Impact of demand uncertainty on supply chain cooperation of single-period products

Cooperation is an approach of improving competitive advantages of a supply chain. A two-echelon supply chain consisting of a manufacturer and a retailer for a single-period product is studied, and retail-market demand uncertainty is described by coefficient of variation. We develop a cooperation mechanism to address the cooperation and its implementation between the manufacturer and the retailer, two market situations are considered: (i) the wholesale price and the order quantity are decision variables, (ii) the wholesale and the retail prices as well as the order quantity are decision variables. In both market situations, our research shows that: (1) the cooperation mechanism can improve the overall channel profits and the supply chain members’ allocated profits, (2) the described cooperation is conditional on retail-market demand uncertainty: it can be implemented if, and only if, the fluctuation of retail-market demand is relatively small and coefficient of variation of retail-market demand does not exceed an upper bound. Impacts of retail-market demand uncertainty on wholesale price, order quantity and/or retail price have also been investigated through analytical and numerical analyses. Although our research is based on the assumption that the manufacturer dominates the supply chain in the non-cooperative situation, which is not the case for most retailer-driven supply chains, this research is still significant on providing guidelines for practitioners in current China mid-level car market that is similar to situations described in the paper.     

A centralized/decentralized design of a full return contract for a risk-free manufacturer and a risk-neutral retailer under partial information sharing

We consider the design of full return contract in a simple supply chain with a risk-free manufacturer and a risk-neutral retailer. In this problem, the ordering quantity and the rebate price for unsold products are determined by the retailer and the manufacturer, respectively. We propose an optimal solution procedure in centralized and decentralized decision making environments considering when the information sharing among the retailer and the manufacturer is partial. We provide numerical examples to explain the proposed solution procedures.     

基于CVaR的第三方回收闭环供应链的优化与协调

利用条件风险值理论研究了第三方回收闭环供应链的优化与协调问题。在随机需求与收益共享———费用共担契约下,建立了由单个风险规避零售商、单个风险规避制造商和单个风险中性第三方回收商组成的三阶闭环供应链的条件风险值模型和基于条件风险值的最优订购与定价决策模型。在对模型进行分析的基础上,揭示了制造商和零售商的风险规避水平对最优订购量、最优定价、条件风险值及闭环供应链协调性的影响。最后通过一个算例验证了研究结论。     

基于顾客比价行为的双渠道供应链定价决策研究

本文在考虑顾客比价行为的前提下，构建一个制造商和一个零售商组成的二级供应链系统，分析比价顾客的比例对于制造商与零售商在分散决策和集中决策模式下供应链整体利润、销售价格的变化，并通过算例验证研究结论。结果表明，随着比价顾客比例的提高，零售商销售价格上升，顾客体验价值上升，供应链整体利润在集中决策模式下较高，且呈上升趋势。     

A multi-item supply chain with credit periods and weight freight cost discounts

It is possible to realize considerable savings by aggregating the replenishment of a variety of items in a multi-item supply chain. This joint multi-item replenishment policy has already been widely applied in a variety of industries. This type of policy may make it possible for the retailer to take advantage of transport economies of scale by the utilization of freight discounts for greater weight. In addition, a supplier will often extend forward financing to a retailer. In this paper, a multi-item supply chain with a credit period and weight freight cost discounts is considered. The retailer bears the freight costs, but the freight carrier provides freight-transport discounts that are positively related to the weight of the cargo transported. From both the individual and the channel perspectives, we deal with the dual problems of determining the ideal supplier credit period, and of the best way for the retailer to make multi-item replenishment and pricing decisions, while still maximizing profits. We outline the optimal properties and develop algorithms for solving the problems described, as well as discuss the impact of the freight cost discounts, the inventory holding cost, and the interest rate on the behavior of both parties.     

基于EVA的供应链融资模型与绩效衡量

供应链融资是近年来供应链管理研究领域一个较为新型的课题,是解决中小企业融资瓶颈的新型融资运作模式.结合供应链理论和财务指标的设置,文章拓展了供应链融资模型和关键绩效衡量维度,提出基于EVA视角下的供应链融资绩效衡量具有系统性、相对量的三个动态维度：业务融资周期率、资本融资率和成本盈利指数,使之更加适合国内供应链融资风险大、融资条件苛刻的经济环境.运用案例研究的方法,对成都某X石油贸易公司的案例进行分析,证实了上述提出的基于EVA视角的供应链融资三个维度的合理性,并得出研究的结论和启示.     

Trade promotion mode choice and information sharing in fashion retail supply chains

Trade promotion has a significant impact on the retail business, particularly in the fashion sectors. Manufacturers have traditionally been concerned with the inefficiency of trade promotion due to the low pass-through rate of the trade deals from retailers to customers. The scan-back (SB) trade deal, which monitors a retailer's sales via an IT system, benefits the manufacturer, but may or may not benefit the retailer. We provide insight into when a retailer in a two-stage supply chain has incentive to accept the SB trade deal. We show that (1) the manufacturer and the entire supply chain can always benefit from the SB trade deal while the retailer benefits only under some conditions, and that (2) both the retailer and the manufacturer can benefit from the SB trade deal if the SB deal is accompanied by a buyback (BB) contract. We examine the effect of a retailer's confidential pass-through rate on both the retailer's and the manufacturer's incentives to use the SB trade deal.     

利他行为下基于差别定价的闭环供应链均衡分析

文章构建一个由制造商和零售商组成的闭环供应链，对新产品和再造品实行差别定价，同时将利他行为引入到该供应链模型中，研究决策者的利他行为对供应链的影响。研究发现，与利他中性相比，制造商的利他行为虽然会削弱自身利润水平，但会使得零售商和整个供应链的利润增加；零售商的利他行为不会改变整个供应链的总利润，制造商增加的利润等于零售商减少的部分；双方同时具有利他行为时会增加供应链总利润，但双方的利他系数组合必须在一定的范围内才能实现双赢。最后通过数值分析对上述结论作出解释和说明。     

具有自营平台的制造商与零售商的竞争与合作模型

本文研究了由1个制造商和1个零售商组成的供应链中的竞争与合作定价问题,其中制造商具有平台直销渠道。本文建立了竞争下的Stackelberg博弈模型,并分析了解的唯一性和合理性,然后给出合作定价模型和各渠道的定价策略,结果表明制造商和零售商最优策略是降低线下渠道销售价格而线上平台销售价格不变。通过对比表明供应链合作所增加的收益等于非合作下零售商的收益,并证明了顾客对线下渠道购买偏好越高,合作所增加的收益越大。进一步地,分析了在合作的情况下制造商是否放弃通过平台直销渠道销售商品的问题,并给出双渠道下供应链总利润比单渠道下总利润高的判定条件。最后给出一个算例,对所获得的结论进行验证和补充。     

Valuable strategy and firm performance in the O2O competition

When the manufacturer opens an online channel to compete with its traditional retailer, what valuable strategy can be utilized to alleviate the O2O (online to offline) competition and conflict and improve the performances of all channel members? Our research addresses this important question by initiating an innovative strategy considering the retailer's sales effort and the manufacturer's support in local advertising simultaneously in a manufacturer – retailer O2O supply chain. Our results show that although the retailer's sales effort helps improve the channel coordination and leads to a win-win solution for both the manufacturer and the retailer, investing in both the retailer's sales effort and manufacturer's support in local advertising is a more effective strategy to be employed to coordinate the O2O distribution and achieve higher profits for all parties in the manufacturer - retailer supply chain. In addition, our results also show that compared to the simultaneous mode, the Stackelberg leader-follower mode provides no competitive advantage to the manufacturer or the retailer when the retailer's sales effort and manufacturer's support in local advertising strategy is implemented to coordinate the O2O distributions.     

零售商开辟电子渠道的双渠道供应链定价决策

研究两层双渠道供应链中，在制造商实施直销渠道的基础上，零售商开辟电子渠道对供应链的影响。建立了双渠道供应链的定价决策模型，针对零售商未开辟电子渠道和开辟电子渠道两种情形，分别求解集中决策、Stackelberg博弈分散式决策模式下的零售商和制造商各自的最优定价及利润，并利用数值算例，进行对比分析。研究发现零售商开辟电子渠道的影响是多重的，一方面零售商的市场被拓展，竞争力增强，利润显著提高，有利于其与制造商进行抗衡。另一方面，制造商的利润有所下降，且整个供应链系统的渠道冲突加剧。因此，面对制造商的直销渠道，零售商可以选择开辟电子渠道来增强其话语权，与制造商进行谈判，实现互利双赢。     

分散决策下的双渠道供应链补偿策略——基于消费者渠道选择行为

为了有效解决由于对消费者的争夺从而引发的渠道之间关于定价、服务水平、利润等方面的冲突,基于消费者渠道选择行为,构建了网络直销市场与传统零售市场需求模型和双渠道供应链利润模型,运用Stackelberg模型,在制造商与零售商实施分决策时,通过制造商对零售商实施补偿激励前后的对比,分析了消费者渠道选择行为对网络直销渠道和传统零售渠道定价、制造商与零售商利润以及供应链总利润的影响,并求得最优定价及制造商的最优补偿额度和零售商的最优销售努力水平,进行了不同情况下的双渠道供应链利润的比较分析。结果表明,无论制造商是否实施补偿激励,都应随着网络消费者比例的增加而增加其网络直销价格;零售商的零售渠道价格应根据网络消费者比例的增加先降低到一定水平后再提升。当更多的消费者选择网络直销渠道时,制造商的补偿激励水平和零售商的销售努力程度均会下降。制造商应提高其补偿水平,进而激发零售商提高销售的努力水平,并使双方利润及供应链总利润最大化。研究结果为基于消费者选择行为的供应链补偿研究提供了新方法,对双渠道的供应链补偿研究有借鉴意义。     

政府补贴下的三级低碳供应链减排博弈研究

本文分别构建了政府补贴下，供应链上企业单独减排、供应商对制造商碳减排成本进行分担、供应商和零售商均对制造商碳减排成本进行分担3种减排模型，求解得到不同减排模式下，包括成本分担率和单位减排量在内的供应链最优决策。研究发现，政府补贴率的提升反而使成本分担率降低。通过博弈分析及算例验证得出：在供应链上三方企业联合减排下，即供应商和零售商都对制造商的碳减排研发提供资金支持时，单位产品的减排量及各企业利润达到最大，仅供应商对制造商碳减排成本分担时次之， 供应链上企业单独减排时最小， 但仅供应商一方对制造商的碳减排成本进行分担时的成本分担率，比其与零售商同时分担时的要大。这些结论为政府确立合适的补贴方案及供应链上企业减排策略的制定提供了理论依据。     

The analysis of bullwhip effect in a HMMS-type supply chain

The aim of the paper is to investigate the well-known bullwhip effect of supply chains. Control theoretic analysis of bullwhip effect is extensively analyzed in the literature with the Laplace transform. This paper tries to examine the effect for an extended Holt-Modigliani-Muth-Simon model. A two-stage supply chain (supplier-manufacturer) is studied with quadratic costs functional. It is assumed that both firms minimize the relevant costs. The order of the manufacturer is delayed with a known constant. Two cases are examined: supplier and manufacturer minimize the relevant costs decentralized, and a centralized decision rule. The question is answered, how to decrease the bullwhip effect.     

奖惩机制下回收投资成本分担对闭环供应链决策的影响研究

为了探讨奖惩机制下制造商与回收商分担固定回收投资成本对闭环供应链决策的影响，利用博弈论建立了由制造商、回收商和消费者构成的闭环供应链模型。通过对比分析及仿真得出各决策变量基于制造商分担比例及奖惩力度的变化。研究表明：仅考虑制造商分担回收投资成本、奖惩机制下制造商分担回收投资成本均能有效提高回收率，降低零售价，提高产品需求量，且第二种机制作用效果更佳。适当的分担比例和奖惩力度可以提高制造商和零售商的利润。因此，在合理的奖惩力度下制造商分担一定的回收投资成本时，闭环供应链各成员能实现互利共赢。     

基于促销行为的供应链牛鞭效应分析

供应链中的牛鞭效应起源于管理者追求利润最大化的理性决策,价格波动是产生牛鞭效应的主要原因之一,而价格波动常常是由零售商周期性地采取一些特殊促销行为引起的.本文通过考虑在动态需求环境下,存在一个包含有一个供应商与一个零售商的简单供应链,当下游零售商有促销行为时与无促销行为时进行定量分析比较,并分析基于促销行为的零售商收益大于库存成本时的牛鞭效应,结果表明,零售商的促销行为很大程度上加剧了牛鞭效应,只有当产品价格比较稳定时,才能尽量避免和减少牛鞭效应.     

Which one is more valuable in coordinating the online and offline distribution? Service support or online price coordination

Nowadays effective mechanisms to coordinate the online and offline distribution become increasingly important in the business market. In this research, we first propose two mechanisms (i.e. the offline service to the retailer and the online price coordination) for the manufacturer and the retailer to employ. Our results show that the online price coordination does help coordinate the online and offline distribution and bring higher profits to the manufacturer-retailer supply chain and thus both the manufacturer and the retailer, while the offline service to the retailer does not; comparing to the offline service to the retailer, the online price coordination is a better strategy to be utilized to alleviate the online to offline competition. Furthermore, we investigate if a novel coordination mechanism, which combines the offline service to the retailer with the online price coordination, can help coordinate the online and offline distribution better and becomes the optimal coordination mechanism. Surprisingly, our results show that compared to both the offline service to the retailer and the online price coordination, this combination coordination mechanism does show a dominant competitive advantage to bring highest profits to all parties.     

National brand's local advertising and wholesale-price incentive under prior versus no prior information

We study the context of one private label (PL) competing against one national brand (NB) through a unique retailer. We propose a novel utility-demand function that includes the consumer's brand valuation, the retail prices, and the brands' qualities. We investigate the effect of the NB local advertising strategy on supply chain players' profits when either one of the players supports the advertising. Also, we explore the role of prior information about the manufacturer's incentive function on supply chain players' behaviors. We show that although the support for advertising from either the manufacturer or the retailer is Pareto improving, the manufacturer prefers to incite the retailer to invest in local NB advertising through profit sharing instead of using its money to counter the threat of the PL. Furthermore, we also show that the wholesale price incentive motivating the retailer to invest further in advertising is not preferred as expected, and all supply chain players are better off without prior information about the manufacturer's behavior in the context of branding competition and advertising-level dependent incentive.     

产品设计作为竞争策略的PRO 供应链生产决策研究

对于大多数无力自建WEEE 回收体系的生产企业选择加入PRO 是明智的选择。本文基于行业PRO 运作模式，构建了由两制造商和回收商联盟组成的供应链模型，将与市场增长挂钩的产品设计作为其中一制造商的竞争策略，研究了产品设计和回收双责任要求下供应链各主体的生产决策问题。研究发现：（1）当产品设计成本较低和市场增量较高时，以产品设计作为竞争策略的在位制造商可以淘汰竞争制造商；（2）当产品设计成本低于市场增量时，在位制造商的生产决策优于竞争制造商。一定条件下，竞争制造商存在“搭便车”行为；（3）产品设计降低了处理成本，但损害了回收商经济效益，回收商抵制过度产品设计，并通过转移价格实现供应链主体的利润配置。当经济驱动下回收商自愿回收时，更高的政府回收率会导致整个供应链经济效益变好；（4）存在一个三方共赢局面使三者经济效益都更优，存在一个双赢局面使回收商和在位制造商更优。