The main goal of this thesis is to propose partial strategy of company named Centrum financni gramotnosti. The strategy must respect keeping or generating of competitive advantage. It is formed on basis of internal and external analysis. External analysis is divided into analysing environment and competition. PEST analysis and Porter's 5F analysis were used. Internal analysis covers the company's resources and products offered. For those, BCG analysis was performed. To decide which factors are critical, SWOT analysis is used. TOWS analysis helped to set the final strategy. All those methods were applied on real data. Outcome of the research is a proposal for new pricing strategy of the organisation.

The main purpose of this thesis is an analysis of pricing strategy of Hotel Imperial and its evaluation, which should results in proposal of changes leading to increase of effectivity and hotel's income. The diploma thesis is divided into four main parts. The first two chapters are devoted to a theoretical description of pricing strategy and distribution channels used in hotel business. The third part is focused on the analysis of hotel itself and its pricing strategy. The final chapter summarises the results and contains the proposal how to improve the pricing strategy based on the results of the previous analysis.

This paper’s aim is to analyze value-based pricing strategies in service contracts and how they help companies generate sustainable advantages. Scoop of the analysis will be service contracts in manufacturing industry. A service contract could be defined as an intangible value proposition that includes but not limited to maintaining client’s machines continuously for a negotiated amount of time. By working with a Swedish pricing consultancy firm Navetti AB, a descriptive research was conducted in an effort to answer the research question: “How to utilize a value-based pricing strategy in service contracts?”. By trying to answer this question, authors of this paper wanted to contribute to the developing framework of value-based pricing phenomena. Results of this study indicates that certain steps need to be followed by service providers in manufacturing industry in order to utilize a value-based pricing strategy. Obscure perceived value of customers need to be realized and their value drivers need to be extracted, quantified and analyzed. Findings of this study have implications both in theoretical and industrial perspective. From industrial aspect, service providers need to communicate with their customers deeply and analyze their value drivers, they also need to take cost-based and competition-based pricing strategies into consideration while utilizing a value-based pricing strategy. From the theoretical perspective this study contributes to the field of pricing and price optimization part of industrial management.

The aim of the work is to examine the issue of pricing network resources so as to ensure fair and efficient resource-sharing among users. The basic question we address is: Do there exist simple pricing schemes such that fair and efficient resource-sharing is ensured, even though (i) individ-ual users are concerned with maximizing their own net benefits, and (ii) a user alternates between data-limited and infinite-data phases? The Internet provides congestion control through the Transport Control Protocol TCP). TCP congestion control is dependent on voluntary participation of cooperative end users. If everyone uses TCP, congestion could be managed. However, it can be mathematically shown that it is economically more favorable for users to violate TCP rules. The published literature suggests pricing as a mechanism to control congestion. The context of operation is as follows. Each user is assumed to have a utility function which is a concave in-creasing function of the rate at which she sends data through the network. The problem is to find the vector of users' rates such that the sum of all users' utility functions is maximized, subject to resource capacity constraints. This constrained optimization problem can be solved in a central-ized manner if all the utility functions are known. In practice, however, the utility functions are not known and there is no central authority. In the literature this optimization problem has been decomposed into two sub-problems such that the knowledge of utility functions is not required. These problems are solved independently by the network and the users. It has been shown that at system optimum, the network computed vec-tor of rates and users’ choice of prices are in equilibrium and they also solve the system optimi-zation problem of maximizing sum of utilities of all users. But in all related work, the authors as-sume that users have infinite amount of data to sustain the system-optimal data rates indefinitely. In practice, however, users may run out of data at times. We propose a pricing scheme in which, under certain conditions, the following is possible. If some users run out of data, and hence are not able to inject traffic at their respective system op-timal data rates, it is possible for others with plenty of data to transmit above their system opti-mal rates. This allows efficient utilization of the resource at all times. Further, it is possible to compel users above optimal rates to back down when, at a later point of time, data-limited users are back with enough data. This ensures that fairness is maintained.

保全業近年來在消費者認同度上升以及政府輔導下，以快速的成長達到目前的成熟市場，進入了完全競爭的市場結構。但保全業的種類繁多，各類經營模式與獲利方式皆不同，可惜多數的業者多以削價競爭為期主要競爭策略。 目前保全業者以系統保全與駐警保全為主要兩大服務項目，因其經營特性與方向大不相同，故業者多單獨經營單項業務。而系統保全業者具有資本集中、技術密集及市場應用領域廣泛的特性；其經營特殊性在於初期必須投入龐大的資金，待達到經濟規模後，獲利的成長比率將遠高於營業額的成長比率，其潛在價值在於所擁有的客戶數。所以系統保全業者在經營上所需考量的角度與變化更多，頗值得討論；又系統保全另一特色為區域精耕，大台北地區又為各家保全業者必爭之地，故本研究就鎖定大台北地區的系統保全業者為研究範疇。 目前市場現況因陷入降價促銷的競爭策略，導致公司獲利大幅下降，只能變相降低人力成本，致使服務品質不佳，人員流動過大的惡性循環中。所以本研究將利用在財務會計領域中最常見的損益兩平計算概念，以政府法規規定的最低資本額設算，輔以實務上的經營現況假設，加以分析、整理後，尋找出在競爭市場中的合理價格區間。 本研究在找出結論後，希望能提供以下建議供業者與相關政府單位參考： 1.定價策略不宜大幅偏離常軌。 2.應合理合法提供人員薪資與福利，壓低人力成本創造盈餘容易造成人員流動過大 與違法之嫌。 3.獲利若遠低於市場報酬率時，應考量資金妥善配置。 4.應提昇消費者對合理保全價格的認同。 5.法規應更詳細區分系統保全業者所必須擔負的責任義務。 / In recent years, the security services industry has been rapidly growing and become mature and keenly competitive through the consumers’ highly demand and supports from the government. Due to the huge variety of the of security services category, the model of business operations and strategy of margins are also different accordingly. In such circumstances, unfortunately, price reduction becomes one of the main strategies to win the competitiveness for most of the security services company in the market. In the current market, there are two major services category which are system security and on-site guardians. In terms of the nature of the services for these two categories are varied, the security services company basically operate only one single category. The system security requires huge capital investment in the initial stage to establish the application system and its growth ratio of profitability will become higher than the growth ratio of sales revenue after its client size reaches certain economic scale. The characteristics of system security are obviously based upon the intensiveness of capital, high density of technology and wide scale of application. The potential value of system security depends upon the number of clients which company possess. Therefore, the system security company has to consider more and put more efforts on the complexity of business operations, and which is one the key subject being studied. This research and study will be focused on the category of system security and Taipei district based upon two major reasons: one is the degree of the penetration of system security in the market and the other is Taipei is most competitive district in this industry. As mentioned, price reduction becomes the key strategy to gain the market share but this also results in the drastic dropping of profitability which forces the company to reduce the personnel cost. Such kind of cost reduction approaches also bring out the worse service quality and high personnel turnover. Thus the purpose of this study is to figure out the most feasible and applicable pricing strategy in such competitive market by using the general accounting concept of break-even methodology under the considerations of minimum regulatory capital requirement and the current operational practice. I hope that the findings of this study can provide the following suggestions to the industry and government: 1.The pricing strategy should not far deviate from the market norms。 2.The company should offer reasonable and legitimate compensation package to the employees. To make profits by lower down the personnel costs will cause the high turnover rate and bear the risks of violating the labor law. 3.The capital allocation must be carefully reviewed and allocated if the net profit is much lower than returns. 4.It is necessary to promote the concept of reasonable pricing to gain the acceptance of consumers. 5.There should be clear and crystal regulations to stipulate the liability and obligation of system security company.

隨著電信技術的展進，台灣行動通訊已邁入3G，新進入者如威寶及亞太電信陸續加入產業以及94年10月台灣正式啟動行動電話號碼可攜服務後，繼過去2G業者激烈之競爭併購後，電信市場已進入到完全競爭之階段。但先進入者會有進入之優勢，相較於其他產業新進入者，電信產業之新進入門檻難度則是再度加高，新進電信業者如何進入市場與其相抗衡 ?為何這些新進業者先後都採用「網內互打免費」之定價策略做為其滲透市場及排除進入障礙以達成擴展用戶數之目標? 而此策略是否是最有效的競爭策略?對於既有業者、消費者以及行動市場之版圖之影響為何? 本研究就個案公司推出此策略後財務、業務變動、對既有競爭業者之影響、通路商及消費者之問卷調查，研究發現如下: 不是每間電信業者都適用「網內互打免費」之定價，但對於未達經濟規模之新進業者而言，卻是最佳及快速進入門檻之策略，也是對抗已擁有龐大用戶之既有業競爭者之最佳武器。 就個案公司在財務的構面與對既有競爭業者之影響比較下，發現個案公司採用此定價策略後，用戶數及營運狀況確實獲得大幅成長，而更早採用此策略之新業者亞太電信則早已提前損益轉正。而三大既有業者，也因此發生用戶轉移之現象，為因應客戶之流失紛紛推出類似但有限制之定價策略，形成電信市場最激烈之價格戰。另外，對於消費者而言，本研究問卷發現網內互打免費之電信費率價格可吸引七成以上之受訪者申辦以及對於電信業者間之用戶流動可產生高移轉力，由此顯示此策略確實為一有效之競爭策略，並且打破了過去行動電信業者所設計複雜、不合宜之資費制度，也是消費者所期望之資費結構定價，對大眾社會是一項很好之福利。 / The advancement of the telecommunication technology has propelled the Taiwanese mobile telecommunication into the 3G era. With new entrants such as VIBO Telecom and Asia Pacific Telecom joining industry, the 2005 Oct. implementation of number portability service, and the intense merger and acquisition activities among 2G service providers, the telecommunication market has become highly competitive. The incumbents in the industry will have advantages over the new entrants, and the entry barrier has become higher. How can a new entrant compete with the incumbents? Why did the new entrants use “On-Net Free Call” service plan to penetrate the market, to off-set the entry barrier, and to increase the number of users? Is this an effective strategy? How will this strategy affect the current service providers, consumers and how will it affect the market share? This research has studied the financial and sales impact of the company which has implemented the “On-Net Free Call” strategy. The questionnaire survey conducted with existing competitors, sale channels and consumers, has found that even though not every telecommunication companies is suited to apply the “On-Net Free Call” pricing strategy, it is the best strategy that can give the new entrants quickest way in to this industry. And it is also the best weapon against competitors who already have a large subscriber base. We compare the financial structure of the company implementing such price strategy with other competitors. We found the company using such pricing strategy has seen its customer base and revenue grown tremendously. Asia Pacific Telecom, which uses this strategy early, has already turned loss into profit. This strategy has caused customers to switch their operators and pushed other competitors to implement such strategy with limitation. As the result the intensive price competition in the telecommunication market has begun.Moreover, this study finds that the pricing of “On-Net Free Call” can attract 70% of the survey participants to apply and therefore increase the rate of transferring customer among telecommunication companies. We conclude that this strategy is an effective one and it also breaks away from the complex and the incompatible pricing structure. And most importantly, it creates a pricing scheme that is closer to consumer’s expectation and it is also a good welfare for the mass population and society.

This master's thesis deals with the development of the application for automatic price comparison of goods. The application works on the principle that the user enters inputs as a list of products and output is a list of offers from monitored dealers for all entered products. There is possibility for the user to create his individual settings for each website or use searching on existing comparison shopping website. Target group of users are dealers, distributors and manufacturers who use the data for monitoring competitors and changes in market prices.

Objective: The objective of the study is to learn how the customer’s willingness pay after a price increase differs given different product conditions. Specifically, how it differs between high and low involvement products and hedonic and utilitarian products. The objective is also to understand what value drivers it is that affect the customers willingness to pay after a price increase. Methodology approach: An online survey was distributed through social media. The research study was conducted using multiple linear regression and one-way ANOVA using data from 270 participants. Research limitation: The survey used in the study uses scales that have been revised. This means that other important value dimensions that were a part of the original scales have been neglected. Results/conclusion: No significant difference was found between the different product groups. The variables; product quality, service quality were both found to have a positive impact on the outcome variable customer’s willingness to pay after a price increase. The variable transaction cost had on the other hand a negative impact on the outcome variable. Future recommendations: The results of the study indicate that lowering the transaction cost can increase customer’s willingness to pay after a price increase. It also indicates that increasing the product quality and service quality can increase the customer’s willingness to pay after a price increase. Previous research has showed the significant profitability firms can make when they adapt to value-based pricing. Therefore, further studies to investigate the customer’s willingness to pay after a price increase may be of interest.

This study examines various approaches used by companies providingsoftware-as-a-service (SaaS) in a business-to-business (B2B) environment to find a pricing strategy. To be able to meet competition in a global market, a good pricing strategy is vital. Pricing is an important part of marketing, which must be congruent with the company's overall objectives. Strategic pricing is made up of different factors represented in the strategic pricing pyramid, which is based on a value-based approach. It is paramount to know your customers and their preferences when designing a pricing strategy and selecting pricing models, price metrics, market segmentation, bundling, and price levels. After having estimated how much value a product or service creates for a customer, this must be communicated to potential customers in order to convince them to purchase your offering. Choosing the right pricing strategy is not a onetime occurrence, but an on-going process. In this qualitative study, three case studies are performed to tie theory to real world practise.

This dissertation is a collection of five essays examining different aspects of consumer and firm behavior in dynamic markets. The first essay combines clickstreams of users at a major news website with Facebook activity data, to study if social networks complement or compete for online browsing time. This is the first empirical study to show that Facebook activity increases time spent on news sites. Online news consumption is a shared experience, as the activity of social network friends strongly influences the behavior of other network members. We also find that visitors’ own browsing patterns are important predictors of online content consumption. The second essay examines consumer attitudes to risk and uncertainty vis-a-vis their purchase and search decisions for air tickets online. Using a two-stage model of purchase incidence and carrier choice, we find that browsing experience, search costs and product characteristics are important predictors of purchase incidence. Implications for website managers are also discussed. The third essay provides insights on the impact of customer heterogeneity and preference stochasticity on behavior based price discrimination. While customer heterogeneity intensifies competition, resulting in greater price discrimination, preference stochasticity reduces the incidence of price discrimination. Overall, the effect of preference stochasticity is more salient. The fourth essay presents models of strategic interaction to analyze the impact of dominance and concentration on pricing strategies. We show that lack of market dominance is a sufficient condition for discounts to existing customers. We further test our predictions via an experiment with pricing professionals. The behavior of professionals confirms that price discrimination increases with market dominance and concentration; however, lack of dominance is not a sufficient condition for loyalty discounts. We contend that increasing competition is a more effective means of improving consumer welfare compared to regulating dominant firms. The fifth essay considers the role of identity and customer type recognition in influencing pricing behavior in dynamic markets with symmetric and asymmetric players. When customer identity is detectable firms charge higher prices to repeat customers while new customers are offered lower prices. However, pricing behavior changes when information on customer type is available and this behavior varies with market structure. Age, education and experience of managers are also found to significantly influence pricing behavior.