Electronic information services : An emerging market opportunity?

This article considers the key market development issues of electronic information services (EIS). Two variables — technology and demand — are used to model the past behaviour of the market (1975–1984) and to propose a process to stimulate EIS market development in the 1990s. The changes in the supply side of the EIS market since 1984 are summarized and interpreted as moves to realize greater market integration. The author concludes by outlining policy implications for the 1990s and noting the need for a shift in emphasis towards demand-oriented measures.     

供需结构优化、分配结构演化与2035年共同富裕目标展望

共同富裕是社会主义的本质要求,中国推动经济社会发展,归根结底是要实现全体人民共同富裕。新发展阶段下中国既要优化供需结构以加快构建新发展格局,又要改善分配结构以全面贯彻新发展理念,而供需结构优化与分配结构演化又是紧密关联的。本文建立了一个包含供给结构、需求结构和分配结构的多部门动态一般均衡模型,将分配结构演化分解到供给结构与需求结构转型上,提出了需求结构通过影响供给结构进而影响分配结构的理论机制。本文对近三十年全球四十余个经济体劳动收入份额和技能溢价的演化进行了发展核算,展示了中国分配结构演化的特征事实、供需动因与国际比较。研究发现,中国分配结构演化道路具有一定的特殊性:一方面,劳动收入份额转为上升,供给侧(需求侧)最主要的推动力是持续提高的劳动密集型产业(消费品)的劳动密集程度;另一方面,技能溢价不断扩大,供给侧(需求侧)最主要的推动力是持续提高的产业内部(消费品)的技能密集程度;供需结构转型在其中也发挥了重要作用。本文还基于历史趋势定量预测了未来中国分配结构的演化趋势,为实现2035年共同富裕目标提供了现实依据与政策参考。     

Service-based capacity strategy for manufacturing service duopoly of differentiated prices and lognormal random demand

Globalization of production has ushered in vibrant manufacturing service industries whose business is to serve the production needs of product engineering firms. In these engineering–manufacturing chains, risk of capacity supply is an important concern for product firms as manufacturers are normally conservative in capacity expansion, especially when demand uncertainty and investment risk are high. To provide quality manufacturing services, this risk must be taken into consideration in formulating a capacity strategy. This paper presents a competition analysis method based on supply risk for a manufacturing duopoly of differentiated prices and lognormal random demand. A novel service-based demand rationing rule is first proposed. Reaction curves and equilibrium of capacity strategy are next derived. Finally, competition behavior of the duopoly is analyzed.     

Supermarket contracts and smallholder farmers: Implications for income and multidimensional poverty

Food systems in developing countries are changing rapidly with a growing role of modern supermarkets. Supermarkets influence supply chains and the way agricultural products are sourced from farmers. Especially for the procurement of fresh fruits and vegetables, supermarkets often contract farmers directly to ensure consistent and high-quality supply. One important question, which is addressed here, is whether smallholder farmers benefit from supermarket contracts. Previous studies address this question, but mostly focus on income effects without exploring implications for other dimensions of household welfare, such as nutrition, health, or housing conditions. Moreover, most existing studies rely on cross-section data. We add to the literature by analyzing effects of supermarket contracts on income and multidimensional poverty using three rounds of panel data collected from smallholder vegetable farmers in Kenya and econometric models with household fixed effects. On average, supermarket contracts increase household income by over 40%. We also find significant reductions in income poverty and multidimensional poverty. Quantile regressions show that farmers in all income groups benefit, but richer households benefit more than poorer ones in absolute terms. However, supermarket contracts cause the strongest reductions in multidimensional deprivations among the poorest households.     

Logistics and supply chain management in luxury fashion retail: Empirical investigation of Italian firms

The Italian industry of fashion goods is a business worth 67.6€ billion in 2006 (Il Sole 24ore, January 10, 2007), of which about 26€ billion is due to the luxury segment. Marketing gurus state that “consumers everywhere at every income level want more luxury” [Danziger, P.N., 2005. Let them Eat the Cake: Marketing Luxury to the Masses as well as the Classes. Dearborn Trade Publishing, Chicago]: therefore, companies should move brands towards a higher positioning and add more valuable features to products and services, but this cannot be obtained only by means of marketing efforts. Which is the role of operations and supply chain management in luxury fashion companies’ success? This paper presents the results of the exploratory stage of a research project ongoing at Politecnico di Milano and dealing with supply chain management in the luxury fashion industry. In total, 12 Italian luxury fashion retailers have been studied in order to describe the main features of operations and supply chain strategies in the luxury fashion segment and to identify their role with respect to the relevant critical success factors.     

Knowledge and information flows in supply chains: A study on pharmaceutical companies

A great deal of attention in the supply chain management literature is devoted to study material and demand information flows and their coordination. But in many situations, supply chains may convey information from different nature, they may be an important channel companies have to deliver knowledge, or specifically, technical information to the market. This paper studies the technical flow and highlights its particular requirements. Drawing upon a qualitative field research, it studies pharmaceutical companies, since those companies face a very specific challenge: consumers do not have discretion over their choices, ethical drugs must be prescribed by physicians to be bought and used by final consumers. Technical information flow is rich, and must be redundant and early delivered at multiple points. Thus, apart from the regular material channel where products and order information flow, those companies build a specialized information channel, developed to communicate to those who need it to create demand. Conclusions can be extended to supply chains where products and services are complex and decision makers must be clearly informed about technology-related information.     

Rejoinder : Food, agricultural and trade policy to the year 2000

This article, partly in response to Fred Sanderson's article (pp 363–73), challenges the narrow approach of forecasting the future food situation by extrapolating current trends, and the view that little can be done to improve the predicament of the ‘poorest of the poor’. This article argues that we must look for ways of breaking out of the vicious circle of low income, low economic demand, low productivity and low levels of resource utilization.     

Structuring and contracting in competing supply chains

This paper considers two competing supply chains, each with multiple upstream suppliers producing complementary products and selling to a single buyer (e.g., assembler or retailer), who then sells the finished assembled product to a market that involves both demand uncertainty and competition. Our main research questions focus on what supply chain structure (integration vs. decentralization) and which contracting strategy a business should choose. We find that supply chains that decentralize perform better under strong market competition (i.e., high degree of product substitution between supply chains). However, when a large number of suppliers exist, supply chains that integrate perform better. When decentralized structures are used for both supply chains, a consignment with revenue sharing contract generally outperforms a wholesale price contract from the downstream retailer's point of view. Interestingly, for a supplier, a wholesale price contract, which pushes all demand risks to the downstream retailer, might not be preferred. For the entire supply chain, one contract strategy can outperform another depending on the degree of competition, the cost share of the buyer, and the number of suppliers.     

Aligning the sustainable supply chain to green marketing needs: A case study

The research explores the challenges facing organisations in aligning sustainable procurement requirements and marketing needs and the attendant shifts in supply chain management practices. Whilst external influences are readily understood (e.g. regulation and customer demand), less is understood about the implications for suppliers trying to meet sustainable procurement requirements and the organisational challenges of aligning marketing with sustainable supply chain management. An exploratory case study of a UK University catering department has been undertaken, to explore the strategies, processes and relationships associated with synthesising sustainable supply chain and green marketing needs. The empirical findings illustrate the divergence between organisational perspectives on sustainability and procuring sustainable products with marketing demands. Thus, the findings extend the theoretical discussion on sustainable supply chains by providing empirical data based on real-life implementation and from this an emergent aligned supply chain model is proposed, which confirms two drivers for alignment, ‘lean and resource efficient’ and ‘local and seasonal’ — contingent on market demand. The findings emphasise the benefits of a reverse information flow, the importance of intermediaries, and relationships in its fulfilment, while indicating the resurgence of a supply ‘push’ of sustainable products into core markets. Future research directions are also posited.     

Allocation of track capacity: Experimental evidence on the use of priority auctioning in the railway industry

Allocation of track capacity concerns multiple users facing demand indivisibilities, running trains over an inelastic supply of railway tracks. The paper suggests a Vickrey-type mechanism to handle incentive aspects of this technically complex optimisation task. Here, the price for operating a train will correspond to the bids foregone by other operators who are pushed off their preferred routes. The paper reports the results of 11 experimental markets using variations of this mechanism where each market includes up to 10 trading periods, and subjects bid for routes over a highly stylised railway network. The experiments generated solutions that capture 90–100% of potential benefits.     

A critique of high-value supply chains as a means of modernising agriculture in China: The case of the beef industry

China has embarked on an agricultural modernisation program with far-reaching implications for rural development, food safety and trade. A major focus of China’s agricultural modernisation program has been to build high-value supply chains and large, modern agro-industrial enterprises. This paper provides a critique of these efforts in the case of the high-value beef supply chain. It finds that interventionist policies to fast-track the development of high-value supply chains have perverse outcomes and that a more incremental and facilitative approach to modernisation should be pursued based around the development of mid-value supply chains.     

2013年我国宏观经济与能源形势概述

从经济运行、高耗能产业、固定资产投资、制造业投资等多个方面,全面分析了2013年我国宏观经济形势情况;并从煤炭、石油、天然气供需状况、可再生资源发展状况等方面,分析了2013年我国能源供需形势。分析认为,2013年我国的能源供需总体宽松,能源消费增速显著下降。     

Ordering and pricing policies in a manufacturing and distribution supply chain for fashion products

In the paper, we develop a model of manufacturing and distribution supply chains that are operating to meet price-sensitive random demand for products with short life cycles such as fashion products. Two specific scenarios are considered. The manufacturer-controlled scenario is one where the distributor shares price-sensitive random demand with the manufacturer, and the manufacturer controls the supply chain stocking decisions and bears the risk of overstocking costs. The distributor-controlled scenario works in the opposite direction. Prevailing wisdom suggests that the manufacturer should control supply chain decisions (e.g., via vendor-managed inventory). Our results indicate that such an arrangement is against the interest of a distributor selling short life-cycle products. Furthermore, we find that the total supply chain profit is generally higher when the distributor controls the supply chain stocking decisions and bears the risk of overstocking costs.     

Food value chain transformations in developing countries: Selected hypotheses on nutritional implications

We examine how the transformation of food value chains (FVCs) influence the triple malnutrition burden (undernourishment, micronutrient deficiencies and over-nutrition) in developing countries. We propose a FVC typology (modern, traditional, modern-to-traditional, and traditional-to-modern) that takes into account the participants, the target market, and the products offered. Next, we propose selected hypotheses on the relationship between each FVC category and elements of the triple malnutrition burden. The primary finding is that the transformation of FVCs creates challenges and opportunities for nutrition in developing countries. For example, Modern FVCs may increase over-nutrition problems and alleviate micronutrient deficiencies for urban people with relatively high incomes. However, they have little nutritional impacts among rural residents and urban poor people, who primarily depend on traditional FVCs to access adequate quantities of calories and micronutrients. In addition, modern food manufacturers are leveraging traditional distribution networks (modern-to-traditional FVCs), substantially increasing access to low-priced processed/packaged foods in rural areas and low-income urban neighbors with mixed impacts on the triple burden of malnutrition. Further research should focus on the influence of FVC transformation on reduction of micronutrient deficiencies, on modeling demand substitution effects across food categories and the attendant policy implications for malnutrition.     

The selected determinants of manufacturing postponement within supply chain context: An international study

Modern supply chains focus on an ultimate consumer satisfaction and often require essential dynamic reconfiguration. Manufacturing companies constitute important central nodes in supply chains, where almost all physical flows are concentrated.Postponement is the operating concept, which aims at delaying activities until a customer’s order has been received. The growth of interest in the postponement concept partially results from the increased demand for customized products.Data for the analysis has been collected through the survey carried out by researchers in several countries. The main research instrument used for this research was a questionnaire developed by the Global Manufacturing Research Group (GMRG). The conclusions formulated on the basis of data analysis proved that market and demand characteristics do not seem to be important for the choice between postponement and speculation strategy. The research showed that assembly postponement depends mostly on managerial decisions about the goals of company and the level of acceptance of an assembly postponement strategy on the market. Full postponement strategy is dictated mainly by the level of product customization and capacities of manufacturing and logistics systems. Production postponement has to be accepted on the market and should be associated with excellent forecasting techniques.     

A causal analysis of the impact of information systems and supply chain management practices on operational performance: Evidence from manufacturing SMEs in Turkey

This study has empirically tested a framework identifying the causal links among supply chain management (SCM) and information systems (IS) practices, SCM–IS related inhibiting factors and operational performance based on a sample of 203 manufacturing SMEs operating in the manufacture of fabricated metal products and general purpose machinery within the greater metropolitan area of Istanbul in Turkey. Moderating effect of SCM and IS related enabling factors on the above mentioned relationships is also investigated in this study. Tests of hypotheses indicate that both SCM and IS practices positively and significantly influence the operational performance of sample firms. The results of the structural model also indicate a strong support for negative relationships between SCM–IS related inhibitors and the implementation levels of both SCM and IS practices. Similarly, a strong support was found for the hypothesized negative relationship between SCM–IS inhibitors and operational performance of SMEs. Finally, we verified the moderating impact of SCM–IS enablers on the link between SCM practices and operational performance. A similar moderating impact was also found with regard to the relationship between IS practices and operational performance.     

中国城镇化进程的能源供应时空协调研究

城镇是现代社会财富积累的中心。随着城镇化发育不断走向成熟,城镇的生存和发展对能源消费的依赖日趋强烈。这种消费需求不仅体现在总量增长方面,更体现在质量提高方面。然而,由于全球矿物燃料资源存在着明显的空间收敛特征,因此当国家在城镇化过程中不断寻求更高质量能源以满足自身消费需求时,国家能源供应保障体系的发育空间便迅速从区域或国家转向全球。这就是国家城镇化能源供应保障空间时空协调的基本内涵所在。换言之,只有在消费需求增长(时间过程)与供应范围有效扩展(空间过程)两者的有机协调时,国家城镇化发育的能源供应保障体系才能真正建立。中国的实践恰恰证明了这一点。     

An integrated production–distribution model for the dynamic location and allocation problem with safety stock optimization

The design and management of a multi-stage production–distribution system is one of the most critical problems in logistics and in facility management. Companies need to be able to evaluate and design different configurations for their logistic networks as quickly as possible. This means coordinating the entire supply chain effectively in order to minimize costs and simultaneously optimize facilities location, the allocation of customer demand to production/distribution centers, the inbound and outbound transportation activities, the product flows between production and/or warehousing facilities, the reverse logistics activities, etc.Full optimization of supply chain is achieved by integrating strategic, tactical, and operational decision-making in terms of the design, management, and control of activities. The cost-based and mixed-integer programming model presented in this study has been developed to support management in making the following decisions: the number of facilities (e.g. warehousing systems, distribution centers), the choice of their locations and the assignment of customer demand to them, and also incorporate tactical decisions regarding inventory control, production rates, and service-level determination in a stochastic environment. This paper presents an original model for the dynamic location–allocation problem with control of customer service level and safety stock optimization. An experimental analysis identifies the most critical factors affecting the logistics cost, and to finish, an industrial application is illustrated demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed optimization approach.     

Mean-variance analysis of Quick Response Program

Quick Response Program (QRP) has been well established in fashion supply chains. It is known that QRP may not be equally good to all channel members and some measures have to be taken in order to achieve a win–win situation. However, little is known about the corresponding level of risk associated with QRP and some proposed measures. In light of this, we study QRP via a mean-variance (MV) approach. We illustrate how the measures such as price commitment policy, service-level commitment policy, and buy-back policy can be adjusted to achieve the MV win–win situation in which the channel members can be better off with considerations of both expected profit and risk. Numerical analyses are included and the analytical conditions for achieving both the supply chain channel coordination and the MV win–win situation are derived. Managerial insights are generated.     

The role of elasticity in supply chain performance

This paper develops a model that describes the performance of supply chains based on their elasticities of supply and demand. The model can be used to predict a supply chain's ability to respond to supply interruptions, cost increases, and demand shifts, while also quantifying the degree to which it is prone to the bullwhip effect. The bullwhip effect is a behavioral phenomenon by which orders are distorted as they are transmitted through the chain. Four types of supply chains are identified and their distinct operating characters are examined. The impact of rival firms and the impact of a decoupling point on supply chain performance are also examined.