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Journal of Business Research Call for papers: The micro-foundations of pricing(Deadline 31 August 2015)Guest editors: Andreas Hinterhuber, Hinterhuber& PartnersStephan Liozu, Chatham University Aims and scope Research on the micro-level of organizational decision making haswitnessed a surge in interest as of recent. In a dedicated special issue in the StrategicManagement Journal (Powell,Lovallo, & Fox, 2011) Levinthal (2011) asks the question “A behavioral approach to strategy– what’s the alternative?”. The SMJ Editors state that“strategic management theory lacks adequate psychological groundings” and that“until strategy theory builds stronger foundations in psychology, it willstruggle to explain the facts of firm performance” (Powell, et al.,2011, p. 1370). Recent developments in finance,organization theory and strategic management have moved micro-level aspects ofdecision making solidly within mainstream research. The literature on pricing,however, has not yet dedicated attention to the examination of itsmicro-foundations, although pricing is arguably the most important driver ofshort-term profits (Nagle & Holden, 2002). While arguably journals do publish studies examining aspects relatedto micro-foundations (Che-Ha, Mavondo, & Mohd-Said, 2014; Mousavi & Kheirandish, 2014; Raghubir, 2006),there is, as of today, no systematic research on the micro-foundations ofpricing. Research on the micro-foundations of organizational decision making isbased on the following premises (Hodgson, 2012): “Organizations are made up ofindividuals, and there is no organization without individuals” (Felin& Foss, 2005, p. 441); “Nothing is morefundamental in setting our research agenda and informing our research methodsthan our view of the nature of the human beings whose behavior we are studying” (Simon,1985, p. 303); “Combining methodologicalindividualism with an emphasis on causal mechanisms implies that strategicmanagement should fundamentally be concerned about how intentional human actionand interaction causally produce strategic phenomena” (Abell,Felin, & Foss, 2008, p. 492). The planned JBR special issue, The micro-foundations of pricing, willexamine how individual-level characteristics affect how organizations deal withpricing. We define “pricing” broadly to include the following elements: determination of list prices, price-setting practices, price realization, pricenegotiations with customers, freedom to set prices/grant discounts tocustomers, price flexibility, price communication, value communication,information processing on competitor prices, information processing oncustomers/customer needs, information processing on costs, incentive systems,bonus systems, headquarter support on pricing, CEO championing of pricing,pricing capabilities. Our interest in the micro-foundations of pricing springs from the simplerecognition that organizations do not act--individuals do. As scholars,however, we have a tendency to attribute to organizations properties which onlyindividuals can have. The literature speaks of “organizationalcapabilities” and describes organizations as “innovative”; however,organizations do not have capabilities, individuals do; organizations are notinnovative, individuals are. We thus want to explore how individualcharacteristics affect pricing in organizations. Consequentially, in this call for papers we aim to shed light on thefollowing non-exhaustive list of research questions. Individualcharacteristics and pricing decisions: How do individual psychological traits(e.g. altruism, intelligence) influence preferences for price setting practices(e.g. preferences for value-based pricing as opposed to cost-based pricing)?Are pricing approaches at the individual level (again: value-based pricing maybe an example) the result of particular psychological traits? How do individualcharacteristics influence negotiation in pricing? Are negotiation styles ofindividuals (e.g. collaborative, competitive, accommodating) the result ofparticular psychological traits? Or: how do psychological traits (e.g.aggressiveness versus assertiveness) influence price negotiation outcomes?The persistencedysfunctional pricing practices: Why and how do dysfunctional pricing practicespersist? Does hard-wiring of pricing practices happen differently forfunctional as opposed to dysfunctional pricing practices? Conversely: What aretriggers of innovative pricing practices at the individual level? How doinnovative pricing practices at the individual level gain traction to lead tonew pricing practices at the organizational level? Or again: which mechanismsprevent innovation at the individual level from emerging at the organizationallevel? Goal framing andpricing: How do hedonic goals (concerned about short-termgains), gain goals (concerned about longer term benefits), and normative goals(concerned with adhering to moral principles) interact at the individual levelto influence pricing decisions? What is the effect of the focal goal frame onindividual pricing decisions? Does an individual preference for a given pricingapproach (e.g. value-based pricing) reflect a given focal goal frame?Individual considerations and collective actions in pricing: Pricing is, bynature, an activity that touches virtually all aspects of business: sales,marketing, finance, general management, human resources, and research anddevelopment. The pricing function, if present, leads and influences actors fromthese different functions. This leads to the question: What is the origin ofindividual beliefs and assumptions on pricing by different organizationalactors in pricing and how are these individual factors aggregated at acollective level to produce pricing decisions? How do individual assumptions onpricing and individual hierarchical power interact to lead to collectivepricing decisions? Do relationships of friendships in the organization favorthe emergence of given pricing practices? Bounded rationalityand pricing: How do cognitive biases affect pricing decisions? What is theimpact of behavioral or cognitive biases on the price setting and pricenegotiation process? Irrationalityexplained: What is irrational behavior in pricing? In Hamlet we read: “Thoughthis be madness, yet there is method in’t”. Is there a rationale for irrationalbehavior in pricing? Individual preferences and pricing: How stable arecustomer preferences in B2B? Are preferences in B2B constructed? Intuitionand pricing: What is the role of intuition in pricing decision-making process? Research methods andguidelinesWe are open to a wide number of research methods and expect all papersto either make a strong empirical contribution or to challenge conventionalwisdom concerning all aspects of pricing at the intersection between individualcharacteristics and organizational practices through novel, insightful andcarefully crafted conceptual propositions.Manuscript submission and any inquires should be sent electronically by31 August 2015 as an MSWord file attached to an e-mail to special issuecoeditors. Andreas Hinterhuber [log in to unmask] orStephan Liozu [log in to unmask] For journal information and howto prepare the manuscript, please access JBR’s Guide for Authors at thefollowing URL: http://www.elsevier.com/journals/journal-of-business-research/0148-2963?generatepdf=true. ReferencesAbell, P., Felin,T., & Foss, N. (2008). Building micro-foundations for the routines,capabilities, and performance links. Managerial and Decision Economics,29(6), 489-502.Che-Ha, N.,Mavondo, F. T., & Mohd-Said, S. (2014). Performance or learning goalorientation: Implications for business performance. Journal of BusinessResearch, 67(1), 2811-2820.Felin, T., &Foss, N. J. (2005). Strategic organization: A field in search ofmicro-foundations. Strategic Organization, 3(4), 441-455. .Hodgson, G. M.(2012). The Mirage of Microfoundations. Journal of Management Studies,49(8), 1389-1394.Levinthal, D. A.(2011). A behavioral approach to strategy—what's the alternative? StrategicManagement Journal, 32(13), 1517-1523.Mousavi, S., &Kheirandish, R. (2014). Behind and Beyond a Shared Definition of EcologicalRationality: A Functional View of Heuristics. Journal of BusinessResearch, 67(8), 1780-1785.Nagle, T. T.,& Holden, R. K. (2002). The strategy and tactics of pricing: Aguide to profitable decision making (3rd ed.): Prentice Hall EnglewoodCliffs, NJ.Powell, T. C.,Lovallo, D., & Fox, C. R. (2011). Behavioral strategy. StrategicManagement Journal, 32(13), 1369-1386.Raghubir, P.(2006). An information processing review of the subjective value of money andprices. Journal of Business Research, 59(10), 1053-1062.Simon,H. A. (1985). Human nature in politics: The dialogue of psychology withpolitical science. American Political Science Review, 79, 293-304. Contactinformation: Andreas Hinterhuber,Hinterhuber & Partners; e-mail: [log in to unmask] Stephan Liozu, CaseWestern Reserve University; e-mail: [log in to unmask] Andreas HinterhuberPartner, Hinterhuber& PartnersStrategy PricingLeadershipInnsbruck, AustriaPhone: +43 664 402 7 [log in to unmask] ____ AIB-L is brought to you by the Academy of International Business. For information: http://aib.msu.edu/community/aib-l.asp To post message: [log in to unmask] For assistance: [log in to unmask] AIB-L is a moderated list.