RPM Highlight Papers Commentary
Launching a new journal in 2002, shortly after 9/11, when the main readers were members of the airline industry, may not have seemed like a good idea at the time. But, we’re still here and going from strength to strength – we now publish five issues a year and are looking to increase in frequency again in 2010.
The Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management set out to cover the diversity and depth associated with pricing, whether it is Operational Research mathematical models, implementation issues, or applications in new industries. The journal has covered those subjects using practical case studies and cutting-edge research from some of the leading authorities in the subject. This journal wouldn’t have taken off if it hadn’t been for people like Paul Rose, Peter Belobaba, Warren Lieberman, Sheryl Kimes, Georgia Perikas, Larry Weatherford, Gina Morello, Ben Vinod and Una McMahon-Beattie. They supported it in the first year with content and publicity.
The following papers represent the diversity of articles found in the journal:
Ken Littlewood’s article from 1972 on applying mathematical models to passenger forecasting and revenue control is often quoted as the ‘first paper in Revenue Management’. It introduced the idea of maximising the revenue received on a particular flight.
Prof. Larry Weatherford and Dr Peter Belobaba have partnered applications using EMSR over the last decade and Larry’s paper, EMSR versus EMSU: Revenue or Utility shows development of Belobaba’s original ground breaking works.
Prof. Sheryl Kimes (Cornell University) has pioneered Revenue Management applications in a number of constrained service capacity industries from an Operations Management perspective. The paper on Golf Course Revenue Management is a classic example of an accessible and operations perspective which Sheryl brings to this subject.
My co-authored paper with Dr Una McMahon-Beattie (Ulster University) about Luxury Markets and Premium Pricing is a good example of psychological aspects of consumers’ purchasing behaviour.
This journal is not just about research papers. The Futures section speculates on what may lie ahead and Dr Harun Kuyumc’s short piece on emerging trends in scientific pricing is a good example of this style of content.
More recently, papers by Dr Stephen Harewood (University of West Indies), Dr Laurie Garrow (Georgia Tech) and Takeshi Eguchi (MIT) represent some of the new researchers in the field and their work is of distinction.
The Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management is not just a journal for academics, as many research departments in airlines or technology providers are stacked with PhD scientists. Notably, Ben Vinod (Sabre Holdings) and Andy Boyd (ex PROS RM) have championed the cause of the journal and made significant contributions to it. Industry players continuously submit papers to the journal and Dr Karl Isler’s work on Game Theoretical Models is a classic example of this support. Whereas the article by Dr Chris Anderson (Cornell University) and Montgomery Blair (Dollar Rent a Car) is an example of industry-university partnership found in many of the papers.
The journal has partnered with INFORMS Revenue Management & Pricing Section as an associated publication and it has published special issues from the Section’s conferences. This type of partnership will grow in 2009 with a new association with the European Pricing Platform.
I have no doubt that the journal will continue to be successful with high quality and accessible content that is enjoyed by its broad, international readers.
Dr Ian Yeoman
Editor
