Price management is an essential tool to shift the financial situation of a company towards a profitable outcome. In the MSNBC interview with Bob Prosen, the concept of the methodological price increase was discussed. He claimed that every company could successfully and profitably raise the cost of their products without customer dissatisfaction. Although payment increase causes improved profitability of a firm, it is important to understand that specific conditions need to be present to lessen possible ramifications. During the interview, Bob Prosen shares some key insights and practical approaches that a company can use for its advantage.
Firstly, Bob Prosen emphasizes the importance of keeping the customer informed through open communication. Customer relationship management (CRM) is a critical economic concept, which is exceedingly beneficial for client base expansion. Bob Prosen states that companies should not increase rates without warning the customer. Informing clients in advance will remove possible customer losses (Burkert, Ivens, Henneberg, & Schradi, 2017).
Secondly, Bob Prosen claims that customers should observe improved value with a price increase; therefore, he recommends to promise less and deliver more. These actions are highly relevant to better the level of customer satisfaction (CS). The concept of enhanced CS allows companies to retain existing customers and strengthen brand loyalty (Calfa & Grossmann, 2015). Thirdly, Bob Prosen discussed the importance of tracking the quality of products. The concept of product quality management (PQM) is an essential part of economics and commerce (Bresnen, Hodgson, Bailey, Hyde, & Hassard, 2017). All these systematics approaches will enable companies to improve their price management.
In conclusion, a company needs to possess market power to increase costs successfully. The main factor is market price competitiveness, which is thoroughly sensitive to fluctuations. However, a firm can profitably charge higher, if the product quality will be improved accordingly. Companies with market power generally have better customer relationships and brand image, thus allowing them to manipulate prices more aggressively.
Own Experience: Conflict in the Workplace
Conflicts are regular occurrences that serve as a signaling indicator of a problem within an organization or group of people. Such signals provide an opportunity for managers to undertake necessary measures beforehand. However, workplace conflicts require open communication and a wise approach to solving the existing problem. Therefore, executives need to be highly aware of these issues and they need to systematically monitor current tensions among employees.
My personal experience of working at McDonald’s has given me a perfect illustration of workplace conflict management. The main problems were absenteeism and poor productivity among several employees. However, these problems were the results of ineffective and unproductive management. The underlying cause of the given issues is a supervisor’s leadership style, which hinders the customer’s serving process (Arikan, Reinecke, Spence, & Morrell, 2017).
In my case, the head manager was very involved in every basic activity, which did not require constant monitoring, such as wrapping the burgers. Although being attentive is a positive trait of a leader, the attention should be placed on relevantly important issues. The director’s approach resulted in employees being late and absent in the workplace when he could not arrive. The conflict between workers and an executive was resolved through an open exchange of opinions and thoughts. The result of the given discussion was that the chief director started to effectively supervise important work procedures without distrusting workers on routine tasks.
The given example illustrates the importance of open communication and trust in the workplace. Distrust from a leader will eventually lead to a significant decrease in motivation and team spirit. The tensions among employees and a head manager will not disappear without intervention from both sides. Managing directors should always attentive to possible causes of distress, thus eliminating a potential conflict in advance. Nevertheless, workplace conflict occurrences cannot be fully avoided, and its proper resolution depends on honest discussion and open communication.
References
Arikan, O., Reinecke, J., Spence, C., & Morrell, K. (2017). Signposts or weathervanes? The curious case of corporate social responsibility and conflict minerals. Journal of Business Ethics, 146(3), 469-484.
Bresnen, M., Hodgson, D., Bailey, S., Hyde, P., & Hassard, J. (2017). Mobilizing management knowledge in healthcare: Institutional imperatives and professional and organizational mediating effects. Management Learning, 48(5), 597-614.
Burkert, M., Ivens, B. S., Henneberg, S., & Schradi, P. (2017). Organizing for value appropriation: Configurations and performance outcomes of price management. Industrial Marketing Management, 61(3), 194-209.
Calfa, B. A., & Grossmann, I. E. (2015). Optimal procurement contract selection with price optimization under uncertainty for process networks. Computers & Chemical Engineering, 82(7), 330-343.