Posts by: Tim J. Smith, PhD

Top 6 – December 2013

By Tim J. Smith, PhD December 27, 2013

Desperation to Euphoria in two letters: Aaaahhh, Aah. Ah. … Aha! Strategic success in business develops from differentiation. For some business activities,…

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Equifinality and Organizational Design for Improving Pricing Decisions

By Tim J. Smith, PhD December 3, 2013

What decisions should the pricing function be making? Where should a corporation position the pricing function? How should the pricing function be structured? We have been asking this question for past two decades but still don’t have a definitive answer nor a standard template. Why? What is so odd about pricing decisions that makes organizational design choices regarding the pricing function difficult?

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Top 6 – November 2013

By Tim J. Smith, PhD November 4, 2013

Tragedy to laughter in one word (read aloud with increasing speed): Yuck. Yuck yuck. …. Yuck yuck yuck yuck yuck yuck yuck…

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Pricing for Consumption Economics

By Tim J. Smith, PhD November 4, 2013

SaaS, DaaS, IaaS, and other “X-as-a-Service” business models are proven market disruptors in information technology industries. Executives at enterprise IT solution providers are creating, adapting, or adjusting to competitors’ XaaS business models. But successfully implementing an XaaS business model requires a new approach to both pricing and revenue capture for IT services. What is that new approach?

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Pricing Strategy Reviewed in JRPM

By Tim J. Smith, PhD November 4, 2013

Pricing Strategy: Setting Price Levels, Managing Price Discounts, and Establishing Price Structures by Tim J. Smith, PhD has been reviewed in September 2013 issue of the Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management by Sarah Keast, Lecturer in Economics, Plymouth Graduate School of Management and Plymouth Business School, UK. In her words, “Tim Smith successfully combines the theories and methods from marketing, economics, strategy, and decision making in one very accessible text on the strategies and methods of price setting.” Thank you Sarah Keast and JRPM. It is an honor.

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Top 6 – October 2013

By Tim J. Smith, PhD October 2, 2013

“I know he’s a good general, but is he lucky?” Napoleon Bonaparte Failures happen. The question is will you learn the right…

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Redbox Experiments with Price Promotions. Shareholders Recoil from Outerwall.

By Tim J. Smith, PhD October 2, 2013

Outerwall Inc. the owner of the Redbox downgraded their performance guidance tipping off a 13% decline in market capitalization. Did investors overreact? And what caused the poor performance in the first place?

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Top 6 – September 2013

By Tim J. Smith, PhD September 9, 2013

“You can’t ‘manage’ a crowd – or a community – through transactional exchanges or economic incentives. You need something stronger: shared purpose.”…

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Who Should Control Pricing? Sales, Marketing, or Finance?

By Tim J. Smith, PhD September 9, 2013

Who should oversee pricing decisions? Marketing? Sales? Finance? Research by Homburg, Jensen, and Hahn showed it was none of them, all of them, and it depends.

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Top 6 – August 2013

By Tim J. Smith, PhD August 2, 2013

Which of the following is most critical for a successful entrepreneur to have? An Idea Money Employees Customers Which one? Customers, you…

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About The Author

timjsmith
Tim J. Smith, PhD, is the founder and CEO of Wiglaf Pricing, an Adjunct Professor of Marketing and Economics at DePaul University, and the author of Pricing Done Right (Wiley 2016) and Pricing Strategy (Cengage 2012). At Wiglaf Pricing, Tim leads client engagements. Smith’s popular business book, Pricing Done Right: The Pricing Framework Proven Successful by the World’s Most Profitable Companies, was noted by Dennis Stone, CEO of Overhead Door Corp, as "Essential reading… While many books cover the concepts of pricing, Pricing Done Right goes the additional step of applying the concepts in the real world." Tim’s textbook, Pricing Strategy: Setting Price Levels, Managing Price Discounts, & Establishing Price Structures, has been described by independent reviewers as “the most comprehensive pricing strategy book” on the market. As well as serving as the Academic Advisor to the Professional Pricing Society’s Certified Pricing Professional program, Tim is a member of the American Marketing Association and American Physical Society. He holds a BS in Physics and Chemistry from Southern Methodist University, a BA in Mathematics from Southern Methodist University, a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Chicago, and an MBA with high honors in Strategy and Marketing from the University of Chicago GSB.