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This paper deals with the issue of optimal price determination. Price determination is a matter of high importance in both the academic community and managerial practices. The aim of the paper is to present a novel method of price determination based on reference price. The method presented is inspired by a fuzzy sets graphical interpretation and provides an alternative approach to the standard product price determination problem. It uses the satisfaction of customers as well as product sellers to find the optimal price for particular market. The method is based on two fundamental steps. First the method of product perception for a single customer is developed and then the method for the whole market is derived. The individual changing trend of customers` willingness to pay at each price level constitutes the essence of the method presented. The application of the suggested method is presented via empirical data obtained from the snowboard market. The results have a direct impact on managerial decision-making of the seller in terms of pricing. The resultant price given by the analysis conducted through the suggested method allows sellers to maximize the revenues related to a particular product. Moreover if the seller’s goal is not to maximize revenues, but to achieve maximal market share, the price should be the same as the optimal willingness to pay price. These conclusions are explicitly mentioned in order to demonstrate that the suggested approach allows the definition of custom objectives by the seller.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.29.1.18281

Objective of the research described in this article is to analyze and compare the use of social media communication channels in Czech, Slovak and Swiss product innovation oriented companies, where Swiss set of the companies is used as a benchmark. Primary research was made through manual activity scanning of the selected companies within social media. European company database Amadeus provided by Bureau van Dijk was used for the company selection in all three countries under the same search criteria. There were made two research sets of the companies in each country. One set covers top turnover product innovation oriented companies, second set avoided product innovation orientation search criteria and covers top companies by turnover in the respective country. Each particular sample set covered 74 to 100 companies. Cílem výzkumu popsaném v tomto článku je srovnat a analyzovat míru využití firemní komunikace prostřednictvím sociálních médií v českých a slovenských inovačně orientovaných firmách v porovnání s jejich švýcarskými protějšky. Švýcarské inovačně orientované společnosti byly využity pro srovnání proto, že jsou ve světovém srovnání špičkou v orientaci na produktové inovace. Pro výběr zkoumaných vzorků firem byla ve všech třech zemích využita databáze Amadeus společnosti Bureau van Dijk. V každé zemi byly vybrány dva vzorky společností. Jeden vzorek obsahoval největší firmy z hlediska obratu a zároveň v počtu produktových inovací (měřeno počtem patentů), druhý vzorek obsahoval pouze největší firmy z hlediska obratu bez ohledu na inovace. Následně byla porovnána komunikace všech firem prostřednictvím sociálních médií.

Purpose of the article: There has been a growing demand for customised solution offers prepared by companies on both B2B and B2C markets. Strong focus on product customisation generates legal and ethical business aspects, especially in the international trade. The purpose of this article is company behaviour changes mapping and trend identification specifically in international trade within the industrial component sector based on performed qualitative research. Methodology/methods: Qualitative research in the form of research case studies was used. There were five companies selected representing a variety of industrial component suppliers, both producers and trade companies in different size categories located in several European countries. The research questions were formulated and research results and respective limitations were discussed. Scientific aim: The scientific aim consists in observing and describing the current situation and trends in international trade within the industrial component sector with a high involvement of the product customisation. An important aspect also includes a multidisciplinary approach of the article covering marketing, trade and legal business issues. Findings: The research results show an increasing importance of focus on offering product individualisation to customers as a key factor influencing their sustainable competitiveness. Companies also see an increased importance of related process optimisation, as well as streamlining customer communication. Conclusions: Based on the presented five case studies, it is possibly to identify a trend of an increased demand for closer cooperation of the component suppliers with their customers independent of the country of location. Customers are also asking for supplier’s full responsibility for the solution delivered. On the other hand, companies are not yet ready to provide such services in an efficient way within the current structure of their distribution channels. In order to confirm those qualitative research results, there should be additional quantitative research prepared and performed mapping a broader range of companies in wider industrial sectors to get a better picture of both customer demands and company capabilities.