For the typical US firm, a small improvement in pricing, all else equal, would generate a much larger increase in profitability than proportionate improvements in cost efficiencies. Not surprisingly, most firms view pricing as one of the best opportunities to improve profitability. But, improving pricing is also viewed as one of the biggest challenges. In practice, most firms use ad hoc rules of thumb that often fail to generate pricing recommendations that are even close to optimal. The simplicity of these rules of thumb comes at a substantial cost to profitability. Most rules fail to align pricing with the perceived value of consumers and their underlying willingness-to-pay. Many firms also struggle with the delegation of pricing responsibility within the organization, exacerbating the use of simple rules of thumb that fail to deliver effective pricing decisions.
This course blends marketing analytics, marketing strategy and microeconomic theory to formulate actionable pricing strategies. The course combines cases and assignments to teach students how to design and execute pricing strategies. In addition, several analytic tools and frameworks will be developed for the implementation of pricing decisions in practice.
During the week of lectures, there are 4 group homework assignments due in class. The first group assignment is due at the beginning of the second day. This is a case write-up. I strongly recommend that you read the case (Curled Metals) and the case questions a few days ahead of time. It will help to download and read the EVC handout from Canvas before starting the case.
View Video Course Description for more details.
Class Meets Summer 2023: 8/14, 8/15, 8/17, 8/18, 8/19