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Student to present paper at marketing conferenceBusiness students usually read academic papers written by others, but Thunderbird student Natasha Zaza got a chance to write her own paper this term with associate professor Stefan Michel, Ph.D. The pair will present their research in February at the American Marketing Association conference in Tampa, Fla.

Zaza is a is a Master of Science in Global Management candidate scheduled to graduate in December. She intends to pursue a doctor of philosophy “down the road” and work as a scholar, but first she plans to gain corporate experience after graduation.

“I just couldn’t justify teaching without having enough knowledge and real-world experience,” she said.

Zaza attended a Thunderbird “winterim” this year with Michel in Switzerland, where coursework focused on brand management strategy and human resource management. Zaza said she discussed her career goals with Michel, and he offered to mentor her as a research assistant.

“He allowed me to take everything into my own hands, and he guided me through,” said Zaza, a U.S. citizen who has lived in the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Belgium, Egypt and England.

The paper, “Antecedents of the Strategic Price Metric Decision: An Exploratory Study,” looks at pricing strategies at companies such as General Electric, Netflix and Starbucks. Zaza then interviewed freelance workers in fields such as wedding photography, writing and business consulting to find out how they set their pricing policies.

A condensed version of the paper is available on the Thunderbird Knowledge Network.