Outline of the Project
Introduction
Covers the ff: industry analysis, company profile, problem/s identified.
Analysis
Conclusion and Recommendation Our Business is Selling Motor Components
Transcribed Image Text: PRICING STRATEGIES: FINAL COURSE PROJECT
Description of the Project: This project is a culmination of all the lessons that you have learned
since the course has commenced. Thegoal of the project is to apply the concepts from the course
to a real pricing problem by applying the ideas covered in class. Each pair should select an
interesting problem and analyze the pricing decision faced by a business. The pricing problem
could be one currently or previously faced at work. Do not simply present case analysis profiling
an industry and its players. I want you to either use data to analyze a pricing problem or to
provide an analysis of an original pricing problem. I will be primarily interested in your analysis.
As you apply your results to analyze the pricing problem, you need to indicate how your
recommendations are justified by the analysis (i.e. data etc.).
The project will be evaluated on the following criteria:
1. Is the project addressing an interesting question?
In evaluating the interestingness of the project, I will consider the following general criteria:
Is this problem of interest to a manager in this particular field? Your target audience for the
project is a manager in the relevant area and your analysis should help inform this person's
decision. Timeliness of the problem will be one relevant criterion.
Why is this pricing problem non-trivial? The answer to the pricing problem should not obvious
based on some existing pricing policy. Among the alternative strategies a firm could use, there
should be some level of support for at least two strategies. If there is only one strategy that makes
reasonable sense, then the question may be too simple for the project. For example, in the auto
industry some firms use no-haggle pricing, some firms negotiate, and others use a mix of both
strategies. An existing car dealership may want to examine their current pricing policy relative to
these options. Each policy has its own set of pros and cons, and the best strategy is likely to
depend on a number of dealership and market-specific factors.
What information (e.g., data, articles, etc.) is available to support the analysis? Actual pricing and
sales data are not required, but one can clearly make a stronger case with such data. Public
sources of data (e.g., newspapers, magazines, financial disclosures, marketing research reports,
etc.) are sufficient, provided they contain some detailed information about specific firms and the
industry. You may also consider using a survey or interviews to collect additional data. You can
easily survey students in class or on campus. I understand the student population is unlikely to
be representative of your target population, but this is OK. In many situations, students have also
conducted interviews with managers to collect data. A good source of interesting pricing
problems is projects from your own work experience. If the corresponding pricing data are
confidential, it can easily be disguised in some fashion.
2. Analysis
In general, your analysis should involve taking concepts covered in the course, applying them to
the problem at hand, and developing a sensible pricing strategy. You are free to use additional
tools (e.g., regression, break-even analysis, conjoint, etc.) as part of your analysis. Your analysis
should cover, but not be limited to, the following points:
Your analysis should cover, but not be limited to, the following points:
Customers and demand
• Who are the customers? Potential customers? Who are the competitor's customers?
• Segmentation
• Price sensitivity
Competition
• Who are the competitors?
• What are our relative strengths and weaknesses?
Costs
• What is this firms' cost structure (variable vs. fixed)?
• What are other firms' costs?
Resources
• What resources does this firm bring to the table?
• Opportunities for price customization
• Integration of pricing policy with other elements of the marketing mix
• Implementation - logistics, organizational issues, sales force
Overall, I am looking for a clear and compelling analysis of the problem with conclusions that are
well supported by facts and logical reasoning. As an owner/manager, I am looking for analysis
that sheds light on a specific pricing problem. You should advocate for a specific policy and
provide evidence to support your position. A thorough analysis would also clearly indicate why
alternative policies are dominated by the recommended policy. The evaluation will be based on
the totality of the analysis.
3. Recommendation
Recommend a specific course of action:
Example:
• You can state a suggested pricing policy, e.g. "Our analysis supports that Microsoft should price
at $99.99,"
In sum, tie your analysis together with some specific recommendations on what to do next and
why this is justified. Make sure your recommendations are directly linked to your analysis (i.e.
make sure you can back them up).