The impact of product characteristics and innovativeness on the benefits of collaboration

Horizontal collaboration is a promising avenue to improve the efficiency of logistical operations. However, the benefits strongly depend on the degree of fit between partners. In this paper, we analyze the impact of the partners' product characteristics on those benefits, focusing on their innovativeness. Companies supplying functional versus innovative products have different requirements in supply chain efficiency and responsiveness, which impacts the benefits that can be reached with a given partner. To assess the collaborative benefits, we use a location–inventory model accounting for the partners' individual interests and the costs revealing the responsiveness level of the supply chain (facilities, transportation, cycle inventory, safety stocks and stock-outs). The model offers a set of Pareto-optimal solutions balancing the partners' costs to support the selection and negotiation process. Finally, we perform numerical experiments in which the partners supply products with identical or different levels of innovativeness and with various demand volumes, leading to valuable managerial insights on the impact of product characteristics on collaborative benefits.     

Alkoxy‐Substituted Hexastyrylbenzenes

Star‐shaped compounds 2a–e with a central benzene ring and six p‐substituted, (E)‐configured styryl groups have been prepared by a sequence of three‐fold Heck and three‐fold Wittig–Horner reactions. Alkoxy chains (OC₃H₇, OC₆H₁₃, OC₁₀H₂₁, OC₁₂H₂₅) on all six arms guarantee a good solubility of 2a–d , whereas the alternating hexyloxy and cyano substitution in 2e leads to an almost insoluble push‐pull system. Irradiation into the long‐wavelength absorption of 2a–d (with λ_max values of 341–342 nm) results in a statistical photocross‐linking, which is characterized by the complete degradation of all stilbene chromophores.