This paper employs a dynamic optimal control model which is consistent in the explanation of optimal treatment (output) decision of the supplier and how the patients translate signal of advertising-like and reputation into expectation of quality and price. The supplier's advertising-like efforts in relation to the size of the service facility signal the level of price rather than quality. Since...

In this paper we consider a system consisting of a supplier with a single processing unit, a repair center, and a retailer with Poisson demand. We assume that the retailer applies one-for-one ordering policy with backorders for his inventory control. The retailer’s orders form a queue in the supplier processing unit. We also assume that a certain fraction of the products produced by the supplie...

We study the decision of a manufacturer (buyer), expecting new sourcing opportunities in the future, to select between a sole and a second sourcing mechanism for a non-commodity component. In a sole sourcing mechanism, the buyer commits to source from the current supplier. In a second sourcing mechanism, the buyer keeps the option open to source from a new supplier in the future. For a buyer th...

This paper investigates empirically the theoretical motivations for the use of trade credit by firms for purchases. The extent to which trade credit is used for purchases and the accounts payable to total assets ratio, i.e. the demand for trade credit, are modelled here as a function of transaction costs motivations, financing motivations, operational considerations, seller compliance issues, s...

To attract and keep customers, companies, especially those in e-business, are increasingly offering free shipping to buyers whose order sizes exceed the free shipping quantity. In this paper, given the supplier offers free shipping and the retailer faces stochastic demand, we determine the retailer’s (i.e., the newsvendor’s) optimal order quantity and the optimal selling price simultaneously. W...

Purpose of the paper and literature addressed: The purpose of this research is to understand why early supplier integration in new product development repeatedly fails and how to select the right suppliers to avoid supplier obstructionism. We review the literature on early supplier integration. Research method: We conducted a consortial benchmarking study, involving seven firms as part of the r...

This research considers a supply chain under the following conditions: (i) two heterogeneous suppliers are in competition, (ii) supply capacity is random and pricing is endogenous, (iii) consumer demand, with and without an intermediate retailer, is price dependent. Specifically, we examine how uncertainty in supply capacity affects optimal ordering and pricing decisions, supplier and retailer ...

Background: There are currently large regional variations in the frequency of physician-patient encounters for the treatment of chronic lifestyle diseases in Japan. These variations may be influenced by competition among physicians, and supplier-induced demand (SID) in health care can occur when physicians manipulate their patients’ demand for medical services to increase the use of health care...

This paper deals with the optimal allocation of demand across a set of suppliers given the risk of suppliers’ failure to deliver. We consider items that are used in multiple facilities (demand points) and that can be purchased from multiple suppliers with different cost and reliability characteristics. Suppliers have production flexibility that allows them to deliver a contingency quantity in c...

Demand fluctuations in the supply chain lead to uncertainty in inventory policy and thereupon the inventory costs increase. This paper considers the impact of forecasting on the demand variation in a serial three-stage supply chain including a retailer, a manufacturer and a supplier. Four forecasting methods are considered and demand variations evaluated as bullwhip effect measure. We use analy...