Part Of Supply Chain Research Articles

Pricing and Financing Strategies in a Dual-Channel Low-Carbon Supply Chain for Bilateral Capital-Constrained Retailers

In the context of low-carbon economy, financial constraints are prevalent among both upstream and downstream enterprises, exacerbated by the trend of online retailers extending into offline physical stores. This study first proposes and evaluates three financing combination models: “bank lending + advance payment,” (in short, AF), “bank lending + delayed payment,” (in short, DF), and “bilateral bank lending.” (in short, TF). It then examines the retailer’s dual-channel supply chain pricing and financing decision-making models under unified pricing strategy and independent self-pricing strategy respectively. The evaluation results indicate that among various financing models, the independent self-pricing strategy has the potential to enhance the retailer's profitability, outperforming the unified pricing strategy. In addition, when channel preference is significant, the retailer should prioritize the independent self-pricing strategy. A comparison of the optimal decisions across the three financing combination models indicates that both the cost coefficient of carbon emission reduction and the loan interest rate exert a limiting influence on the decision-making and income of all supply chain parties. Furthermore, the DF model emerges as a financing equilibrium strategy within the supply chain, with a shift to the AF model being considered only when the manufacturer’s loan interest rate is relatively high.

The effect of common ownership among supply chain parties on decision-making and surplus with manufacturer encroachment

In the financial economics field, several studies assess the effect of common ownership on the economic consequence, decision-making of firms, and social performance. In this situation, based on recent supply chain practices and manufacturer encroachment, we examine the effect of common ownership on supply chain parties composed of a retailer and a manufacturer and social performance. From our model analysis, we demonstrate that manufacturer encroachment improves the retailer’s profit under specific economic environments, while generally, manufacturer encroachment harms the retailer’s profit because the manufacturer obtains market share through a direct channel. Additionally, we demonstrate that increasing common ownership improves total surplus in a specific case. Therefore, our analysis does not only propose the positive effects of common ownership among all vertical supply chain parties for supply chain coordination, as opposed to what is indicated by the real world, but also implies that society should accommodate common ownership among supply chain parties in specific economic environments from the perspective of total surplus.

Envisioning the Invisible: Unleashing the Interplay Between Green Supply Chain Management and Green Human Resource Management: An Ability-Motivation-Opportunity Theory Perspective Towards Environmental Sustainability

The topics of green human resource management (GHRM) and green supply chain management (GSCM) have gained significant popularity within the fields of HRM and operations management (OM), respectively. Scholars in various fields have been making progress in exploring the contributions of GSCM and GHRM towards the development of sustainable firms. However, it is worth noting that integrating these two cutting-edge topics has been significantly delayed, mostly due to a substantial gap in the integration of SCM and HRM. The objective of this study is to present a comprehensive framework that combines and enhances the interaction between these two elements, as well as to suggest a research agenda for further exploration of this integration. This study employs the ability-motivation-opportunity theory framework to examine the influence of GHRM, GSCM, and environmental strategy on firm performance. The researchers employed a structural equation model (SEM) to examine the hypotheses, utilizing a sample of 640 survey questionnaires obtained from manufacturing firms. The findings indicate that there is a positive relationship between GHRM and firm performance. Additionally, the findings indicate that GSCM serves as a positive and significant mediator in the association between GHRM and firm performance. Ultimately, the study's results and ramifications are revealed to serve as valuable policy tools for various entities such as manufacturing firms, administrations, and other relevant parties of supply chain.

Strategic inventory in semi-conductor supply chains under industrial disruption

The semiconductor industry plays a crucial role in modern technology and the global economy. Over the past few years, it has experienced a series of supply disruptions, leading to significantly adverse impacts on the global economy. Holding strategic inventory is a common strategy adopted by industries to address supply disruptions, but the specific mechanisms and distinctions of its effects from those in traditional supply chain scenarios remain unclear. To explore the impact of strategic inventory in the semiconductor supply chain during industrial disruptions, we establish four game models for the following scenarios: (1) no strategic inventory with no supply disruption (NN), (2) no strategic inventory with supply disruption (ND), (3) strategic inventory with commitment contracts and supply disruption (SCD), and (4) strategic inventory with dynamic contracts and supply disruption (SDD). Firstly, we examine how the supply disruption impacts the overall performance of the semiconductor supply chain and its members. Secondly, we investigate the role of strategic inventory under commitment contracts and dynamic contracts in mitigating the effects of supply disruptions. We compare the preferences of the supply chain parties for the two types of contracts and identify potential equilibrium strategies. Our study reveals several interesting conclusions: (1) Supply disruptions adversely affect the overall performance of the semiconductor supply chain and its members. (2) Even if the manufacturer implements a commitment contract, the retailer will still choose to maintain strategic inventory. (3) When the probability of disruptions is relatively high, the retailer may maintain a higher level of strategic inventory under a commitment contract compared to a dynamic contract. (4) The use of dynamic contract results in superior mitigation of supply disruptions compared to the commitment contract, leading to greater benefits for the entire supply chain and its participants. (5) In dynamic contracts, the retailer may incur losses from holding strategic inventory in specific situations.

Advance selling strategy of fresh products under two contracts

PurposeThis paper analyzes the advance selling and pricing strategies of fresh products supply chain where the e-retailer provides wholesale contract or agency contract to the fresh products supplier.Design/methodology/approachThis paper constructed a two-period sequential-move game of fresh products supply chain members.FindingsThis analysis showed that the supply chain members had different preferences for contracts under different market conditions. The advance selling of fresh products was not a decision of the seller, but also required the support of other supply chain members. And the advance selling strategy was not always beneficial to all supply chain parties. Under the two contracts, there were market conditions in which the profits of supply chain members were Pareto-improved through the implementation of advance selling.Research limitations/implicationsThe model presented in this study focuses solely on the context of monopoly, overlooking the competition from alternative suppliers or retailers. Consequently, exploring the competitive landscape within the fresh products supply chain, particularly in relation to pre-sale pricing, emerges as a crucial avenue for further investigation. By employing empirical research methods, valuable insights are gleaned, thereby significantly augmenting the existing body of relevant theories.Practical implicationsThe decision to pre-sell fresh products should be based on market conditions. Supply chain members can control production costs and fresh products circulation losses to maximize profits.Originality/valueFrom the perspective of game theory, this study analyzed the optimal advance selling and pricing strategies of fresh products supply chain members under two kinds of contracts. These results can provide practical implications for fresh products suppliers and e-retailers.

Power in the supply chain: a state-of-the-art literature review and propositions from the perspective of gender differences

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the existing literature on firms’ power through the lens of the supply chain and highlights some gaps that could be covered by future research.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a systematic framework-based review combining the insights of the antecedents, decisions and outcomes (ADO) and theories, contexts and methods (TCM) frameworks. The review was carried out using a sample of 108 articles published between 1984 and 2022 in 25 prestigious journals.FindingsThe ADO framework maps out the state of the art of the antecedents of power (i.e. sources and types of firm power), the decision to use power and the effect that exercising power over other firms may have on firm performance and the quality of inter-firm relationships. In addition, this framework highlights factors that mediate or moderate the decision to exercise power and the factors that mediate or moderate the outcomes of exercising power or power asymmetry. The TCM framework provides insights into the theories, contexts (i.e. countries, industries, level of analysis and sources of data) and methods used by the existing literature. The content analysis using the aforementioned frameworks provides the basis to elaborate propositions for future research on power in the supply chain from the perspective of gender differences.Research limitations/implicationsThis systematic literature review offers a comprehensive guide for researchers to understand the antecedents, decisions and outcomes of firm power in the supply chain, as well as the TCM used in the literature. The content analysis using frameworks provides a road map to investigate the proposed factors that might moderate the decision to exercise power and the outcome of exercising power or power asymmetry from the perspective of gender differences. In addition, based on content analysis, the authors make propositions about TCM that could be applied in future research.Practical implicationsFrom a practical perspective, this systematic literature review may help managers to better understand the sources and consequences of their firm’s power. This would allow managers to make better decisions when negotiating with their supply chain parties, which could potentially lead to better performance for their firms and the whole supply chain.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to conduct a comprehensive systematic literature review of the different dimensions of firms’ power in the supply chain.

Optimisation-in-the-loop simulation of multi products single vendor-multi buyers supply chain systems with reactive lateral transhipment

Considering that batik is one of the most popular products in Indonesia, it is important to analyse the supply chain system for batik products. In reality, the supply chain system for batik products enables orders between buyers to receive products more rapidly, allowing them to anticipate stock outs and obtain lower ordering costs than when ordering from vendors. It is referred to as reactive lateral transshipment. This paper discusses the development of a simulation-based stochastic optimisation model for a batik product supply chain system with multiproducts and single vendor-multi buyers. The utilised solution searching algorithm is a modified Genetic Algorithms (GA) executed in-loop with the developed simulation-based stochastic model. The results demonstrate that the proposed modified GA is able to provide a global optimum solution, allowing the proposed simulation-based stochastic model to reduce the joint total cost (JTC) of the investigated supply chain system by up to 19% when compared to the local optimisation model in each supply chain party.

Optimal decisions of closed-loop supply chain under government recycling subsidy and value co-creation

Several countries and regions have adopted recycling subsidy policies to encourage recycling activities and enacted recycling laws to improve the recycling rate of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). These initiatives are designed to reduce the damage to the environment and natural resource consumption caused the enterprise. In this study, we analyze how government recycling regulations, value co-creation activities, and recycling subsidies influence the pricing and output decisions of members of a closed-loop supply chain. We develop a Stackelberg game model led by manufacturers and followed by retailers to explore the impact of value co-creation activities and recycling subsidies on the quantity of new and remanufactured products, recyclers’ prices and prices of recycled electronic parts, manufacturers’ capacity to recycle, and environmental performance in the context of government recycling regulations. Manufacturers can choose from three recycling modes: mandatory minimum remanufacturing (SDWmodel), non-mandatory partial remanufacturing (SDOmodel), and full remanufacturing (SDBmodel). The results show that 1) higher recycling subsidies optimize the recycling capacity of manufacturers, increasing the number of remanufactured products and reducing the market share of new products, which affects the price of new products. 2) higher recycling subsidies reduce the price of recycled electronic parts purchased by manufacturers, strengthen the bargaining power of consumers, increase the price of recyclers, promote the active participation of consumers in value co-creation activities, and increase the level of value co-creation. 3) higher recycling subsidies help to increase the economic value of all parties in the closed-loop supply chain (manufacturers, recyclers, consumers), but stricter recycling constraints are not always beneficial to environmental performance; environmental taxes and fees above a certain threshold of recycling constraints reduce the negative impact of production activities on the environment. The novelties and contributions of this research include proposing a new application for the Value Co-creation and Government policy utilized to Supply Chain and their impact on sustainable supply chain. In addition, we proposed three new recycling strategies and analysed the impact of environmental tax on the environmental performance. Therefore, this study aims to provide some insights for government policymakers and for managers when facing a more complex business environment.

Influence of the relationship between logistics outsourcing partners on logistics performance: focusing on logistics management in crisis situations

PurposeThis study aims to empirically analyze how the quality of alternatives influences the commitment level in the relationships between companies in supply chains. It also studies how this ultimately influences the associated satisfaction level and logistics performance.Design/methodology/approachFor this purpose, the authors adopted an extended investment model based on interdependence theory. The authors explored the relationships between logistics outsourcing partners based on the components of the investment model. To examine the correlations between variables, the authors surveyed workers in domestic supply chain–related departments and used a total of 300 valid questionnaires for statistical analysis. The hypotheses were verified through structural equation modeling using SPSS 18.0 and AMOS 18.0.FindingsThe quality of alternatives had a positive influence on the commitment level. Additionally, the commitment level had a positive influence on the satisfaction level but did not have a significant influence on logistics performance. Finally, the satisfaction level exhibited a proportional relationship with logistics performance.Research limitations/implicationsFirst, this study examined the effects of the relationships between supply chain parties and psychological factors on logistics outsourcing. Second, this study applied the investment model to a logistics outsourcing-related topic. Finally, under the COVID-19 and the trade war, this study is significant as it shows that the existing commonly accepted hypotheses can be overturned.Originality/valueThis study differs from other studies in that it applied the investment model to a logistics outsourcing-related topic.

Fuel consumption-reduction investment decisions and coordination contracts in fuel vehicle supply chains: A dynamic analysis

The share of carbon emissions from road transport is as high as 14% of global carbon emissions; fuel vehicles account for a significant part of these emissions. Therefore, there is a long way to reduce fuel consumption in fuel vehicles. We consider the government’s choice of two policies, Vehicle Carbon Emission Regulation (VCER) and Dual Credit Policy (DCP), to regulate the fuel vehicle supply chain and construct a Stackelberg differential game model for fuel consumption-reduction investment decision and operation coordination in a fuel vehicle supply chain consisting of one supplier and one manufacturer. Furthermore, we analyze the supply chain’s equilibrium strategies under centralized and decentralized decision scenarios. Finally, design a bilateral sharing contract to coordinate the supply chain and verify the theoretical analysis by numerical simulation. The results show that the DCP has a stronger incentive for fuel consumption reduction investment than the VCER; the supplier’s profit increases as the severity of the two policies increases, but the change in the manufacturer’s profit is not consistent under the two policies, where the increase in the penalty rate under the VCER decreases the manufacturer’s profit. However, it falls and then rises with tighter fuel consumption standards under the DCP. At the same time, the two-way cost-sharing contracts can encourage more fuel consumption reduction investments while increasing the profits of supply chain members, which is a Pareto improvement for the ecosystem and the supply chain parties.

Retailers’ incentives for green investment in differentiated competition channels

With increasing public environmental awareness, green activities in retail and distribution processes have become crucial tools for retailers to boost demand and enhance competitiveness. This study develops an analytical model to study the green investment choices of two differentiated retailers dealing with a common green manufacturer. It also explores the impacts of these investment choices on the manufacturer's operational decisions, channel efficiency, consumer welfare, and the environment. We derive three main results. First, the powerful retailer always favors green investments, whereas the less powerful (inferior) retailer may either prefer or avoid green investments. The fiercer the inter-retailer competition, the lower the willingness of the inferior retailer to introduce green investments. Second, although all supply chain parties may disagree on their preferences for retailers' green investments, a bilateral green investment (i.e., both retailers make green investments) can reach an incentive alignment for all firms if the differentiation between retailers is low enough and the competition between them is not substantially fierce. Moreover, a bilateral green investment improves consumer welfare and channel efficiency because of the great demand expansion and double marginalization reduction. Third, the retailers' green investments can motivate the manufacturer to produce greener products, but they do not necessarily benefit the environment. We show that the supply chain's economic sustainability aligns with its environmental sustainability only if the environmental improvement efficiency of green investments is substantially high. We further examine the impact of retailers with differentiated green investment abilities and the manufacturer's green investment efficiency to verify the robustness of the main results.

Managing strategic inventory under retailer competition

Besides carrying the operational inventory, retailers may invest in the strategic inventory for obtaining the discount of future wholesale price, although this behavior can induce the holding cost. In this paper, we adopt a game theoretical method to check the role of strategic inventory under the retailer-to-retailer competition. The impact of strategic inventory on a two-tier supply chain model is investigated under the retailer competition. A supplier sells products to customers through two competing retailers who may choose to carry the strategic inventory in a two-period setting. The results indicate that the retailer-to-retailer competition may affect the decisions of supply chain parties about the strategic inventory and pricing as follows. First, the competition weakens the incentives of retailers in holding the strategic inventory. Second, the lower inventory holding expense would still stimulate retailers to hold the strategic inventory for more profits. Third, facing two competing and asymmetric retailers, the prisoner's dilemma and chicken game equilibrium may occur between the two retailers when the inventory holding cost is intermediate under the uniform wholesale price strategy. However, under the differentiated wholesale price strategy, the prisoner's dilemma and chicken game equilibrium can be eliminated. For similar operational styles including store styles and locations, retailers can break through the dilemma by simultaneously holding the strategic inventory, and can obtain more profits from carrying strategic inventory under differentiated wholesale price strategy. Therefore, the differentiated wholesale price strategy can promote the two retailers to cooperate with each other and can benefit all parties.

Conformity Pressure to Demand-enhancing Investments Among Supply Chain Parties

Conformity Pressure to Demand-enhancing Investments Among Supply Chain Parties

Entry game in supply chains with yield uncertainty

<p style="text-indent:20px;">Yield uncertainty presents great challenges to supply chain management, which affects market supply and thus the profits of all the supply chain parties. In the context of a supply chain comprising a retailer and multiple potential suppliers with random yields, we examine the impact of yield uncertainty on the suppliers' entry decisions, and how it affects the retailer's profit and consumer surplus. We find that yield uncertainty initially increases the number of suppliers entering the market, then decreases, and it is negatively correlated with consumer surplus. We also analyze how the retailer's purchasing price strategy influences the suppliers' decisions to enter the market. We find that retailer subsidies can improve the performance of and coordinate the supply chain. In addition, the subsidy contract is in the forms of production subsidy and surplus subsidy when the suppliers do not make and make production decisions, respectively.</p>

Introduction to the special issue on mobility, climate change, and economic inequality

Introduction to the special issue on mobility, climate change, and economic inequality

Fresh food supply chain coordination with competition and differentiated freshness preservation methods

For a secondary supply chain consisting of a supplier and two competing retailers, freshness spoilage rate, competitive behavior and market capacity constraint are introduced into the traditional demand-substitution model. Under different preservation methods such as chilling and freezing, the Gounod double oligopoly game and the conspiracy game competition models between retailers are constructed with the benchmark of the centralized decision-making. The optimal sales price and ordering decision are secured, and the influence of market volume, freshness deterioration rate and demand substitution rate on the optimal decision is analyzed under different competition models. Meanwhile, an optimal revenue coordination contract is constructed to maximize the benefits of each subject in the fresh supply chain. The results show that the optimal sales price and optimal order quantity are positively correlated with the respective market volume and demand substitution rate, but negatively correlated with the deterioration rate of goods. The optimal coordination degree of the proposed revenue-sharing contract is 100%, which indicates that this contract can effectively coordinate the interests of all parties in the fresh supply chain and achieve the overall optimal supply chain.

Factors influencing Ho Chi Minh City based dry ports’ competitive advantage

The container revolution has highlighted the role of dry ports in efficient shipping coordination. The operation of dry ports needs to be improved to keep up with the dynamics of maritime trade, to meet the needs of the parties in the transport supply chain and to maintain the sustainable competitive advantage of seaports. The objective of this article is to improve the position of the dry port in Ho Chi Minh City by identifying factors that enhance competitive advantage in the direction of integrating the transport supply chain in order to improve capacity, reliability not only for the dry port but also for the supply chain to which it belongs. The article uses a quantitative method to test four independent variables. The survey sample was collected from 213 enterprises using dry ports in this area. The data is processed by SPSS 20 and AMOS 24 softwares. Thus, it is concluded that there are four factors, including: capacity to connect transport infrastructure, capacity to operate container goods, capacity to cooperate with stakeholders in the transport supply chain and the ability to improve other factors, affecting the dry ports’ competitive advantages. On that basis, the article offers some governance implications for the dry ports in Ho Chi Minh City.

Interactive Impacts of Overconfidence and Competitive Preference on Closed-Loop Supply Chain Performance

As sustainable development becomes an important goal for all industries, the study of closed-loop supply chains has gradually become a priority. Most of the previous studies on closed-loop supply chains are based on simple and single market conditions, which cannot analyze the real situation well. In this paper, two common behavioral preferences in the market, overconfidence and competitive preference, are incorporated into the study of closed-loop supply chains to investigate how the overconfidence of retailers and the competitive preference of manufacturers jointly affect the decisions and interests of both parties in closed-loop supply chains under different dominant models. It is concluded that in terms of pricing, while the wholesale price increases in the competitive preference, the reselling price in fact decreases when the retailer’s overconfidence level is of a middle level; in terms of recycling, the pursuit of high profits by monopolistic manufacturers is not conducive to recycling quantity in the secondary supply chain with recycling; in terms of profits, in a manufacturer-led model, the profits of all sides in the closed-loop supply chain, including the manufacturer itself, sometimes diminish as the manufacturer’s competitive preference behavior becomes more intense.

Research on the Coordination of Quality Behavior of Supply 3 Chain of E-Commerce Platform under C2B Model of High-Grade E-Commerce Based on Differential Game

With the increasing demands of consumers for product grade, the C2B model of high-grade e-commerce emerges as required. In order to solve the problem of coordination and cooperation between e-commerce platforms and manufacturers, and to further develop the C2B model of high-grade e-commerce, this paper studies the coordination of supply chain interests by establishing a differential game model considering product grade factors. By comparing the equilibrium solutions of differential games under different decision-making situations, a cooperative coordination mechanism is proposed. Next, the equilibrium solution is further analyzed by means of numerical simulation. Finally, the influence of several important parameters on the equilibrium solution is discussed through sensitivity analysis. It is found that (1) the supply chain parties have optimal quality behavior in the centralized decision-making situation, and the overall benefit is the greatest. (2) Compared with the Nash non-cooperative game, the optimal quality behavior of the dominant party remains unchanged, and the optimal quality behavior of the following party is enhanced after both parties move from the Stackelberg master-slave game, and the optimal profits of both parties, as well as the overall increase. (3) The cooperative coordination model can coordinate the quality behavior of both sides of the supply chain when the benefit distribution coefficient is within a specific range.

Coordination of dual-channel supply chains with uncertain demand information

AbstractUncertain demand information increases the difficulty of decision-making in supply chains, especially in the light of inventory costs. This article researches a two-echelon dual-channel fresh agricultural product (FAP) supply chain, and discusses optimal decision-making and the value of information sharing using the Stackelberg game. To eliminate the double marginalization effect between supply chain parties, a two-part linear tariff contract is introduced for coordination. The results show that information sharing is always profitable for the manufacturer, but not for the retailer. The inventory and shortage costs will reduce the manufacturer's optimal pricing and fresh-keeping effort level. When the manufacturer overestimates the market demand predicted by the retailer, asymmetric information will increase the manufacturer’s inventory. The results provide important managerial implications for effective supply chain management.