Coordinating the ordering and advertising policies for a single-period commodity in a two-level supply chain

This study deals with the news-vendor problem to the case of a two-level supply chain consisting of one manufacturer and one retailer, and investigates the combined effects of the cooperative advertising mechanism, the return policy and the channel coordination. The manufacturer and the retailer could maintain the potential market size by making some marketing expenditures on some national brand names and invest in local advertising, but with diminishing returns. The decision problem facing the profit-oriented entities in the supply chain is to determine the optimal advertising and inventory policies for maximizing their own profit. Both the non-cooperative policy and the cooperative policy are formulated to offer structural and quantitative insights into the interplay between upstream and downstream entities of the supply chain. In addition, the implications of a profit-sharing mechanism based on achieving a win–win relationship of the channel members was also proposed.     

Coordination of cooperative advertising models in a one-manufacturer two-retailer supply chain system

This paper considers cooperative advertising issues of a monopolistic manufacturer with competing duopolistic retailers. Four possible game structures (or power configurations), i.e., Stackelberg–Cournot, Stackelberg–Collusion, Nash–Cournot and Nash–Collusion, are discussed. Under each of four game structures, we develop a decision model for the three partners to design the optimal cooperative advertising policies. Through a comparison among the four models, we reveal how cooperative advertising policies and profits of all participants are affected by various competitive behaviors, and then determine whether the partners have any incentives to transit to a different structure. Also presented in the paper are a centralized decision model and a proposed cost-sharing contract, which is able to achieve perfect coordination of the considered channel, where the utility of risk preference is used to determine the fraction of local advertising costs shared by the manufacturer.     

需求信息不对称下的双渠道供应链合作广告投资决策分析

研究制造商主导的Stackelberg 博弈下双渠道供应链的合作广告策略, 分析信息不对称及双渠道对供应链合作广告投资决策的影响. 研究表明, 零售商在具有需求信息优势时会谎报需求信息, 并且在一定条件下其谎报决策会降低制造商的利润, 但能提高供应链的利润, 这种情况下制造商无法通过激励合同促使零售商共享信息. 另外, 在最优合作广告策略下, 当直销渠道与分销渠道所占市场份额的分配比例小于一定值时, 制造商采取双渠道会使供应链参与者均受益.

     

供应链动态合作广告策略

研究产品信誉受广告投入水平影响的供应链合作广告问题,建立具有广告投入水平抑制作用的产品信誉动态模型.通过哈密顿-雅可比-贝尔曼方程分别得到制造商和零售商在分散决策和集中决策下的最优广告策略以及在分散决策下制造商的最优合作广告参与率,比较发现,集中决策下制造商和零售商的最优广告投入水平高于分散决策下的相应值.设计了双边补贴策略来协调供应链.数值仿真实验验证了所得结论的正确性.     

Co-op advertising and pricing models in manufacturer–retailer supply chains

Cooperative (co-op) advertising plays a significant role in marketing programs in conventional supply chains and makes up the majority of promotional budgets in many product lines for both manufacturers and retailers. Nevertheless, most studies to date on co-op advertising have only assumed that the market demand is only influenced by the advertising level but not in any way by the retail price. That is why our work is concerned with co-op advertising and pricing strategies in distribution channels consisting of a manufacturer and a retailer. Four different models are discussed which are based on three non-cooperative games (i.e., Nash, Stackelberg retailer and Stackelberg manufacturer) and one cooperative game. We identify optimal co-op advertising and pricing strategies for both firms mostly analytically but we have to resort to numerical simulations in one case. Comparisons are then made about various outcomes, especially the profits, for all cases. This leads to consider more specifically the cooperation case in which profits are the highest for both the retailer and the manufacturer, and how they should share the extra joint profit achieved by moving to cooperation. We solve this bargain problem using the Nash bargaining model.     

Vertical cooperative advertising in a retailer duopoly

This paper focuses on optimal pricing and advertising decisions within a two-echelon distribution channel, which consists of one manufacturer and two competing retailers. Assuming an inter-echelon Stackelberg equilibrium, where the manufacturer obtains channel leadership, we compare two different forms of retailer behavior: non-cooperative (Horizontal Nash) and cooperative (Cooperation). While the consumer demand depends both on retail price and advertising, the manufacturer can offer a vertical cooperative advertising program to increase the advertising efforts of his retailers. In order to derive a logically consistent price demand function, we deduce our demand function from the consumers’ utility function. Numerical examples lead to the following main findings: (i) consumers can benefit from retailer-competition, as it reduces retail price; (ii) the manufacturer’s participation in retailers’ advertising will be the highest when there is strong competition and no Cooperation; (iii) a Cooperation does not always yield higher profits for the retailers, but can also produce better results for the manufacturer.     

Optimal pricing decisions in a fuzzy dual-channel supply chain

This paper analyzes the pricing decisions of a dual-channel supply chain including one retailer and one manufacturer who produces a product and sells it to the end customer through retailer or directly. Both the manufacturing cost and the customer demand are considered as fuzzy variables. Two pricing models, including centralized decision model and manufacturer-leader Stackelberg game, with consideration of different market power structures are adopted. Optimal decisions on wholesale price and retail prices are determined using game theoretical approach and fuzzy set theory for each model. Finally, a numerical example is solved to illustrate the effectiveness of models and provide some managerial insights from analysis.     

双渠道供应链中服务对定价和需求的影响研究

研究了集中式决策和基于Stackelberg博弈这两种情况下的双渠道供应链的定价、服务及需求的关系。制造商和零售商提供的服务对价格、需求会产生影响,渠道商改善服务有利于本渠道价格的提高,同时会影响到另一渠道的定价,影响程度与双渠道决策模式相关。与服务对定价的影响不同,渠道商提供的服务对本渠道需求产生的影响是双向的,当服务水平在一定的范围内,改善服务可以增加本渠道市场需求,降低另一渠道需求;当服务水平过高,继续改善服务不仅不能增加需求反而减少需求,同时对另一渠道的需求产生影响,这种影响与消费者市场类型存在密切关系。当消费者市场属于价格敏感型时,服务水平存在一个帕累托区间,任一渠道商改善服务都会促进双渠道需求的增加。     

利润-CVaR准则下的二级供应链定价与订货策略研究

传统的定价与订货策略研究多是建立在风险中性的假设之上,近来也有利用风险度量CVaR研究风险厌恶对库存的影响.因此,以期望利润和CVaR的加权平均为目标函数,研究零售商的订货策略,并在此基础上研究上游供应商的定价策略.这样的利润-CVaR目标既反映了决策者追求高利润的愿望,又反映了其对潜在风险的控制.     

Pricing and return product collection decisions in a closed-loop supply chain with dual-channel in both forward and reverse logistics

This paper deals a closed-loop supply chain with two dual channels – forward dual-channel where a manufacturer sells a product to customers through traditional retail channel and e-tail (internet) channel, and reverse dual-channel where the used items are collected for remanufacturing through the traditional third party logistics and e-tail channel. We derive analytically the pricing and return product collection decisions for the supply chain under five different scenarios viz. centralized, decentralized (Nash game), and manufacturer-led, retailer-led and third party-led decentralized scenarios. We also demonstrate the proposed model through a series of data sets. It is observed from the numerical study that the retailer-led decentralized scenario provides more profit than other decentralized scenarios.     

A study on inventory replenishment policies in a two-echelon supply chain system

Inventory control plays an important role in supply chain management. Properly controlled inventory can satisfy customers’ demands, smooth the production plans, and reduce the operation costs; yet failing to budget the inventory expenses may lead to serious consequences. The bullwhip effect, observed in many supply chain management cases, causes excessive inventory due to information distortion, i.e. the order amount is exaggerated while a minor demand variation occurs, and the information amplified dramatically as the supply chain moves to the upstream. In this paper, one of the main causes of bullwhip effect, order batching, is considered. A simplified two-echelon supply chain system, with one supplier and one retailer that can choose different replenishment policies, is used as a demonstration. Two types of inventory replenishment methods are considered: the traditional methods (the event-triggered and the time-triggered ordering policies), and the statistical process control (SPC) based replenishment method. The results show that the latter outperforms the traditional method in the categories of inventory variation, and in the number of backlog when the fill-rate of the prior model is set to be 99%. This research provides a different approach to inventory cost-down other than the common methods like: information sharing, order batch cutting, and lead time reduction. By choosing a suitable replenishment policy, the number of backorder and the cost of inventory can be reduced.     

A cooperative advertising collaboration policy in supply chain management under uncertain conditions

Many industries are facing big challenges to design supply chains in a way to maximize the profit and meet the heightened expectations of the customer. This new era entirely relies on the dynamic advantages of competition and the role played by the collaboration policy. A global economy and increasing demand have put a huge pressure on supply chain partners to build a collaboration policy based on price, order quantity, and advertising. Companies are adopting the idea of ”shaking hands” to obtain more profit instead of taking risks through competition. Cooperative (co-op) advertising is a significant policy of centralized supply chain management (SCM) to boost the revenues generated by the supplier, manufacturer, and retailers. The uncertain costs associated with the supply chain management also create obstacles in economic analysis and feasibility. These uncertainties are associated with the basic costs of all supply chain partners, which are represented using a signed distance formula. This paper develops the concept of co-op advertising among the supplier, manufacturer, and retailers with a variable demand driven by selling price and advertising costs, where all basic costs are considered as fuzzy. The profit is optimized by considering variable cycle time, shipments, pricing and advertising costs for the decision support system of the supply chain management. The optimal results of the co-op advertisement ensured an increase in the revenue of whole supply chain.     

考虑建议零售价的双渠道供应链批发价格模式选择

对由制造商网络直销渠道和零售商传统渠道构成的双渠道供应链系统进行研究。首次在建议零售价背景下研究了批发价格模式选择问题,运用制造商主导的Stackelberg博弈,得出了供应链各成员的价格均衡策略。综合考虑零售商谈判能力和和消费者对渠道的偏好度,对比分析了不同批发价谈判模式下的制造商利润、零售商利润和供应链利润。结果表明,制造商可通过建议零售价调整市场价格;从供应链总体或者零售商角度,以直销价格为基准确定批发价格是最优的;制造商倾向于单独确定批发价格,但当零售商谈判能力较弱,且网络渠道基本市场份额偏大时,也可接受以网络直销价为基准确定批发价格。     

The multi-item replenishment problem in a two-echelon supply chain: the effect of centralization versus decentralization

This paper deals with a joint replenishment arrangement with a two-echelon supply chain, having one supplier or manufacturer and one buyer or retailer, facing a deterministic demand and selling a number of products in the marketplace. We considered a situation involving a family of products sharing a common production facility, in which there is a major setup cost for each production run and an item-specific minor processing cost for each item being added into production. The retailer also has major setup costs due to economies of scale in transportation and distribution expenses and an item-specific minor setup cost for each additional item involved in the order. In such a setting, it seemed as if it would be economically beneficial for both parties to enter into a joint replenishment arrangement. We proposed both centralized and decentralized decision models to determine the best solution to minimize costs. We proved the optimal properties of the models, developed a search algorithm and numerically illustrated the benefits generated from such an arrangement. In addition, we have proposed a profit sharing mechanism through a well-known quantity discount scheme, so that potential Pareto improvements may be achieved among the participants of a coordinated supply chain.     

Pricing and production decisions in dual-channel supply chains with demand disruptions

This paper develops a two-period pricing and production decision model in a one- manufacturer-one-retailer dual-channel supply chain that experiences a disruption in demand during the planning horizon. While disruption management has long been a key research issue in supply chain management, little attention has been given to disruption management in a dual-channel supply chain once the original production plan has been made. Generally, changes to the original production plan induced by a disruption may impose considerable deviation costs throughout the supply chain system. In this paper, we examine how to adjust the prices and the production plan so that the potential maximal profit is obtained under a disruption scenario. We first study the scenario where the manufacturer and the retailer are vertically integrated with demand disruptions. Then we further assume that the manufacturer bears the deviation costs and obtain the manufacturer’s and the retailer’s individual optimal pricing decision, as well as the manufacturer’s optimal production quantity in a decentralized decision-making setting. We derive conditions under which the maximum profit can be achieved. The results indicate that the optimal production quantity has some robustness under a demand disruption, in both centralized and decentralized dual-channel supply chains. We also find that the optimal pricing decisions are affected by customers’ preference for the direct channel and the market scale change, in both centralized and decentralized dual-channel supply chains.     

Two hybrid meta-heuristic algorithms for a dual-channel closed-loop supply chain network design problem in the tire industry under uncertainty

There is so much interest in online purchasing within supply chain networks nowadays. After expanding the internet access and services, customers’ behavior has changed. Today, a customer’s shopping manner usually begins with the internet search. With this approach, we face some new trends in this field, such as online-to-offline (O2O) commerce that aims to balance online and offline sales. Regarding the supply chain management, the O2O commerce can help the managers to conduct both online and offline businesses. The tire industry is one of the applications of the O2O approach, which also directly affects the supply chain network design (SCND). Therefore, this work for the first time proposes a dual-channel, multi-product, multi-period, multi-echelon closed-loop SCND under uncertainty for the tire industry. To tackle the uncertain parameters of the problem (e.g., prices and demand), a fuzzy approach, so-called the Jimenez’s method, is applied. Another main innovation of this work is two new hybrid meta-heuristic algorithms with new procedures. Two recent nature-inspired algorithms (i.e., red deer algorithm (RDA) and whale optimization algorithm (WOA)) are hybridized with the genetic algorithm (GA) and simulated annealing (SA) to strengthen the diversification and intensification phases, respectively. The numerical experiments demonstrate that the hybrid version of WOA and SA returns high-quality solutions and requires an acceptable amount of computational time. The conducted sensitivity analyses underline the importance of tire remanufacturing. Furthermore, setting the appropriate prices in different channels for the available tire types is critical for sustainable tire supply chain management.     

风险厌恶因子不确定时的二级供应链定价与订货策略

研究了风险中性的供应商与风险厌恶的零售商所构成的二阶供应链的定价与订货策略,零售商的风险厌恶由条件价值风险来度量.研究结果表明,当供应商不确定零售商的风险厌恶因子时,一定会造成其期望利润的下降,从而也体现了信息的价值.特别地,当风险厌恶因子服从均匀分布时,其期望订货量正是需求的截断随机变量的期望.     

A dual-channel network design model in a green supply chain considering pricing and transportation mode choice

A green supply chain with a well-designed network can strongly influence the performance of supply chain and environment. The designed network should lead the supply chain to efficient and effective management to meet the efficient profit, sustainable effects on environment and customer needs. The proposed mathematical model in this paper identifies locations of productions and shipment quantity by exploiting the trade-off between costs, and emissions for a dual channel supply chain network. Due to considering different prices and customers zones for channels, determining the prices and strategic decision variables to meet the maximum profit for the proposed green supply chain is contemplated. In this paper, the transportation mode as a tactical decision has been considered that can affect the cost and emissions. Lead time and lost sales are considered in the modeling to reach more reality. The developed mathematical model is a mixed integer non-linear programming which is solved by GAMS. Due to NP-hard nature of the proposed model and long run time for large-size problems by GAMS, artificial immune system algorithm based on CLONALG, genetic and memetic algorithms are applied. Taguchi technique is used for parameter tuning of all meta-heuristic algorithms. Results demonstrate the strength of CLONALG rather than the other methods.     

Optimal pricing contracts and level of information asymmetry in a supply chain

This study considers a stylized supply chain model consisting of a dominant supplier and a buyer, in which the latter possesses superior knowledge of his private cost information. The supplier's imperfect knowledge about the buyer's cost is denoted by a subjective distribution. By assuming that the distribution is uniform, we first derive the explicit expressions of the optimal equilibrium outcomes of two contract formats offered by the supplier, the simple price‐only contract and sophisticated menu of contracts, respectively. Based on the optimal results, we continue to investigate how the supplier's expected profit varies with the level of information asymmetry, which is measured by the variance of the supplier's subjective distribution. Our findings indicate that the supplier's expected profits initially decrease and then increase as the supplier's knowledge of the buyer's cost becomes increasingly uncertain. That is, if the supplier could choose the level of information asymmetry, she would prefer a symmetric case (with the variance being zero) or a totally asymmetric case (with the variance being as high as possible). Numerical experiments demonstrate that our result still holds when we take into account such distributions as a truncated gamma and normal, and a fixed support of the distribution function instead of a moving support.     

On conflict and cooperation in a two-echelon inventory model for deteriorating items

Four scenarios are proposed concerning cooperative behavior for inventory policies between suppliers and retailers: no information is shared; the supplier is dominant during negotiations with retailers; the retailer is dominant during negotiations with suppliers; and the supplier and retailer cooperate. Unlike other studies, we consider deteriorating items and permit completed backorders, with a fixed service rate, in the models for these four scenarios. We explore the optimality of these models and present a procedure to find the optimal solution. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the procedure, which are also used for sensitivity analysis. The results show that the cooperation scenario with information sharing is the best way to reach a win–win position. However, some compensation programs might be required to persuade suppliers or retailers to cooperate when one of them faces a loss of profits in a cooperative scenario.