Pricing Decisions EMBA 5412 Fall 2010.

Pricing Decisions EMBA 5412 Fall 2010

Pricing in today’s theory and practice*
Not too much research on pricing- company and academic Managers have a general tendency to believe that price is an important issue for customers. Research, however,has shown that customers are frequently unaware of prices paid and that price is one of the least important purchase criteria for them. the impact of even small increases in price on profitability by far exceeds the impact of other levers of operational management, as shown in Fig. 1 (based on a sample of Fortune 500 companies). A 5% increase in average selling price increases earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) by 22% on average, compared with the increase of 12% and 10% for a corresponding increase in turnover and reduction in costs of goods sold, respectively. Hinterhuber,A, Towards value-based pricing—An integrative framework for decision making, Industrial Marketing Management 33 (2004) 765– 778

Fig. 1. Pricing and its impact on profitability
Hinterhuber,A, Towards value-based pricing—An integrative framework for decision making, Industrial Marketing Management 33 (2004) 765– 778

In conclusion, it seems that managers, as price setters,
Fig. 2. High price and large market share—not as incompatible as commonly believed In conclusion, it seems that managers, as price setters, have a general tendency to overestimate the importance of price for actual and potential customers Hinterhuber,A, Towards value-based pricing—An integrative framework for decision making, Industrial Marketing Management 33 (2004) 765– 778

Pricing and Business How companies price a product or service ultimately depends on the demand and supply for it Three influences on demand and supply: Customers Competitors Costs

Influences on Demand and Supply
Customers – influence price through their effect on the demand for a product or service, based on factors such as quality and product features Competitors – influence price through their pricing schemes, product features, and production volume Costs – influence prices because they affect supply (the lower the cost, the greater the quantity a firm is willing to supply)

Time Horizons and Pricing
Short-run pricing decisions have a time horizon of less than one year and include decisions such as: Pricing a one-time-only special order with no long-run implications Adjusting product mix and output volume in a competitive market Long-run pricing decisions have a time horizon of one year or longer and include decisions such as: Pricing a product in a major market where there is some leeway in setting price

Pricing External sales- outside
Target pricing-Competition-based pricing Cost plus pricing Variable cost pricing Customer based pricing-value-based pricing Time and material pricing Internal-within the company among divisions Negotiated transfer prices Cost based transfer prices Market based transfer prices Effect of outsourcing on transfer prices Transfers between divisions in different countries

Profit Maximization Economic Theory Pricing
The quantity demanded is a function of the price that is charged Generally, the higher the price, the lower the quantity demanded Pricing Management should set the price that provides the greatest amount of profit

Quantity made and sold per month
Determining the Profit-Maximizing Price and Quantity Profit is maximized where marginal cost equals marginal revenue, resulting in price p* and quantity q*. Dollars per unit p* Demand Marginal cost Quantity made and sold per month Marginal revenue q*

Example 1 The editor of EMBA Magazine is considering three alternative prices for her new monthly periodical. Her estimate of price and quantity demanded are: Price Quantity TL ,000 TL ,000 TL ,000 Monthly costs of producing and delivering the magazine include TL90,000 of fixed costs and variable costs of TL1.50 per issue. Which price will yield the largest monthly profit?

Solution Example 1 Choose TL 6 TL based on quantitative factors given.
Need to consider qualitative factors as well.

Determining the Profit-Maximizing Price and Quantity
Total cost Dollars Total revenue p* Total profit at the profit-maximizing quantity and price, q* and p*. Quantity made and sold per month q*

The impact of price changes on sales volume
Price Elasticity The impact of price changes on sales volume Demand is elastic if a price increase has a large negative impact on sales volume. Demand is inelastic if a price increase has little or no impact on sales volume.

Who determines the price?
Price takers- when there is a competitive market and the company has no influence on price Once competition enters the market, the price of a product becomes squeezed between the cost of the product and the lowest price of a competitor. Price makers- companies that influence the price Organizations that choose to compete by offering innovative products and services have a more difficult pricing decision because there is no existing price for the new product or service.

Markets and Pricing Competitive Markets – use the market-based approach Less-Competitive Markets – can use either the market-based or cost-based approach Noncompetitive Markets – use cost-based approaches

Influences on Price Customer demand
Competitors’ behavior/prices/actions Costs Regulatory environment – legal, political and image related

Differences Affecting Pricing: Long Run vs. Short Run
Costs that are often irrelevant for short-run policy decisions, such as fixed costs that cannot be changed, are generally relevant in the long run because costs can be altered in the long run Profit margins in long-run pricing decisions are often set to earn a reasonable return on investment – prices are decreased when demand is weak and increased when demand is strong

Alternative Long-Run Pricing Approaches
Market-Based: price charged is based on what customers want and how competitors react Cost-Based: price charged is based on what it cost to produce, coupled with the ability to recoup the costs and still achieve a required rate of return

Market-Based Approach
Starts with a target price Target Price – estimated price for a product or service that potential customers will pay Estimated on customers’ perceived value for a product or service and how competitors will price competing products or services

Understanding the Market Environment
Understanding customers and competitors is important because: Competition from lower cost producers has meant that prices cannot be increased Products are on the market for shorter periods of time, leaving less time and opportunity to recover from pricing mistakes Customers have become more knowledgeable and demand quality products at reasonable prices

Pricing approaches Cost plus mark-up
Variable – contribution margin approach, contribution margin( reflecting mark-up) should cover desired return on investment, all fixed costs Absorption – common- mark-up covers all expenses except cost of goods sold plus the desired return on investment Target costing– price is known (competitor’s), desired return on investment is known, price is known = determine the maximum cost per unit

Cost-Plus Pricing Company estimates cost of production Benefits
Adds a markup to cost to arrive at price which allows for a reasonable profit Benefits Simple approach Limitations What % markup to use? Inherently circular for manufacturing firms Requires considerable judgment and experimentation

Product Life Cycle

Life Cycle Costing Life cycle costs are the total costs estimated to be incurred in the design, development, production, operation, maintenance, support, and final disposition of a product/system over its anticipated useful life span (Barringer and Weber, 1996). Product Life-Cycle spans the time from initial R&D on a product to when customer service and support are no longer offered on that product (orphaned) The best balance among cost elements is achieved when the total LCC is minimized (Barringer and Weber, 1996).

Life-Cycle Product Budgeting and Costing
Life-Cycle Budgeting involves estimating the revenues and individual value-chain costs attributable to each product from its initial R&D to its final customer service and support Life-Cycle Costing tracks and accumulates individual value-chain costs attributable to each product from its initial R&D to its final customer service and support

Important Considerations for Life-Cycle Budgeting
Nonproduction costs are large Development period for R&D and design is long and costly Many costs are locked in at the R&D and design stages, even if R&D and design costs are themselves small

Example Murmur company produces electronic components that typically have about 27-month life cycle. In October 2008, a new component was proposed. Below are the budgeted costs and profits over the life cycle of the product.

Example U

Cost-Based (Cost-Plus) Pricing
The general formula adds a markup component to the cost base to determine a prospective selling price Usually only a starting point in the price-setting process Markup is somewhat flexible, based partially on customers and competitors

Forms of Cost-Plus Pricing
Setting a Target Rate of Return on Investment: the Target Annual Operating Return that an organization aims to achieve, divided by Invested Capital Selecting different cost bases for the “cost-plus” calculation: Variable Manufacturing Cost Variable Cost Manufacturing Cost Full Cost

Common Business Practice
Most firms use full cost for their cost-based pricing decisions, because: Allows for full recovery of all costs of the product Allows for price stability It is a simple approach

Cost-plus Pricing Selling Price= Cost + mark-up% x Cost
Mark-up % = Desired profit per unit ÷ Unit cost Desired profit = Desired ROI x Investment

Which cost? Variable manufacturing cost
Price= variable manufacturing costs + markup% * variable manufacturing cost Mark-up should cover the remaining costs and provide for the desired profit, i.e. variable selling and all fixed costs VSC: variable selling costs FC: fixed costs – manufacturing and selling ADM: Administrative Expenses n : number of units to be sold vmcu: variable manufacturing cost per unit

Which costs? Total variable costs
Variable manufacturing and selling costs Price= variable costs + markup %* variable costs

Which costs? Absorption – manufacturing costs
Unit manufacturing costs – both variable and fixed Price= unit manuf. cost + markup %* unit manufacturing cost S&ADM: Selling and administrative costs Unit cost : unit manufacturing cost (variable and fixed)

Which costs? Absorption – total costs
Total costs – manufacturing and selling and administrative –fixed (direct or allocated, variable costs) Price= unit cost + markup %* unit cost

Example - Pricing Annual sales 480 units Unit costs:
Variable manufacturing cost $ 400 Applied fixed manufacturing cost $ 250 Absorption manufacturing cost $ 650 Variable selling costs $ 50 Allocated and direct fixed selling and administrative costs $ 100 Total cost (Manufacturing and S&ADM) $ 800 Investment $ 600,000 Desired profit 10% of investment $ 60,000 Annual Fixed Manufacturing Costs $ 120,000 Annual Fixed (allocated and direct) Selling and Administrative Costs $ 48,000

Cost Plus Pricing Versions

Cost plus comparison Cost plus type Mark up % Price 925
Variable manufacturing cost plus mark up Variable cost plus mark up Manufacturing costs plus mark up Full cost plus mark up Mark up % 131.25 105.56 42.31 15.63 Price 925

Retail cost plus mark-up
Mark up on cost of goods sold = (selling and administrative costs operating income) / COGS

Retail Example Yesim Textile’s income statement for 2007 is as follows:

Project Example EMBA Consultancy Co needs to bid for a project. EMBA’s recent income statement appears below: Man-hour rate TL 65; overhead application 0.85 of personnel costs

Project Example EMBA Consultancy needs to bid for a new project. Material costs will be TL 5.000; 150 man hours will be used. What would be a guiding bidding price?

Pros and Cons of Cost plus pricing
Easy to compute No consideration to the demand side Sales volume plays an important role- allocation of fixed costs over the products sold If variable cost plus used then fixed costs might not be covered if not calculated correctly

Pricing Special Orders
In some cases, it may be beneficial for a company to charge a price lower than its full cost Only if the order will not affect demand for its other products

Special Orders – Premier Lens Example
Given the following information, should Premier Lens produce 20,000 lenses to be sold to Blix Camera for $73 per lens?

Special Orders – Premier Lens Example
The incremental analysis shows that it should. Note that the fixed costs are not incremental and need not be included in the decision making.

Target Costing

Five Steps in Developing Target Prices and Target Costs
Develop a product that satisfies the needs of potential customers Choose a target price price is the same as the competition set price to increase customer base seek larger market share through price Derive a target cost per unit: Target Price per unit minus Target Operating Income per unit Perform cost analysis Perform value engineering to achieve target cost

Value Engineering Value Engineering is a systematic evaluation of all aspects of the value chain, with the objective of reducing costs while improving quality and satisfying customer needs Managers must distinguish value-added activities and costs from non-value-added activities and costs

Value Engineering Terminology
Value-Added Costs – a cost that, if eliminated, would reduce the actual or perceived value or utility (usefulness) customers obtain from using the product or service Non-Value-Added Costs – a cost that, if eliminated, would not reduce the actual or perceived value or utility customers obtain from using the product or service. It is a cost the customer is unwilling to pay for

Value Engineering Terminology
Cost Incurrence – describes when a resource is consumed (or benefit forgone) to meet a specific objective Locked-in Costs (Designed-in Costs) – are costs that have not yet been incurred but, based on decisions that have already been made, will be incurred in the future Are a key to managing costs well

Problems with Value Engineering and Target Costing
Employees may feel frustrated if they fail to attain targets A cross-functional team may add too many features just to accommodate the wishes of team members A product may be in development for a long time as alternative designs are repeatedly evaluated Organizational conflicts may develop as the burden of cutting costs falls unequally on different business functions in the firm’s value chain

Example Target costing
Nownew company feels that there is a market niche for a mouse with special new features. After surveying the features and prices of available mouses on the market, Marketing department believes that a price of TL 30 would be about right for the new mouse. Marketing department estimates to sell about mouses. To design, develop and produce these new mouses and investment of TL would be required. The company desires 15% ROI on all new projects. What is the highest target cost to manufacture, sell and service the new product?

Example target costing

Customer-based pricing
Value based pricing-the price is based on the customer ‘demand’ or need for the product Unique product – value based pricing might be helpful to create demand use price to support product image set price to increase product sales design a price range to attract many consumer groups set price to increase volume sales price a bundle of products to reduce inventory or to excite customers

concept of economic (or customer) value
Two interpretations: the difference between the consumer’s willingness to pay and the actual price paid, which is equal to the ‘‘consumer surplus,’’ the excess value retained by the consumer. the maximum amount a customer would pay to obtain a given product, that is, the price that would leave the customer indifferent between the purchase and foregoing the purchase. Customer value in this sense is equal to the microeconomic concept of a customer’s ‘‘reservation price’’ and the use value of goods. product’s economic value is the price of the customer’s best alternative—reference value—plus the value of whatever differentiates the offering from the alternative— differentiation value (Nagle & Holden, 1999).

To quantify economic value
Step 1: Identify the cost of the competitive product and process that consumer views as best alternative put oneself in the eyes and in the shoes of customers and ask what they view as best alternative to the purchase of the product being analyzed Step 2: Segment the market e.g. Microsoft, for example, is known for handing out beta-versions of its latest enterprise software products to particularly knowledgeable companies and customer segments Hinterhuber,A, Towards value-based pricing—An integrative framework for decision making, Industrial Marketing Management 33 (2004) 765– 778

Step 3: Identify all factors that differentiate the product from the competitive product and process. Step 4: Determine the value to the customer of these differentiating factors. Conjoint analysis is a simple tool which aims to capture trade-offs in product features in a systematic way and to assign monetary values to specific attributes (Auty, 1995). Customers are presented with a set of two similar products differing in price and other qualitative features and are forced to indicate which set of attributes they prefer Hinterhuber,A, Towards value-based pricing—An integrative framework for decision making, Industrial Marketing Management 33 (2004) 765– 778

Step 5: Sum the reference value and the differentiation value to determine the total economic value. The product’s economic value is simply the sum of the price of the reference product plus its differentiation value. Step 6: Use the value pool to estimate future sales at specific price points. For each price point, sales can be expected to comprise a significant share of all market segments, which value the product higher than the specific price examined Hinterhuber,A, Towards value-based pricing—An integrative framework for decision making, Industrial Marketing Management 33 (2004) 765– 778

Example of value based pricing
Japanese industrial equipment manufacturer. In its home market, its standard model was priced at the equivalent of US$80,000 compared with US$50,000 for a similar model by its main competitor from the United States. In Japan, the company sold about 80% more units than its U.S. competitor, while in the United States, where the company had a weaker distribution system, both companies had roughly the same unit sales, although historical growth rates of the Japanese company had by far exceeded the growth rates of its U.S. rival. What is the reason that the Japanese company was able to achieve both a high relative market share and a significant price premium? Hinterhuber,A, Towards value-based pricing—An integrative framework for decision making, Industrial Marketing Management 33 (2004) 765– 778

WHY? For each industry segment,the Japanese company had developed detailed financial models of different cost and benefit components of its own equipment versus its main competitor For a customer in the printing ink industry, the positive and negative differentiation value was quantified in the following way: Hinterhuber,A, Towards value-based pricing—An integrative framework for decision making, Industrial Marketing Management 33 (2004) 765– 778

Analysis Under this angle, the price premium of the Japanese company is modest. If an interest rate of 8% is applied to the net benefits gained over the average life cycle of this equipment of 4 years, the positive differentiation value amounts to well over US$300,000. Customers are expected to pay only a small fraction—less than 10% and US $30,000—of the product’s economic value. Hinterhuber,A, Towards value-based pricing—An integrative framework for decision making, Industrial Marketing Management 33 (2004) 765– 778

Analyzing Customer Profitability
Customer Profitability Measurement System (CPM) Indirect costs of servicing customers are assigned to cost pools For example the cost of processing orders and handling returns Costs are allocated to specific customers using cost drivers to determine customer profitability

Customer Profitability Measurement System

Example – Customer profitability
Delta Products has determined the following costs: Order processing/order $5.00 Additional handling cost per rush order $8.50 Customer service calls/call $10.00 Relationship management costs/customer $2,000.00 In addition to these costs, product costs amount to 90% of sales. In the prior year, Delta had the following experience with Johnson Brands: Sales $53,800 Number of orders Percent of orders marked rush Calls to customer service Calculate the profitability of the Johnson Brands account.

Example Solution Profitability of Johnson Brand account Sales $53,800
Less: Cost of good sold (.9 × $53,800) $48,420 Order processing (200 × $5.00) $1,000 Rush handling (.6 × 200 × $8.50) $1,020 Customer service (140 × $10.00) $1,400 Relationship management costs $2,000 $53,840 Profitability of Johnson Brands account $(40)

Time and Material Pricing
Determine a charge for labor that includes overhead Determine a charge for materials that includes handling and storage costs Include a profit Sum = price Used in service companies mainly; appropriate for construction companies as well

Example 4% x

Time and Material Charges
Time Charge per hour = hourly labor cost + (annual overhead [excluding material overhead] / annual labor hours) + hourly charge to cover profit margin = $18 + ($200,000 / 10,000 hours) + $7 = $ 45 per labor hour

Time and Material Charges
Material Charge formula Material cost incurred on job +[material cost incurred on job * (material handling and storage costs / annual cost of materials used in Repair Department)] = material costs incurred on job +[material costs incurred on job * ($40,000/$1,000,000)] =1.04 x material costs incurred on job 4% of material costs

Example con’t

Activity-Based Pricing
Customers are presented with separate prices for services they request in addition to the cost of goods purchased Customers will carefully consider the services they request Example

Other Important Considerations in Pricing Decisions
Price Discrimination – the practice of charging different customers different prices for the same product or service Legal implications Peak-Load Pricing – the practice of charging a higher price for the same product or service when the demand for it approaches the physical limit of the capacity to produce that product or service

The Legal Dimension of Price Setting
Price Discrimination is illegal if the intent is to lessen or prevent competition for customers Predatory Pricing – deliberately lowering prices below costs in an effort to drive competitors out of the market and restrict supply, and then raising prices

The Legal Dimension of Price Setting
Dumping – a non-US firm sells a product in the US at a price below the market value in the country where it is produced, and this lower price materially injures or threatens to materially injure an industry in the US Collusive Pricing – occurs when companies in an industry conspire in their pricing and production decisions to achieve a price above the competitive price and so restrain trade

Transfer pricing Transfer Price is:
the internal price charged by one segment of a firm for a product or service supplied to another segment of the same firm Such as: Internal charge paid by final assembly division for components produced by other divisions Service fees to operating departments for telecommunications, maintenance, and services by support services departments

Transfer Pricing The transfer price creates revenues for the selling subunit and purchase costs for the buying subunit, affecting each subunit’s operating income Intermediate Product – the product or service transferred between subunits of an organization

Effects of Transfer Prices
Performance measurement: Reallocate total company profits among business segments Influence decision making by purchasing, production, marketing, and investment managers Rewards and punishments: Compensation for divisional managers Partitioning decision rights: Disputes over determining transfer prices

Three Transfer Pricing Methods
Market-based Transfer Prices Cost-based Transfer Prices Negotiated Transfer Prices

Market-Based Transfer Prices
Top management chooses to use the price of a similar product or service that is publicly available. Sources of prices include trade associations, competitors, etc.

Lead to optimal decision making when three conditions are satisfied: The market for the intermediate product is perfectly competitive Interdependencies of subunits are minimal There are no additional costs or benefits to the company as a whole from buying or selling in the external market instead of transacting internally

A perfectly competitive market exists when there is a homogeneous product with buying prices equal to selling prices and no individual buyer or seller can affect those prices by their own actions Allows a firm to achieve goal congruence, motivating management effort, subunit performance evaluations, and subunit autonomy Perhaps should not be used if the market is currently in a state of “distress pricing”

Cost-Based Transfer Prices
Top management chooses a transfer price based on the costs of producing the intermediate product. Examples include: Variable Production Costs Variable and Fixed Production Costs Full Costs (including life-cycle costs) One of the above, plus some markup Useful when market prices are unavailable, inappropriate, or too costly to obtain

Cost-Based Transfer Pricing Alternatives
Prorating the difference between the maximum and minimum cost-based transfer prices Dual-Pricing – using two separate transfer-pricing methods to price each transfer from one subunit to another. Example: selling division receives full cost pricing, and the buying division pays market pricing

Negotiated Transfer Prices
Occasionally, subunits of a firm are free to negotiate the transfer price between themselves and then to decide whether to buy and sell internally or deal with external parties May or may not bear any resemblance to cost or market data Often used when market prices are volatile Represent the outcome of a bargaining process between the selling and buying subunits

Comparison of Transfer-Pricing Methods
Criteria Market-Based Cost- Based Negotiated Achieves Goal Congruence Yes, when markets are competitive Often, but not always Yes Useful for Evaluating Subunit Performance Difficult unless transfer price exceeds full cost and even then is somewhat arbitrary Yes, but transfer prices are affected by bargaining strengths of the buying and selling divisions

Criteria Market-Based Cost- Based Negotiated Motivates Management Effort Yes Yes, when based on budgeted costs; less incentive to control costs if transfers are based on actual costs Preserves Subunit Autonomy Yes, when markets are competitive No, because it is rule-based Yes, because it is based on negotiations between subunits

Criteria Market-Based Cost- Based Negotiated Other Factors No market may exist or markets may be imperfect or in distress Useful for determining full cost of products; easy to implement Bargaining and negotiations take time and may need to be reviewed repeatedly as conditions change

Ideal Transfer Pricing
Ideal transfer price would be Opportunity cost, or the value forgone by not using the transferred product in its next best alternative use Opportunity cost is the greater of variable production cost or revenue available if the product is sold outside of the firm

Minimum Transfer Price
The minimum transfer price in many situations should be: Incremental cost is the additional cost of producing and transferring the product or service Opportunity cost is the maximum contribution margin forgone by the selling subunit if the product or service is transferred internally

Transfer Pricing Methods
External market price If external markets are comparable Variable cost of production Exclude fixed costs which are unavoidable Full-cost of production Average fixed and variable cost Negotiated prices Depends on bargaining power of divisions

Transfer Pricing Implementation
Disputes over transfer pricing occur frequently because transfer prices influence performance evaluation of managers Internal accounting data are often used to set transfer prices, even when external market prices are available Classifying costs as fixed or variable can influence transfer prices determined by internal accounting data To reduce transfer pricing disputes, firms may reorganize by combining interdependent segments or spinning off some segments as separate firms

Transfer Pricing for International Taxation
When products or services of a multinational firm are transferred between segments located in countries with different tax rates, the firm attempts to set a transfer price that minimizes total income tax liability. Segment in higher tax country: Reduce taxable income in that country by charging high prices on imports and low prices on exports. Segment in lower tax country: Increase taxable income in that country by charging low prices on imports and high prices on exports. Government tax regulators try to reduce transfer pricing manipulation.

Pricing Decisions EMBA 5412 Fall 2010.

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