenario also. You cannot increase quality without increasing the cost; you cannot reduce the price without reducing the profit; you cannot gain flexibility without losing control and the list goes on.
Hence when one compares multiple entities with what they have got, it is only wise to compare what one has lost in getting what one wanted. Common sense isn’t it? Haven't we compared the price of a TV set with another keeping in mind the features available? Haven't we compared the power of one bike with the other keeping in mind the mileage? But in comparison and decision making in real world, at times it becomes a little difficult because not always are both the dimensions on an interval scale.
The other difficulty in understanding a problem through such a model is in identifying the dimensions in the first place. Two dimensional, or for that matter even a three or five dimensional model is too simplistic to represent a real world scenario. Do we go for a Pulsar or Honda just by their mileage? Don’t we consider Price, Looks, Pickup, Maintenance, Access to service centers etc etc. But at some point of decision making, there would be two important dimensions that take precedence over many other and thereby we have yet another 2x2.
All said, I'd not like to leave with an impression that everything in this world can be brought down to two dimensions. While the decision to buy an Onida or Samsung for your TV could be a simple one, for the corporations to decide on investing in the product line is a high stakes game. There are many multi-criteria decision making tools that have been developed after years of research. Analytic Hierarchy Process for quantitative and Six thinking for qualitative approach are my personal favorite.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The great Indian Marriage
One of my colleague had posted about marriage in his blog - and was inviting comments. This triggered a long chain of thought process and the comment ended up being as long as the post itself.
The actual post: http://sivasamysubramanian.blogspot.com/2009/05/is-marriage-2-minutes-piece-of-paper.html
My Comments:
About 'A piece of paper': The first question is 'Is it a superstition ?'.
If you belive it is just a superstition, then it is no longer a superstition because you no longer belive in it. If you think it is not a superstition, then again you dont have to be bothered because it is no longer just a superstition.
I would consider this as the most ancient scientific data analytics process. With today's algorithms we can predict when the next earthquake will happen, we can predict when the next
tsunami will happen, when the stock market will crash and rebound. When all these can be predicted with reasonable accuracy, why not the marital life which involves only 2 entities and 9 variables?
Ages and ages of analytics with 9! x 9! combination of squares have provided statistically significant similarities which can be extrapolated to arrive at reasonable predictions. While the guidances are there, there can always be exceptions and that is when the question of superstition needs to be revisited.
About 'Dealings': Economics teaches us that trading of goods helps in finding the true economic value for both the parties. If the bride and groom are considered as commodities in the marriage market, each having a market value (based on looks, education etc) it is only natural to bargain for the best price based on demand and supply.
But again economics teaches us that there is something called intrinsic value which is very different from market value and is something that does not diminish so quickly over time.
While the market value is applicable during the trading season, one should realise that the intrinsic value is what one is left with after the purchase is over.
Hope all the 'rational' people realise this soon.
About '2 Minutes' and 'Masks': Shakespeare once said
"All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts....."
The actual post: http://sivasamysubramanian.blogspot.com/2009/05/is-marriage-2-minutes-piece-of-paper.html
My Comments:
About 'A piece of paper': The first question is 'Is it a superstition ?'.
If you belive it is just a superstition, then it is no longer a superstition because you no longer belive in it. If you think it is not a superstition, then again you dont have to be bothered because it is no longer just a superstition.
I would consider this as the most ancient scientific data analytics process. With today's algorithms we can predict when the next earthquake will happen, we can predict when the next
tsunami will happen, when the stock market will crash and rebound. When all these can be predicted with reasonable accuracy, why not the marital life which involves only 2 entities and 9 variables?
Ages and ages of analytics with 9! x 9! combination of squares have provided statistically significant similarities which can be extrapolated to arrive at reasonable predictions. While the guidances are there, there can always be exceptions and that is when the question of superstition needs to be revisited.
About 'Dealings': Economics teaches us that trading of goods helps in finding the true economic value for both the parties. If the bride and groom are considered as commodities in the marriage market, each having a market value (based on looks, education etc) it is only natural to bargain for the best price based on demand and supply.
But again economics teaches us that there is something called intrinsic value which is very different from market value and is something that does not diminish so quickly over time.
While the market value is applicable during the trading season, one should realise that the intrinsic value is what one is left with after the purchase is over.
Hope all the 'rational' people realise this soon.
About '2 Minutes' and 'Masks': Shakespeare once said
"All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts....."
Saturday, January 10, 2009
What is in a Name
What is in a Name?
For all who are not familiar with the name Mystik Musings, this was the name of our music band in IIT Madras. This band is one of the many good things that happened over the two years of my stay in IIT and there are tonnes and tonnes of stories to write about it.
A music band from a B-school is something that one does not hear that often. For the genesis of a music band, one needs to have the right combination of ingredients - similar to cooking a good dish.
Ingredient 1 is obviously talent, like the vegetables for cooking.
Our members definitely had good talent. Each had a decent knowledge of music and a keen interest in it.
Ingredient 2 is team work, the right combination.(One cannot make a nice aloo curry with only aloo). Each member had something or other to bring in - playing guitar, playing keyboard, knowledge of songs, voice for high pitch songs, voice for low pitch songs.
Ingredient 3 was lack of ego. (It is like salt in the curry - necessary but only to the extent required). While each had a unique talent, no one was a big time band member prior to this. It was a learning process for all. In most of the concerts, the time we had for performing was disproportionately smaller for the list of talents that we had. There was a give and take every time and the show kept going.
Item 4 is encouragement. This is like the fire required for cooking a food. Even if one has all the other ingredients, if there is no fire - there is no food. The entire eco-system right from the faculty, friends right up to the accommodating hostel neighbors who took the brunt of our late night jam sessions had a big hand in making this fledgling take off.
Item 5 is something Mysti(k)c (like the cook's touch) and we had it in our name. So What is in a name ? Philosophers may say 'nothing' - but on the other side of nothing is everything.
It was a wonderful journey and hope someday down the years we get to re-live the mystik moments.
For all who are not familiar with the name Mystik Musings, this was the name of our music band in IIT Madras. This band is one of the many good things that happened over the two years of my stay in IIT and there are tonnes and tonnes of stories to write about it.
A music band from a B-school is something that one does not hear that often. For the genesis of a music band, one needs to have the right combination of ingredients - similar to cooking a good dish.
Ingredient 1 is obviously talent, like the vegetables for cooking.
Our members definitely had good talent. Each had a decent knowledge of music and a keen interest in it.
Ingredient 2 is team work, the right combination.(One cannot make a nice aloo curry with only aloo). Each member had something or other to bring in - playing guitar, playing keyboard, knowledge of songs, voice for high pitch songs, voice for low pitch songs.
Ingredient 3 was lack of ego. (It is like salt in the curry - necessary but only to the extent required). While each had a unique talent, no one was a big time band member prior to this. It was a learning process for all. In most of the concerts, the time we had for performing was disproportionately smaller for the list of talents that we had. There was a give and take every time and the show kept going.
Item 4 is encouragement. This is like the fire required for cooking a food. Even if one has all the other ingredients, if there is no fire - there is no food. The entire eco-system right from the faculty, friends right up to the accommodating hostel neighbors who took the brunt of our late night jam sessions had a big hand in making this fledgling take off.
Item 5 is something Mysti(k)c (like the cook's touch) and we had it in our name. So What is in a name ? Philosophers may say 'nothing' - but on the other side of nothing is everything.
It was a wonderful journey and hope someday down the years we get to re-live the mystik moments.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
A Memorable trip to Wayanad
January 2008 - The month when most of the placement blues was more or less settled, the month when Samanvay - the annual B school fest of Department of Management Studies at IIT Madras got over and and the most awaited mother of all fests - Saarang 2008 was getting over. It was time to plan a class trip - and time to decide on the venue for it.
With all the end quarter exams and special classes lined up to compensate the fest filled January, 3 days including weekend was all that could be squeezed from the system for the tour. After so much of deliberations and arguments and what-not, Wayanad district of Kerala was chosen as the destination. What started as a 50 member strong 'interested' party ultimately ended up as 22 members. Nevertheless, the tour was still on 'On-budget' since major part of the travel was on train and hence the costs were variable.
The TOCO (Tour Organizing Committee) had all the plans ready - but nobody was sure if the gamble of going to a little known place would be really worth all the effort. The plan was to travel from Chennai to Calicut by train and use a bus for all the local travel in Kerala. Even as the tour had begun, it was very clear that the success of the tour is not on the beauty of the destination but the spirit of the participants. And the fun had already started at platform no. 10 in Chennai central even while the departure of the train was delayed by two hours.
Two major towns in the district of Wayanad are Kalpetta and Sultan Bathery and we had to decide where to stay. After few googling, it was decided that we'd stay in Kalpetta. Few reference checks resulted in Hotel Affas being strongly recommended for stay. Fortunately or Unfortunately, the place was already booked and hence we stayed in another place called Chandragiri Inn. These people had put the pictures of their rooms on the website to attract customers and it was a real 'value for money' place to stay (A double cot room costed Rs.400 per night).
Day 1:
The itinerary for the Day 1 consisted of visit to Edakkal caves and Suchipara falls. Climbing Edakkal caves at 1 PM in the noon was not a great idea but that was the only time we could pack it in our schedule. After quite a steep trek and climb up the rocks, the scenic beauty from the top was really worth the effort. The return walk was spent chasing away monkeys using sticks which were trying to grab the cucumber and coconuts from our hands.
While Edakkal caves was a climb up hill, Suchipara falls was a walk downhill. Since entry would be closed by 6 PM, we had to reach the falls as early as possible. Reaching there at 4:30, we had sufficient time to enjoy the bath in the falls. It was followed by a camp fire and dinner in the open. After dancing through the return journey to Kalpetta in the 'disco bus' and few games back at the hotel, instructions were given to everybody to start the day very early next day.
Day 2:
First on the plan was the Muthanga wildlife sanctuary. It is always a good idea to visit wildlife sanctuaries early in the morning, before 7 AM since most of the animals would have woken up and would crowd near water bodies. Since private vehicles are not allowed inside the reserve park, we had to engage with jeeps(500 per jeep for 8 persons) that were available at the entrance. Having stayed in IIT for two years, deers of any kind were of no fancy to us. Other wildlife that excited us were few untamed elephants and wild bisons which we could see at a close range. Unfortunately, half of the reserve was closed down that week since tiger census was in progress. So all we could see were only some pug marks of Tigers.
The next destination was the Kuruva islands. This was the best and most adventurous part of the tour. Kuruva island is a series of 80 odd islands in between the river. One can cross the river at knee deep points to traverse the area or could use motor boats. There are lots of places to just sit around placing your feet on water - chit chatting away eating everything the vendors sell there. The next destination was Banasura Sagar Dam, supposed to be the largest earthen dam in Asia. For people who have visited other dams, this place has nothing unique to offer other than a small wall on which you can sit and spend time watching the distant waves of the dam water. There is a boating club in the dam but we decided to reserve the boating for the next day on phookot lake. Dinner at Hotel Affas, which is the only place offering pure vegetarian menu marked the end of the day.
Day 3:
Day 3 was the start of the return journey and on the way from Kalpetta to Calicut, we had a stop at phookot lake. This place has an awesome lake where boating is the mainstay. All kinds of boat were on offer and Kayaking in the lake was the highlight of the day. With two hours left to board the train after reaching calicut, we wet our legs in Arabian sea at Calicut and set our journey back to sweet old IIT Madras.
At wayanad, we were told that there are few more waterfalls and wildlife sanctuaries to visit, which we had to skip because of time constraints. Overall, a nice place to unwind with nature and wild with no commercialization unlike other tourist destinations.
With all the end quarter exams and special classes lined up to compensate the fest filled January, 3 days including weekend was all that could be squeezed from the system for the tour. After so much of deliberations and arguments and what-not, Wayanad district of Kerala was chosen as the destination. What started as a 50 member strong 'interested' party ultimately ended up as 22 members. Nevertheless, the tour was still on 'On-budget' since major part of the travel was on train and hence the costs were variable.
The TOCO (Tour Organizing Committee) had all the plans ready - but nobody was sure if the gamble of going to a little known place would be really worth all the effort. The plan was to travel from Chennai to Calicut by train and use a bus for all the local travel in Kerala. Even as the tour had begun, it was very clear that the success of the tour is not on the beauty of the destination but the spirit of the participants. And the fun had already started at platform no. 10 in Chennai central even while the departure of the train was delayed by two hours.
Two major towns in the district of Wayanad are Kalpetta and Sultan Bathery and we had to decide where to stay. After few googling, it was decided that we'd stay in Kalpetta. Few reference checks resulted in Hotel Affas being strongly recommended for stay. Fortunately or Unfortunately, the place was already booked and hence we stayed in another place called Chandragiri Inn. These people had put the pictures of their rooms on the website to attract customers and it was a real 'value for money' place to stay (A double cot room costed Rs.400 per night).
Day 1:
The itinerary for the Day 1 consisted of visit to Edakkal caves and Suchipara falls. Climbing Edakkal caves at 1 PM in the noon was not a great idea but that was the only time we could pack it in our schedule. After quite a steep trek and climb up the rocks, the scenic beauty from the top was really worth the effort. The return walk was spent chasing away monkeys using sticks which were trying to grab the cucumber and coconuts from our hands.
While Edakkal caves was a climb up hill, Suchipara falls was a walk downhill. Since entry would be closed by 6 PM, we had to reach the falls as early as possible. Reaching there at 4:30, we had sufficient time to enjoy the bath in the falls. It was followed by a camp fire and dinner in the open. After dancing through the return journey to Kalpetta in the 'disco bus' and few games back at the hotel, instructions were given to everybody to start the day very early next day.
Day 2:
First on the plan was the Muthanga wildlife sanctuary. It is always a good idea to visit wildlife sanctuaries early in the morning, before 7 AM since most of the animals would have woken up and would crowd near water bodies. Since private vehicles are not allowed inside the reserve park, we had to engage with jeeps(500 per jeep for 8 persons) that were available at the entrance. Having stayed in IIT for two years, deers of any kind were of no fancy to us. Other wildlife that excited us were few untamed elephants and wild bisons which we could see at a close range. Unfortunately, half of the reserve was closed down that week since tiger census was in progress. So all we could see were only some pug marks of Tigers.
The next destination was the Kuruva islands. This was the best and most adventurous part of the tour. Kuruva island is a series of 80 odd islands in between the river. One can cross the river at knee deep points to traverse the area or could use motor boats. There are lots of places to just sit around placing your feet on water - chit chatting away eating everything the vendors sell there. The next destination was Banasura Sagar Dam, supposed to be the largest earthen dam in Asia. For people who have visited other dams, this place has nothing unique to offer other than a small wall on which you can sit and spend time watching the distant waves of the dam water. There is a boating club in the dam but we decided to reserve the boating for the next day on phookot lake. Dinner at Hotel Affas, which is the only place offering pure vegetarian menu marked the end of the day.
Day 3:
Day 3 was the start of the return journey and on the way from Kalpetta to Calicut, we had a stop at phookot lake. This place has an awesome lake where boating is the mainstay. All kinds of boat were on offer and Kayaking in the lake was the highlight of the day. With two hours left to board the train after reaching calicut, we wet our legs in Arabian sea at Calicut and set our journey back to sweet old IIT Madras.
At wayanad, we were told that there are few more waterfalls and wildlife sanctuaries to visit, which we had to skip because of time constraints. Overall, a nice place to unwind with nature and wild with no commercialization unlike other tourist destinations.
Friday, September 5, 2008
On a Cool Summer Morning
This was a song our Prof. played in IIT. Goes a long way in explaining the friendly atmosphere out there.
On a cool summer morning..
On a cool summer morning.. Went a girl for a walking.. (2)
Companion she was lacking, adada adada enna walking..
I will tell you how, this fellow fell in love.. (2)
Girl from the west coast..
Girl from the west coast.. In a mundu was dressed. (2)
On every motion of her foot, the mundu went fattu fattu..
I will tell you how, this fellow fell in love.. (2)
There came a hefty lad...
There came a hefty lad.. In a suit he was clad (2)
The way he talked was very bad, that made her think that he was a mad..
I will tell you how, this fellow fell in love.. (2)
Girl from the west coast.. Was in an aweful mood.. (2)
So she took a firewood and hit the lad on the head
Avada payyan pappadam aayi...
I will tell you how, this fellow fell in love..
On a cool summer morning..
On a cool summer morning.. Went a girl for a walking.. (2)
Companion she was lacking, adada adada enna walking..
I will tell you how, this fellow fell in love.. (2)
Girl from the west coast..
Girl from the west coast.. In a mundu was dressed. (2)
On every motion of her foot, the mundu went fattu fattu..
I will tell you how, this fellow fell in love.. (2)
There came a hefty lad...
There came a hefty lad.. In a suit he was clad (2)
The way he talked was very bad, that made her think that he was a mad..
I will tell you how, this fellow fell in love.. (2)
Girl from the west coast.. Was in an aweful mood.. (2)
So she took a firewood and hit the lad on the head
Avada payyan pappadam aayi...
I will tell you how, this fellow fell in love..
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Yet Another Blogger
What makes people Want to blog and What makes people blog ?
Are these two the same question, do they have the same answer ?
Though I was exposed to the concept of blogging almost a decade ago, I never appreciated the concept of someone's personal ramblings being put on the internet - what is the point in putting something 'out there' which nobody else would read or gain anything out from ! Of late, I have changed my idea because some of the most arbitary topics that I had 'googled' resulted in some blogs which were more useful than web pages from the 'authorities' of the topic - be it travel, music or whatever.
Before posting this, I infact googled to find out why people blog? It resulted in a variety of results, starting from 'People blog because they are f*ked up' to 'People blog because they consider it as a channel for expressing themselves'.
My justification for blogging is two fold. One, to publish something which I have experienced in life and guess would be useful for the internet fraternity - if at all some search engine points to here. Two, to put 'out there' some of the unique experiences that I have come across and some of the learnings from it. I intend to use it to reflect back on my past, to understand who I am and understand life.
Now the second question - What makes people blog? While many like me want to blog, I guess only few of them actually blog. A quick googling again threw up results ranging from 'The urge to express' to 'Jobless and lots of time at hand'.
Honestly, I am doing this now for reasons stated latter. But I hope I would be able to blog as frequently as possible, or as frequently as required.
Are these two the same question, do they have the same answer ?
Though I was exposed to the concept of blogging almost a decade ago, I never appreciated the concept of someone's personal ramblings being put on the internet - what is the point in putting something 'out there' which nobody else would read or gain anything out from ! Of late, I have changed my idea because some of the most arbitary topics that I had 'googled' resulted in some blogs which were more useful than web pages from the 'authorities' of the topic - be it travel, music or whatever.
Before posting this, I infact googled to find out why people blog? It resulted in a variety of results, starting from 'People blog because they are f*ked up' to 'People blog because they consider it as a channel for expressing themselves'.
My justification for blogging is two fold. One, to publish something which I have experienced in life and guess would be useful for the internet fraternity - if at all some search engine points to here. Two, to put 'out there' some of the unique experiences that I have come across and some of the learnings from it. I intend to use it to reflect back on my past, to understand who I am and understand life.
Now the second question - What makes people blog? While many like me want to blog, I guess only few of them actually blog. A quick googling again threw up results ranging from 'The urge to express' to 'Jobless and lots of time at hand'.
Honestly, I am doing this now for reasons stated latter. But I hope I would be able to blog as frequently as possible, or as frequently as required.
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