Cyborgs and Core Dump

Improving the efficiency in the links in the supply chains of agri-food products is relevant in terms of the assessment methodology and practical aspects for ensuring and supporting sustainable supply chains of products not only in individual channels of product movement but also in the end-to-end supply chain of products, i.e., from the field to the end consumer. However, it is still unclear which supply chain opportunities in commodity distribution channels are more effective for creating end-to-end sustainable supply chains for agri-food products. The purpose of the study is to develop a methodology for assessing the impact of agri-food supply channels on the efficiency and link in supply chains, taking into account the factors affecting them and developing recommendations for their improvement. Quantitative methods based on correlation and regression analysis using the EViews program on the basis of Kazakh statistical data for 2008–2022 were used. A methodology is proposed for assessing the effectiveness of the functioning and links in commodity movement in the supply chains of agricultural products at the macroeconomic level based on the consideration and use of important factors affecting the efficiency and links: production and sales volumes, total costs, and profitability for each supply channel: “production–processing–industrial production–trade”. The relationship between the efficiency and the links in supply chains and also the key factors that affect them have been established. The results showed that the increase in the efficiency in supply channels in the commodity distribution system leads to a decrease in the coefficient of the link in commodity movement and inventory availability. To reduce the link ratio in the supply chains of agri-food products, it is necessary to increase the efficiency in supply chains in each supply chain link and reduce the share of retail trade in the gross turnover. Recommendations are proposed to improve supply chain efficiency and reduce links to support and create end-to-end sustainable supply chains of agri-food products. The study makes an essential contribution to providing empirical evidence of the relationship between the effectiveness of agri-food supply channels and the link in the supply chain. Since few works describe the relationship between the links of product distribution and the efficiency in supply chains in the literature, in this work, it was possible to propose a methodology and identify factors and gaps in research to identify potential areas for future research.

PurposeAn implicit assumption of current supply chain integration (SCI) research is that the results obtained from product supply chains can be directly extrapolated to service supply chains. The purpose of this paper is to question this assumption of equivalence by proposing that the effects of internal integration (II) and external integration (EI) on operational performance (OP) are contingent on whether a firm operates in a product and service supply chain.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on the contingency theory, a model that specifies and contrasts the interrelationships between II, EI, and OP in product and service supply chains was proposed. Subsequently, measures were developed and survey data were collected from 138 product and 174 service companies in Singapore. The data were then analysed using multi-sampling analysis.FindingsThe effects of II and EI on OP varied significantly between product and service supply chains. In addition, the relationship between II and OP was found to be partially mediated by EI in product supply chains whereas a fully mediated relationship was observed in service supply chains.Research limitations/implicationsWithin the context of SCI, different mediation patterns exist in product and service supply chains. The results suggest adopting a contingency rather than a universalistic approach in the management of firms’ internal and external integrative capabilities to maximise OP. Specifically, managers should adjust their II and EI efforts to achieve congruency with the type of supply chain they serve.Originality/valueThis paper tests the assumption of equivalence and extends the current scope of SCI contingency research by cross-examining the effects of II and EI on OP in both product and service supply chains simultaneously.

Animal husbandry is an important industry related to the national economy and people’s livelihood, and its coordinated development can continuously enhance the quality, efficiency, and competitiveness of the livestock industry, and better meet the people’s diversified consumption demand for livestock and poultry products. In this paper, considering the government’s green subsidy to the leading enterprises in the green supply chain of livestock products, the article uses the stackelberg game method to establish the decision-making models of the green supply chain of livestock products led by the co-operatives and the slaughtering and processing enterprises, respectively, and measures the optimal greenness of the livestock products. Different from the previous optimal decision-making and coordination of interests in the case of only considering economic benefits, this paper combines economic and ecological benefits to construct a coordination mechanism of interests in the green supply chain of livestock products in line with the concept of ecological priority and green development. The conclusions showed that: (1) Under the background of considering economic and ecological benefits, the influence of greenness sensitivity factor, freshness sensitivity factor, and government subsidy factor on the decision-making of green supply chain of livestock products is not affected by the operation mode and decision-making scenario, with the increase in the three factors, the greenness, freshness, and total benefits of the green supply chain of livestock products. (2) The greenness, freshness, and total benefits of green supply chain of livestock products are higher in the operation mode led by slaughtering and processing enterprises, which is more favorable to the development of green supply chain of livestock products from the perspective of supply chain development. (3) Compared with decentralized decision-making mode, both benefit-sharing and cost-sharing contracts increase the greenness and freshness of livestock products, significantly reduce the retail price of livestock products, which improves the benefits of the co-operatives, slaughtering and processing enterprises, 3PL (third-party logistics) service providers, and retailers as well as the entire green supply chain of livestock products. Based on the research findings, this article proposes relevant management insights to better promote the coordination of interests in the green supply chain of livestock products.

Pricing policies for complementary products in a dual-channel supply chain

With the development of productivity, the old production and consumption patterns of agricultural products have been gradually eliminated, and a new supply chain of agricultural products including the whole agricultural products and their related products has been formed. Co-operatives are one of the leading models. In order to further promote the healthy development of the industry chain of agricultural products, this study starts with the cooperative performance in the supply chain of agricultural products, and carries on certain processing and analysis of the behavior data and the brain evoked potential data of the subjects participating in the brain evoked potential experiment. With the statistical principle, the study uses the SPSS software to carry on the auxiliary analysis and obtain suggestions on the improvement of performance mechanism in four aspects: sales channel, product collection mode, price formulation, and contract guarantee mechanism. It is concluded that the mechanism of effective promotion of cooperative performance level in agricultural products industry chain is related to the levels of these four factors. The researches on the promotion mechanism can facilitate the promotion of cooperative performance in the supply chain of agricultural products. This study simulates the operation process of cooperative model in the supply chain of agricultural products with the method of brain evoked potential experiment and behavioral cognitive science theory, and provides theoretical basis for improving cooperative performance in the supply chain of agricultural products.

Frequent environmental incidents in the supply chains of brand-name products have dire consequences on the ecological environment and in terms of social development. There have been few considerations of supply chains and enterprise characteristics included in previous research. This paper focuses on the supply chains of brand-name products, and systematically identifies principal factors that influence environmentally destructive behaviors in the supply chain of brand-name products from internal and external viewpoints of the supply chain. Considering the characteristics of the polluting industries, 416 valid questionnaires were obtained by investigating the supply chain of brand-name products in chemical, mechanical, food, and agricultural products, the light industry, and other industries. The results show that: (1) environmentally destructive behavior is differently exhibited in different industries among the investigated supply chains of brand-name products; (2) the enterprises’ attitudes, policies, and investments in pro-environment approaches play a fundamental role in the environmental management of the brand-name products supply chain; (3) environmental legislation and public supervision have significant effects on the environmental management of the brand-name products supply chain; (4) only when environmental regulation is combined with environmental legislation and public supervision is a restriction of environmentally destructive behavior in the supply chain of brand-name products triggered. Thus, we suggest that the attribution and sharing mechanisms of environmental responsibility in the supply chain of brand-name products should be established; a “push-pull-anchor” mechanism and coordinated co-governance supervision system for environmentally destructive behavior in the supply chain of brand-name products should be built.

Blockchains play a vital role in FARMAR to track and trace the origin of food products in food supply chain. Supply Chain Management (SCM) is an essential business process in all spheres of the economy. SCM uses specific processes to connect from producer to consumer requirement through a chain. In a BCT(Blockchain Technology) based system, “records are immutable and trusted, eliminating the need for third parties to be involved. Potential farmer-facing impacts include ensuring that farmers receive timely and complete payments through the use of smart contracts and helping farmers to capture real-time data to more effectively manage their crops and harvests (source: nextbillion.net)”. Another benefit of using BCT in FARMAR is security where hacking or tampering the existing data is impossible by any intermediary. As an add-on to this process, IoT devices (Mobile phone-based Android app) are used to update the real-time quality and transit time of the product in FARMAR. It is integrated for improved traceability and usability of the products in the supply chain. The FARMAR aims to achieve these goals by developing a web application where FARMAR creates a value chain of integrity from farm to fork by using BCT.

Pricing decisions for substitutable products in a two-echelon supply chain with firms׳ different channel powers

توجه به سامان‏دهی زنجیره توسعه که زنجیره تأمین و زنجیره ارزش را نیز دربرمی‏گیرد، در حفظ، احیا و توسعه محصولات سنتی ضروری است. در این راستا، آگاهی از اهمیت و جایگاه محصولات سنتی مانند فرآورده­ های پشمی و ارائه راهکارهایی برای رونق تولید و حضور این محصولات در بازارهای داخلی و خارجی می­ تواند راهگشا باشد. هدف اصلی پژوهش حاضر تعیین نقاط قوت، نقاط ضعف، فرصت‏ها­ و تهدیدهای پیش روی تولید و عرضه فرآورده ­های پشمی در شهرستان رضوان‏شهر بود. گردآوری داده ­های پژوهش از طریق مصاحبه حضوری با سی نفر از کارشناسان و خبرگان محلی انتخاب ‏شده به روش نمونه­ گیری در دسترس در سال 1397 صورت گرفت. با تشکیل ماتریس سوات (SWOT)، راهبردی برای توسعه زنجیره تولید فرآورده ‏های پشمی شهرستان رضوان‏شهر تعیین شد. نتایج نشان داد که ﻣﻮﻗﻌﻴﺖ راهبردی تولید و عرضه فرآورده‏ های پشمی این شهرستان در ﻣﻨﻄة اول یا همان راهبرد تهاجمی است؛ و بنابراین، ﻣﺘﻨﺎﺳـﺐ ﺑـﺎ قرار گرفتن در این منطقه، راهبرد تهاجمی (SO) با عنوان «زنجیره توسعه» (در مرحله نخست، احیا و حفظ و در مرحله بعد، توسعه زنجیره تولید و عرضه فرآورده ­های پشمی در شهرستان رضوان‏شهر) توصیه ﺷﺪه است.

The rapid development of Internet of Things technology and the continuous improvement of consumer demand have spawned the emergence of intelligent products based on Internet of Things technology. The existing research on the closed-loop supply chain of intelligent products under the background of the Internet of Things still lacks consideration of different subsidy objects and recyclers. Therefore, for different subsidy objects in the three-stage closed-loop supply chain of intelligent products, a pricing decision model involving manufacturers, recyclers, retailers and consumers under the minimum standard supervision of recycling technology is constructed, and different recyclers are distinguished according to the characteristics of intelligent products. By comparing the profits of each subject in different models, the optimal model of government subsidy is obtained. It is found that under the four modes, subsidizing recyclers without self-recovery technology makes the total profit of the supply chain reach the optimal solution; capital recyclers can obtain the largest number of old intelligent product recycling by using self-recovery technology; when subsidizing manufacturers, the total profit and product recovery rate of the supply chain are at the bottom. In addition, recycling subsidies, subsidy impact coefficients and technical standards will affect the best profits of enterprises. Through the analysis of the closed-loop supply chain of intelligent products, the research provides theoretical support and decision-making basis for the supply chain members to formulate relevant strategies and the government to take relevant measures to promote resource utilization and environmental protection.

Introducing Third-party logistics into the supply chain of fresh agricultural products can reduce the logistics cost of the supply chain and improve the freshness and quality of fresh agricultural products. Taking the fresh agricultural product supply chain network, which includes three decision-making entities: fresh agricultural product suppliers, 3PL service providers, and retailers, as the research object, a fresh agricultural product supply chain network equilibrium model is constructed using variational inequality theory. The impact of 3PL service providers' logistics service level on their equilibrium transaction volume and overall profit is studied. The research results show that when Third-party logistics is involved in the supply chain of fresh agricultural products, considering the logistics service level of 3PL service providers, with the improvement of service level, the overall profit of the supply chain of fresh agricultural products increases. It is a beneficial attempt to realize the profit of the supply chain of fresh agricultural products to improve the freshness and quality of fresh agricultural products through Third-party logistics; When the logistics service level rises to a certain level, and the service level continues to improve, the overall profit growth of the supply chain decreases. It is necessary to improve the impact of logistics service level on the freshness and quality of fresh agricultural products through other forms.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how cross-border e-commerce enterprises can promote the sustainable development of the supply chain by optimizing the risk of supply disruption and product quality control mechanism of the cross-border supply chain of low-carbon agricultural products in the face of the problem of uneven quality and inventory shortage that prevails in the supply chain of low-carbon agricultural products under the framework of low-carbon economy. Methods: A two-level supply chain model consisting of a risk-averse cross-border e-commerce enterprise and two risk-neutral overseas suppliers is constructed to compare the optimal strategies and their coordination effects under the centralized and decentralized decision-making modes, and to deeply analyze the supply chain's operation mechanism. Further, the quality cost factor is introduced and an option contract model is designed to quantitatively analyze the impact of different decision-making scenarios and parameter changes on the overall supply chain performance. The results of the study show that under the coordination of option contract, the profit of cross-border e-commerce companies tends to decrease as the risk of supply disruption increases, while the profit of suppliers rises accordingly. Meanwhile, improving the quality of agricultural products can significantly improve the overall profitability of the supply chain. The cost-sharing mechanism is positively related to the profit of cross-border e-commerce companies, but negatively affects the profit of suppliers. In addition, the adjustment of the option price is directly associated with the increase of the specific supplier's profit and the decrease of the cross-border e-commerce enterprise's profit. Conclusion: By constructing and analyzing the option contract model considering the risk of supply disruption, this study effectively reveals the key influencing factors and their interactions in the cross-border supply chain of low-carbon agricultural products, and provides cross-border e-commerce enterprises with specific strategies to achieve coordination of the supply chain contract, improve product quality, and mitigate the risk of supply disruption, and then promote the sustainable development of the supply chain of low-carbon agricultural products.

This paper deals with the to the supply chain strategic management of organic products. The objective of this study is to propose a model that integrates the concepts of supply chain management (SCM), transaction costs theory (TTC) and bullwhip effect in supply chain of organic products generating propositions that will direct future empirical research. Therefore, this paper proposes that the SCM and TTC can contribute in reducing the distortion of perception of demand along the supply chain of organic products. A conceptual model relating the three variables studied was elaborated and three theoretical future empirical investigations to propositions in order to solve the problem of the bullwhip effect, namely the distortion of perception of demand along the supply chain of organic products.

At present, the cooperation relation among organizations of agricultural producers and production operators in China, between the both is decentralized. They have less communication and lower degree of trust because of decentralized management of a large number of peasant households which pursue the utility maximization. If the supply chain of agricultural products obtains a significant development, effective measures will be taken to increase the cooperative benefit among the agricultural product suppliers, enterprises, supermarkets, logistics, and storages through establishment of trust mechanism. The paper presents a research that the establishment of trust mechanism of supply chain of agricultural products by setting up both the progressive mechanism and the long-term repeated games, maintaining the trust mechanism with such several mechanisms as perfect motivation mechanism and normative restraint mechanism, effective communication and coordination mechanism, ensures synergy effects of win-win and all-win of the supply chain of agricultural products.

Using principle and method of the system dynamics, this paper takes a qualitative analysis on the inventory of supply chain of supermarket-oriented agricultural products, and compares with the supply chain of wholesale-oriented agricultural products. Two inventory models are established for these two different modes of supply chain. Through simulation of two models in the case of random demand and quantitative analysis of results, it is found that the inventory of supply chain of supermarket-oriented agricultural products has smaller fluctuation than that of wholesaler-oriented agricultural products. Besides, both the inventory level and bullwhip effect of above chain are lowered.