Quality investment and price decision in a risk-averse supply chain

In this paper, we investigate quality investment and price decision of a make-to-order (MTO) supply chain with uncertain demand in international trade. Due to volatility of orders from buyers, the supplier and the manufacturer in the supply chain are subject to financial risk. In contrast to the general assumption that players in a supply chain are risk neutral in quality investment and price decision, we consider the risk-averse behavior of the players in three different supply chain strategies: Vertical Integration (VI), Manufacturer’s Stackelberg (MS) and Supplier’s Stackelberg (SS). The study shows that both supply chain strategy and risk-averse behavior have significant impacts on quality investment and pricing. Compared to a risk-neutral supply chain, a risk-averse supply chain has lower, same and higher quality of products in VI, MS and SS, respectively. Also, we derive the conditions under which the supply chain strategy is implemented in a decentralized setting. A numerical study is used to illustrate some related issues.     

碳排放交易机制下的供应链运作策略及协调研究

碳排放权交易是控制和减少碳排放的有效工具,同时也使得企业的运作成本增加,供应链的决策管理更复杂。考虑由零售商和制造商组成的二阶段供应链,研究不同碳排放权交易政策(供应链成员内部碳排放权交易、外部市场碳排放权交易)下基于数量折扣契约的供应链协调问题,并与无碳排放约束的情形进行比较。研究结果表明:在不同碳排放权交易政策下,数量折扣契约能够实现供应链的协调;无碳排放约束的供应链最优订货量大于外部碳排放权交易的供应链最优订货量,成员内部碳排放交易下的供应链最优订货量和供应链期望利润随着碳排放配额的增加最终等于无碳排放约束下的供应链最优订货量和供应链期望利润;外部市场碳排放交易政策下供应链的期望利润随着碳排放配额的增加而增加。     

Consumers risk and quality control in a collaborative supply chain

The purpose of this paper is to provide a strategic collaborative approach to risk and quality control in a cooperative supply chain by using a Neyman–Pearson quantile risk framework for the statistical control of risks. The paper is focused on the statistical quality control of a supplier and a producer, applying the traditional Neyman–Pearson theory to the control of quality in a supply chain environment. In our framework, the risks assumed by the parties in the supply chain depend on the organizational structure, the motivations and the power relationships that exist between members of the supply chain.     

Preferences for contractual forms in supply chains

The supply chain contracting literature has focused on incentive contracts designed to align supply chain members’ individual interests. A key finding of this literature is that members’ preferences for contractual forms are often at odds: the upstream supplier prefers relatively complex contracts that can coordinate the supply chain; however, the downstream retailer prefers a wholesale price-only contract because it leaves more surplus (than does a coordinating contract), which the retailer can capture. This paper addresses the following question: Under what circumstances do suppliers and retailers prefer the same contractual form? We study supply chain members’ preferences for contractual forms under three different competitive settings in which multiple supply chains compete to sell substitutable products in the same market. Our analysis suggests that both upstream and downstream sides of the supply chain may prefer the same “quantity discount” contract, which would eliminate the conflicts of interest that otherwise typify contracting situations. More interesting still is that both sides may also prefer the wholesale price-only contract; this finding provides a theoretical explanation for why that inefficient (but simple) contract is widely adopted in supply chain transactions.     

Understanding supply chain dynamics: A chaos perspective

Variability in orders or inventories in supply chain systems is generally thought to be caused by exogenous random factors such as uncertainties in customer demand or lead time. Studies have shown, however, that orders or inventories may exhibit significant variability even if customer demand and lead time are deterministic. In this paper, we investigate how this class of variability, chaos, may occur in a multi-level supply chain and offer insights into how to manage relevant supply chain factors to eliminate or reduce system chaos. The supply chain is characterized by the classical beer distribution model with some modifications. We observe the supply chain dynamics under the influence of various factors: demand pattern, ordering policy, demand-information sharing, and lead time. Through proper decision-region formation, the effect of various factors on system chaos is investigated using a factorial design. The degree of system chaos is quantified using the Lyapunov exponent across all levels of the supply chain. This study shows that, to reduce the degree of chaos in the supply chain system, the adjustment parameters for both inventory and supply line discrepancies should be more comparable in magnitude. Counter-intuitively, in certain decision regions, sharing demand information can do more harm than good. Similar to the bullwhip effect observed previously in demand, we discover the phenomenon of “chaos-amplification” in inventory across supply chain levels.     

DEA models for supply chain efficiency evaluation

An appropriate performance measurement system is an important requirement for the effective management of a supply chain. Two hurdles are present in measuring the performance of a supply chain and its members. One is the existence of multiple measures that characterize the performance of chain members, and for which data must be acquired; the other is the existence of conflicts between the members of the chain with respect to specific measures. Conventional data envelopment analysis (DEA) cannot be employed directly to measure the performance of supply chain and its members, because of the existence of the intermediate measures connecting the supply chain members. In this paper it is shown that a supply chain can be deemed as efficient while its members may be inefficient in DEA-terms. The current study develops several DEA-based approaches for characterizing and measuring supply chain efficiency when intermediate measures are incorporated into the performance evaluation. The models are illustrated in a seller-buyer supply chain context, when the relationship between the seller and buyer is treated first as one of leader-follower, and second as one that is cooperative. In the leader-follower structure, the leader is first evaluated, and then the follower is evaluated using information related to the leader's efficiency. In the cooperative structure, the joint efficiency which is modelled as the average of the seller's and buyer's efficiency scores is maximized, and both supply chain members are evaluated simultaneously. Non-linear programming problems are developed to solve these new supply chain efficiency models. It is shown that these DEA-based non-linear programs can be treated as parametric linear programming problems, and best solutions can be obtained via a heuristic technique. The approaches are demonstrated with a numerical example.     

Intuitionistic fuzzy cognitive map approach for the evaluation of supply chain configuration criteria

Because of the growing global competence and effectiveness concepts, supply chain becomes more important for organizations. Therefore, managers object to find best supply chain configuration for their firms. This study proposes a comprehensive configuration for supply chain management process, and it enables to understand relationships among supply chain integration, supply chain strategies, supply chain risk factors, and performance criteria. By reviewing the literature and using experts' knowledge, supply chain configuration criteria are determined. Intuitionistic fuzzy cognitive map methodology is employed to consider the interrelations between criteria. Intuitionistic fuzzy cognitive map methodology is a suitable tool due to the presence of causalities and relationships among criteria and the difficulty of expressing the interrelations with crisp numbers. It also deals with uncertain and vague data and allows representing hesitation. The application is conducted in an automobile factory, which is one of the largest manufacturers in Turkey. The results show that selection of proper supplier is the most significant supply chain configuration criteria. Thus, the importance of supplier selection criteria is also analyzed as the second phase of the study.     

需求依赖努力水平的农产品供应链期权契约优化

针对供应商和零售商组成的农产品供应链,研究市场需求受到努力水平影响的农产品供应链协调问题.由于双重边际效应,分散式供应链中的最优生产数量低于集中式供应链的情况,零售商努力水平也相对较低.引入期权契约时,在零售商主导期权契约的供应链中,研究得到零售商的最优初始订货量和最优期权价格,以及供应商的最优生产数量,实现供应链协调.数值分析证实了期权契约有助于提高零售商的努力水平以及整个供应链的利润.     

Random yield supply chain with a yield dependent secondary market

This paper considers a simple supply chain with one supplier and one retailer where the supplier’s production is subject to random yield and the retailer faces uncertain demand. There exists a secondary market for acquiring or disposing products by the supplier. We study both the centralized and decentralized systems. In the decentralized system, a no risk sharing contract and a risk sharing minimum commitment contract are analyzed. The supply chain with the risk sharing contract is further analyzed with a constant secondary market price and a yield dependent secondary market price. We present both the supplier’s and the retailer’s optimal strategies and provide insights for managers when making decisions under random yield risk and demand uncertainty. We find that the secondary market generally has a positive impact on supply chain performance and the actual effect of random yield risk on the supply chain performance depends on cost parameters and supply chain contract settings. Under certain conditions, reducing yield randomness may weaken the double marginalization effect and improve the chain performance. From the numerical study, we also show that there exists an optimal commitment level for the supply chain.     

The risk of second-tier supplier failures in serial supply chains: Implications for order policies and distributor autonomy

As organizations decrease inventory, the potential impact of a supply disruption increases. However, due to supply chain structural changes, the likelihood of a disruption may be less. Additionally independent supply chain actors may react to policy changes, changing supply chain configurations and perhaps reducing loss magnitudes. If risk is a product of likelihood and magnitude, does higher inventory reduce an organization’s supply related risk? This paper examines the supply risk issue within the context of a second-tier supply failure, and is grounded in inventory and resource dependency theories. By evaluating risk assessment in a simulation environment, exploratory findings suggest that increased inventory in a tiered supply chain can sometimes increase supply risk rather than decrease it. Managerial insights into the effects of supply chain stability and coordination are provided. By taking a systems perspective of supply risk management, organizations will be better able to manage supply risk concerns.     

基于M-CVaR和生产资金约束的供应链协调研究

本文针对供应商面临生产资金约束的情况,在需求随机条件下研究了由一个风险中性零售商和一个具有风险偏好的供应商组成的二级供应链的协调问题。文章在零售商享有批发价折扣的提前支付和供应商银行信贷两种融资方式下,分别建立了零售商的最优决策模型以及基于M-CVaR测度工具的供应链整体订购决策模型,并给出了采用两种不同融资模式时零售商和供应链整体的最优订购量以及供应链的协调条件,分析了供应商的风险偏好对供应链整体最优决策及协调条件的影响。最后通过算例验证了文章的主要结论。研究表明,当提前支付价格折扣大于临界值时,零售商会选择提前支付货款;提前支付模式下供应链整体的最优订购量大于银行信贷模式;随着供应商的风险偏好由风险规避向风险喜好转变,供应链整体的最优订购量逐渐增大。     

Mean–variance analysis of a single supplier and retailer supply chain under a returns policy

In the literature, most of the supply chain coordinating policies target at improving the supply chain’s efficiency in terms of expected cost reduction or expected profit improvement. However, optimizing the expected performance alone cannot guarantee that the realized performance measure will fall within a small neighborhood of its expected value when the corresponding variance is high. Moreover, it ignores the risk aversion of supply chain members which may affect the achievability of channel coordination. As a result, we carry out in this paper a mean–variance (MV) analysis of supply chains under a returns policy. We first propose an MV formulation for a single supplier single retailer supply chain with a newsvendor type of product. The objective of each supply chain decision maker is to maximize the expected profit such that the standard deviation of profit is under the decision maker’s control. We study both the cases with centralized and decentralized supply chains. We illustrate how a returns policy can be applied for managing the supply chains to address the issues such as channel coordination and risk control. Extensive numerical studies are conducted and managerial findings are proposed.     

碳转移与消费者低碳偏好双重影响下供应链异质性产品定价与协调研究

准确提炼碳转移和消费者低碳偏好对供应链异质性产品定价影响机理,不但有助于优化供应链企业间碳排放转移行为,而且也有助于协调供应链主体的定价行为。本文通过构建供应商主导的Stackelberg博弈模型,并将供应链企业间碳排放转移和消费者低偏好纳入到该模型中,分别在分散和集中情景下分析了碳转移和消费者低碳偏好对供应链异质性产品销售价和批发价的影响;针对分散情景下供应链整体利润损失,采用Shapley值协调供应链。研究表明：供应链企业间碳排放转移会正向影响普通产品批发价,但针对低碳产品而言,批发价会先短暂下降后上升;供应链企业间碳排放转移的存在会使得供应链产品销售价先下降后上升,其中普通产品销售价变化幅度更大;消费者低碳偏好对供应链产品定价的影响与碳转移量有关,其中低碳产品定价对消费者低碳偏好的敏感度高于普通产品;碳转移量和消费者低碳偏好达到一定值时,低碳产品会对普通产品产生市场挤兑效应。     

基于顾客排队的服务供应链协调策略研究

现阶段对于服务供应链的研究仍受限于传统产品供应链的研究框架,专门针对服务特性的供应链研究是该领域的核心议题。基于服务供应链面向顾客的独有特性,首先分析了服务供应链中服务提供商、集成商与顾客之间的服务关系,然后构建了基于顾客排队的服务供应链模型,其次探讨了集中式和分散式服务供应链下双方的决策问题。研究结果表明,服务提供商、服务集成商通过选择合理的成本共担系数,制定相应的成本共担契约,是协调分散式服务供应链、实现帕累托最优的最佳策略。研究结论对于开拓和深化服务供应链研究具有一定的启示意义。     

Achieving sharp deliveries in supply chains through variance pool allocation

Variability reduction and business process synchronization are acknowledged as key to achieving sharp and timely deliveries in supply chain networks. In this paper, we develop an approach that facilitates variability reduction and business process synchronization for supply chains in a cost effective way. The approach developed is founded on an analogy between mechanical design tolerancing and supply chain lead time compression. We first present a motivating example to describe this analogy. Next, we define, using process capability indices, a new index of delivery performance called delivery sharpness which, when used with the classical performance index delivery probability, measures the accuracy as well as the precision with which products are delivered to the customers. Following this, we solve the following specific problem: how do we compute the allowable variability in lead time for individual stages of the supply chain so that specified levels of delivery sharpness and delivery probability are achieved in a cost-effective way? We call this the variance pool allocation (VPA) problem. We suggest an efficient heuristic approach for solving the VPA problem and also show that a variety of important supply chain design problems can be posed as instances of the VPA problem. One such problem, which is addressed in this paper, is the supply chain partner selection problem. We formulate and solve the VPA problem for a plastics industry supply chain and demonstrate how the solution can be used to choose the best mix of supply chain partners.     

Matching product architecture with supply chain design

Product architecture is typically established in the early stages of the product development (PD) cycle. Depending on the type of architecture selected, product design, manufacturing processes, and ultimately supply chain configuration are all significantly affected. Therefore, it is important to integrate product architecture decisions with manufacturing and supply chain decisions during the early stage of the product development. In this paper, we present a multi-objective optimization framework for matching product architecture strategy to supply chain design. In contrast to the existing operations management literature, we incorporate the compatibility between the supply chain partners into our model to ensure the long term viability of the supply chain. Since much of the supplier related information may be very subjective in nature during the early stages of PD, we use fuzzy logic to compute the compatibility index of a supplier. The optimization model is formulated as a weighted goal programming (GP) model with two objectives: minimization of total supply chain costs, and maximization of total supply chain compatibility index. The GP model is solved by using genetic algorithm. We present case examples for two different products to demonstrate the model’s efficacy, and present several managerial implications that evolved from this study.     

模糊连续需求下供应链收益共享契约机制研究

研究一个由供应商和零售商组成的两级供应链系统在模糊连续需求环境下的运作过程。将市场需求视为三角模糊数,利用模糊截集理论分析模糊连续需求下的分散决策和集中决策过程,并给出收益共享契约机制下的决策模型。研究结果表明：在模糊连续需求环境下,零售商的订购量存在唯一最优解;供应链系统的“双重边际化”效应同样存在;收益共享契约机制可以实现供应链中成员问的协调。最后,通过数值例子对模型进行了比较分析。     

考虑促销努力与生产努力的供应链召回努力策略研究

考虑一条由单个供应商和单个制造商组成的二级供应链,面对产品召回事件,供应商和制造商都可以通过召回努力来降低召回事件发生的概率。本文研究了供应链最优召回努力策略,研究发现双方的召回努力与初始期望单位召回成本和潜在市场规模有关。当潜在市场规模和初始期望单位召回成本都较小时,双方均选择部分召回努力,当潜在市场规模和初始期望单位召回成本都较大时,双方均选择全部召回努力,否则,供应商选择全额召回努力而制造商选择部分召回努力。由于制造商的促销努力与供应商的生产努力是企业扩大市场规模常用的策略,因此,本文还研究了这两种策略分别对供应链召回努力策略的影响。我们发现这两种策略都能降低双方采取全额召回努力时潜在市场规模的门槛,激励双方增加召回努力,降低产品召回概率并增加供应链成员的利润。特别的,我们还对比了这两种策略对双方召回努力的影响,发现当促销努力成本系数与生产努力成本系数都较小时,两种策略对召回努力的影响相同,当生产努力成本系数足够大时,考虑促销努力时双方的召回努力水平更高,否则,考虑生产努力时双方的召回努力水平更高。     

多重参照点、公平偏好和三级供应链协调机制设计

在“单个制造商—单个分销商—单个零售商”三级供应链框架下,考察零售商依赖于多重参照点的公平偏好对于供应链运作造成的偏差,并在此基础上设计一个能够实现供应链整体协调的利润共享组合契约。研究发现:零售商对分销商利润和制造商利润的公平感知影响批发价格和分销价格变动的机制具有差异性;零售商的公平偏好不影响供应链的整体利润,但是会引起利润在各厂商间的重新分配;通过实行一个合理的利润共享组合契约,可以在零售商具有公平偏好的情形下达到供应链全局最优。最后用数值仿真验证了该利润共享组合契约作为协调机制的可行性。