Subject Overview

An integrated study of product and pricing decisions across physical goods, services and digital offerings. The subject connects customer value, brand strategy, innovation, portfolio management, commercialization, pricing economics, analytics, technology, governance and emerging business models.

Learning Goal

Students will be able to design, evaluate and manage product portfolios and pricing systems using established theory, market evidence, financial analysis and contemporary digital tools while supporting brand equity, profitability, customer value and ethical practice.

Syllabus

1. Foundations of Product and Pricing Management

Learning Objective: Explain key terminology, managerial roles and the relationship among products, prices, customer value, brand equity, revenue and profitability. Distinguish goods, services, experiences and digital products.

Category: foundation

2. Customer Needs, Value and Market Insight

Learning Objective: Apply segmentation, targeting, positioning, jobs-to-be-done, personas, customer journeys and qualitative and quantitative research to identify needs, willingness to pay and value drivers.

Category: foundation

3. Product Strategy and Value Proposition Design

Learning Objective: Develop product vision, objectives, differentiation and value propositions aligned with brand positioning, competitive advantage and corporate strategy.

Category: core

4. Product Architecture and Portfolio Management

Learning Objective: Manage product lines, assortments, variants, platforms and brand architecture using portfolio matrices, cannibalization analysis, resource allocation and make–buy–partner decisions.

Category: core

5. New Product Development and Innovation

Learning Objective: Use stage-gate, design thinking, lean startup, agile development, prototyping, minimum viable products, concept testing and business cases to move ideas from discovery to launch.

Category: application

6. Product Design, Quality, Packaging and Brand Experience

Learning Objective: Integrate functionality, usability, aesthetics, quality, packaging, labeling, accessibility and sustainability to create a coherent product and brand experience.

Category: application

7. Product Life-Cycle and Performance Management

Learning Objective: Apply product life-cycle theory, diffusion of innovation, adoption models, product metrics, cohort analysis and line-extension, rejuvenation, harvesting and deletion decisions.

Category: core

8. Commercialization and Go-to-Market Management

Learning Objective: Plan market entry, channel readiness, launch sequencing, sales enablement, demand forecasting and post-launch review across physical, service, omnichannel and platform markets.

Category: application

9. Pricing Foundations and Economic Principles

Learning Objective: Explain demand, elasticity, reference prices, perceived fairness, consumer psychology, competitive response, cost behavior, contribution margin, break-even analysis and price–volume trade-offs.

Category: foundation

10. Pricing Objectives, Methods and Strategy

Learning Objective: Compare cost-plus, competition-based and value-based pricing; establish pricing objectives and select strategies for penetration, skimming, premium, economy and competitive markets.

Category: core

11. Value-Based Pricing and Willingness-to-Pay Research

Learning Objective: Estimate economic value and willingness to pay using conjoint analysis, Van Westendorp, Gabor–Granger, experiments and customer evidence, translating findings into defensible price points.

Category: application

12. Price Architecture and Revenue Models

Learning Objective: Design price tiers, fences, bundles, versioning, subscriptions, freemium, usage-based pricing, licensing and platform monetization for different segments and product ecosystems.

Category: strategic

13. Tactical Pricing, Promotions and Channel Management

Learning Objective: Manage discounts, markdowns, trade terms, rebates, promotional effectiveness, retail price relationships and channel conflict while protecting margins and brand equity.

Category: application

14. Pricing Analytics, Revenue Management and AI

Learning Objective: Use dashboards, price waterfalls, margin analysis, forecasting, experimentation, optimization and dynamic pricing. Evaluate AI-enabled pricing and product tools, data quality, explainability and human oversight.

Category: contemporary

15. Governance, Ethics and the Future of Product and Pricing

Learning Objective: Create decision rights, approval processes and performance controls; address deceptive design, price discrimination, algorithmic bias, privacy, competition law, sustainability and global pricing while evaluating circular products, servitization, personalization and AI-led innovation.

Category: advanced