個案總覽

Student Spreadsheet for product 9B18N016.

On April 20, 2016, printer and ink maker Lexmark International, Inc. (Lexmark) announced that it was being acquired and taken private by a consortium comprising China-based computer hardware company Apex Technology Co., Ltd. (Apex), as well as private equity firms PAG Asia Capital (PAG) and Legend Capital (Legend). On the same day, Apex formally announced its acquisition of Lexmark for the Chinese capital market. The announcement caused a huge sensation because Apex was a small company compared to Lexmark; Lexmark completed 2015 with US$3.6 billion in revenue-approximately 10 times the revenue of Apex. To raise enough money to pay for the acquisition, Apex had established the consortium with PAG and Legend, and borrowed a large sum of money from its controlling shareholder and banks. Although Apex had ultimately raised enough money to complete the acquisition, its satisfaction over this success soon gave way to pressing questions about financing. In order to dispel the doubts of regulators and the market, Apex needed to decide whether it should adjust its financing plan for the acquisition, and if so, how.

Student spreadsheet for case W18575

Instructor spreadsheet for product 8B18N016.

Few companies treat innovation in pricing as seriously as product innovation or business model innovation. However, after interviews with 50 executives and the analysis of pricing practices of 70 companies worldwide, our research suggests that innovation in pricing may be a company's most powerful--and, in many cases, least explored--source of competitive advantage. Innovation in pricing brings new-to-the-industry approaches to pricing strategies, to pricing tactics, and to the organization of pricing with the objective of increasing customer satisfaction and company profits; too many companies today see pricing as a win/lose proposition between themselves and their customers. Innovation in pricing breaks this deadlock and shows how to increase profits and customer satisfaction conjointly. As a result of our research, we present a canvas laying out more than 20 possible avenues for innovation in pricing, offering to any organization--regardless of size, industry, or nationality--a few key ideas on how to increase both profits and customer satisfaction.

This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. In many companies, pricing receives surprisingly little attention. Following work that included a study of pricing at 15 small and medium-sized companies, the authors conclude that most companies can improve their pricing capabilities -and thus their profitability -over time by taking a disciplined approach. The authors identify two key elements of pricing -price orientation and price getting -and five levels of pricing capabilities. They observe that the companies they studied that achieved better pricing had top managers who championed the development of pricing skills. While competition, costs and price sensitivity within a market affect the parameters within which companies set prices, superior pricing is almost always based on skill, the authors maintain. Companies differ substantially in their approach to price setting, but most fall into one of three buckets: cost-based pricing, competition-based pricing or customer value-based pricing. Customer value-based pricing uses data on the perceived customer value of the product as the main factor for determining the final selling price, and many scholars consider customer value-based pricing often to be a preferable approach to price setting for existing products. The authors argue that according to their research many companies can improve their pricing capabilities by cultivating their understanding of the value they bring their customers. But implementing customer value-based pricing is not easy, the authors caution. They find that developing and implementing a sophisticated, customer value-based pricing program is a multiyear project that demands a high degree of executive attention and requires substantial changes in processes and thinking within the company.

Computer games aren't just for kids anymore, as Chrysler, Coca-Cola, and the U.S. Army are finding out. Whether selling cars or recruiting soldiers, games are attracting a new kind of player.