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This Core Curriculum Reading introduces (1) the importance of sales force design in implementing organizational strategy, and (2) the role of sales force management in linking structures and processes to behaviors. The material combines theoretical perspectives with real-world examples, drawn from the business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C) and nonprofit sectors, to illustrate the range of challenges and opportunities in this field.

Outotec was a market leader in providing mining solutions to large mining companies. The company's specialization and proprietary technology created value for its customers and helped the firm differentiate from its competitors. Yet, Outotec was not pricing or marketing its solutions in a way that took advantage of its distinct capabilities and value-add. Outotec used a cost-based (inside/out) pricing policy, which was the industry norm. As a result, operating profit was only 8% of sales and the CEO had promised the investment community improvements above 10%. Outotec wanted to move from a cost-based (inside/out) to a value-based (outside/in) pricing and selling model to capture more profitable revenues and meet profitability targets the CEO announced to investors. But there were several challenges to this, which the case highlights for students to discuss and debate.

Outotec was a market leader in providing mining solutions to large mining companies. The company's specialization and proprietary technology created value for its customers and helped the firm differentiate from its competitors. Yet, Outotec was not pricing or marketing its solutions in a way that took advantage of its distinct capabilities and value-add. Outotec used a cost-based (inside/out) pricing policy, which was the industry norm. As a result, operating profit was only 8% of sales and the CEO had promised the investment community improvements above 10%. Outotec wanted to move from a cost-based (inside/out) to a value-based (outside/in) pricing and selling model to capture more profitable revenues and meet profitability targets the CEO announced to investors. But there were several challenges to this, which the case highlights for students to discuss and debate.