Top 6 – November 2012

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” George Bernard Shaw, Irish dramatist (1856 – 1950) Success is the best revenge. If you don’t try, you know you won’t succeed. Failure may be unpleasant, but…

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Mark Hurd’s 5 Sales-Force Design Principles

As Mark Hurd, co-president of Oracle re-emerges on the public stage, we see him once again focusing on the sales force.  Within Oracle’s sales force, he has changed job descriptions, reporting structures, compensation plans, staff size, and corporate routines in a stated effort to improve revenue and profits.  But what principles guide his sales-force design?  Is he a sales-force master architect or a tinkerer that will destroy Oracle’s revenue?

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Promotional Pricing…click click boom

After engaging in a brief conversation on “promotional pricing” with a business operations executive at a global manufacturer in consumer goods industry, I was inspired to address some misconceptions discussed and provide further insight on how firms in the B2B space implement profit-enhancing promotional pricing tactics.  First of all, promotional pricing should be viewed as a means to price segment according to consumers’ willingness to pay, not as a pure promotional strategy.  Case in point, consider Remington Arm’s Promotion of Nitro-Steel Load.

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Best practice for starting Strategic Pricing

Declining profit margins are forcing companies to find new ways to improve profitability. Most companies have been through the cost cutting and strategic procurement processes and are now looking for the next level to pull. Strategic pricing is starting to become more popular as more senior executive have begun to leverage the power of pricing.

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