Anita’s First Three Months at BEEPL: Elasticity Experiences?
Anita Chauhan (Anita) was an ambitious girl from a remote village, 15 kilometers from Gorakhpur, in Uttar Pradesh. Anita’s village was sparsely populated and was underdeveloped. For instance, it was not connected by a pucca road, lacked electricity and had just one primary school. Anita completed her schooling from Gorakhpur and graduation (engineering) from Lucknow. Thereafter, she pursued her MBA from the New Delhi Management College (NDMC).
In the fourth semester of her MBA, Anita was placed as a management trainee in the corporate office of Blue Earth Engineering Products Ltd. (BEEPL), located in Udyog Vihar, Sector-18, Gurgaon. BEEPL being one of the leading engineering and manufacturing companies of India, it was a dream company for Anita. She was one of the five students who were offered final placement by the engineering giant. The job profile too was exciting with equally encouraging pay package. The first three months of her work life reminded her of what her Economics Professor had taught in the elasticity session of Business Economics course.........
Residence Selection
The fourth semester exams were over in May 2014 and the students still had around 3 months’ time on hand before they could start working. BEEPL had conveyed to the students that the joining date would be in the end of August 2014 or beginning of September 2014 and they would be informed about the exact joining date over e-mail, sometime in August 2014.
Of the five students who were offered campus placement by BEEPL, Aakash and Surendra were residents of Delhi, Anita was from Gorakhpur and Meera and Sonal were from Pune. Before leaving for their hometowns, on May 24th 2014, Anita, Meera and Sonal went to Gurgaon to look out for accommodation and get details of the same............
New Job, New Clothes and Online Fashion Apparel Retailer
Although Anita had settled for an expensive PG accommodation for `18,000, she was happy in her new found residence. At the end of 1st week at work, Anita was looking forward to spend the weekend with friends at her room. On Saturday (September 6th 2014) morning, as she picked up the day’s newspaper, she saw a full page advertisement by one of the leading online lifestyle stores announcing flat 50% off on most of the apparel and footwear labels from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm on Sunday............
First Salary and First Signs of Brand Preferences
The first month at work was very exciting for Anita, Meera and Sonal. Not only were they learning the ways of professional life, they also got a chance to participate in several events. On one such occasion, tickets were offered to BEEPL employees for a rock concert being held in Gurgaon. Each ticket was available at a subsidized rate of ₹1,500. However, Anita, Meera and Sonal decided not to go for the concert as they found the tickets to be expensive and they had not even received their first salary............
Travel Travails and the Honda Activa
To travel to office each day, the girls walked up to the main road, where they could hire shared auto rickshaws which plied till the office campus. Similarly, to go back home in the evening, the girls followed the same routine. They paid ₹25 for each trip (per head)............
Assignment Questions
I. Explain Anita’s residence selection and shopping for fashion apparel online with the help of concept and types of price elasticity of demand.
II. Anita’s first salary undoubtedly changed her brand preferences. How do you categorize the new found demand for preferred brands of shampoo and lipstick? Explain with the help of the concept and types of Income Elasticity.
III..............