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Industrial MarketingManagementCall for PapersOrganizing for pricing excellence, Deadline for submission: May 1st, 2018 Overview and PurposeOrganizingfor effective pricing has been a central research topic since the inception ofresearch on pricing: In 1958 in Pricingin Big Business Kaplan dedicates an entire chapter to pricing organization(Kaplan, Dirlam, and Lanzillotti 1958). What started as descriptive research isnow a growing, albeit small, body of increasingly prescriptive research onprice delegation (Frenzen et al. 2010; Stephenson, Cron, and Frazier 1979), onthe interdepartmental centralization of pricing (Homburg, Jensen, and Hahn2012), on the organizational configuration of price management (Burkert et al.2017), on the role of CEOs in organizing pricing (Liozu and Hinterhuber 2013),on pricing capabilities (Töytäri and Rajala 2015) and on other related issues. Nevertheless, compared to other salient aspectsof industrial marketing, our understanding of what constitutes excellence inorganizing the pricing function is arguably shallow. To cite afew examples, we know little about how to configure the pricing function so asto increase overall firm performance, we know little about the origins andevolution of pricing capabilities, we know little about pricing metrics andabout psychological or behavioral traits of effective pricing managers. How toorganize pricing is clearly a key issue for executives: Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric,comments: “When it comes to the prices we pay, we study them, we map them, wework them. But with the prices we charge, we're too sloppy” (Stewart 2006, p.62). Nowadays, however, executives at General Electric have recognized theimportance of pricing: “Many of ourmornings begin with meetings to review working capital or pricing. We “sweat”the details required to run a successful company” (Immelt 2007, p. 4). The highpractitioner interest and the paucity of current research seem to call forfurther studies. Topics ofinterest include but are not limited to the following: · Thepricing function: How does the pricing function contribute to overall firmperformance? Does the presence of a Chief Pricing Officer (CPO) improve firmperformance? What are the specific activities that effective CPOs do that aremost strongly linked to an improvement in firm performance? Do effective CPOshave formal authority, akin to heavyweight product managers in the Toyotaproduct development system (Sobek, Liker, and Ward 1998)? · What arecultural values of the pricing function (overlap with cultural values of otherfunctions in the firm vs. overlap with cultural values of pricing professionalsoutside the firm)? How does the pricing function mediate between differentinterests (between, for example, company interests for higher prices andcustomer interests for lower prices)? Do reporting relationships of the pricingfunction – to marketing, sales, finance, or to the CEO – affect performance? · CEOinvolvement: Under which conditions is CEO involvement in pricing beneficialfor firm performance? Can senior executives be too involved in pricing? · Pricingcapabilities: What are they? What is their origin and evolution over time? Whatcapabilities are foundational, which ones are advanced and do thesecapabilities differently affect firm performance? Are there pricing routines? · Pricingmetrics: Which pricing metrics are most closely aligned with overall firmperformance? What are metrics to evaluate the performance of the pricingfunction itself? · Micro-foundations:What are the psychological or behavioral traits of effective CPOs? · Ethics:Does the adherence to ethical standards in organizing pricing affect short-termand long-term performance differently? Manuscript Preparation andSubmission We areopen to a wide number of research methods and expect all papers to make astrong empirical contribution: Some of the above mentioned researchquestions lend themselves naturally more towards qualitative, others moretowards quantitative research approaches. We do not encourage theoreticalpapers which, for this special issue,will probably struggle to make meaningful contributions. Manuscriptsshould comply with the scope, standards, format and editorial policy of theIndustrial Marketing Management. All papers must be submitted through theofficial IMM submission system. When you get to the step in the process thatasks you for the type of paper, select SI:Organizing for pricing excellence. All papers will be reviewed through adouble-blind peer review process. In preparation of their manuscripts, authorsare asked to follow the Author Guidelines closely. A guide for authors, samplearticles and other relevant information for submitting papers are available at:http://www.elsevier.com/locate/indmarman All queries about the special issueshould be sent to the Guest Editors (see below). Guest Editors Dr.Stephan Liozu, Case Western Reserve University; e-mail: [log in to unmask] Dr. Andreas Hinterhuber,Hinterhuber & Partners; e-mail: [log in to unmask] Andreas HinterhuberPartner, Hinterhuber & PartnersStrategy Pricing LeadershipInnsbruck, 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.