Drawing on empirical and experimental research into the composition and development of trust, we construct a multi-period model to examine the role of trust in a supply chain. We specifically focus on trust building in the context of a wholesale salesperson who acts as a representative of a manufacturer and shares demand forecast information with a retailer. The actions of the salesperson affec...

 Normally, the real-world inventory control problems are imprecisely defined and human interventions are often required to solve these decision-making problems. In this paper, a realistic inventory model with imprecise inventory costs have been formulated for deteriorating items under trade credit policy within the economic production quantity (EPQ) framework. We assume that the supplier would...

Gift cards are a common form of restricted funds: The balance of a closed-loop (brand-specific) gift card can only be redeemed at the originating brand. We propose that this restriction compels the recipient of a gift card to consider how the funds can be spent, which leads to the formation of a brand-specific spending goal and corresponding mental account. Because purchases more representative...

In this article, we analyze the application of options contract in the special commodity supply chain such as fresh agricultural products. This problem is discussed from the point of the retailer. When spot market and future market are both available, we discuss how the retailer chooses the optimal production. Furthermore, overconfidence is introduced to the supply chain of the fresh agricultur...

Abstract: The one-stage credit policy is a situation that arises, under a permissible delay in payments, when the supplier offers a credit period to the retailer, but the latter does not offer any credit period to his/her customers. However, this type of credit policy is debatable in most business transactions. In reality, the retailer also adopts the credit policy to stimulate his/her own dema...

Retailer-Driven Product Bundling in a Distribution Channel This paper studies product bundling in a distribution channel where a downstream retailer combines component goods produced by separate manufacturers acting independently. Past literature offers deep insights about bundling by a single firm whose unit costs are not impacted by choice of selling strategy. But, when the retailer bundles g...

To set inventory service levels, suppliers must understand how changes in inventory service level affect demand. We build on prior research, which uses analytical models and laboratory experiments to study the impact of a supplier’s service level on demand from retailers, by testing this relationship in the field. We analyze a field experiment at the supplier Hugo Boss to determine how the supp...

Combining different product types into standard discount bundles is a common strategy used by producers and wholesalers to increase overall sales profitability. While markets consist of many producers and retailers, a deal is typically made between a single producer and a single retailer. This paper deals with a producer who sells items separately, and considers setting and selling standard dis...

Companies operating global supply chains in various industries struggle with parallel importers diverting goods from authorized channels to gray markets. While the existing gray market literature mainly focuses on pricing, in this paper we develop a model to examine the role of demand enhancing services as non-price mechanisms for coping with gray markets. We consider a manufacturer that sells ...

BACKGROUND Despite a declining prevalence in many countries, smoking rates remain consistently high among young adults. Targeting contextual influences on smoking, such as the availability of tobacco retailers, is one promising avenue of intervention. Most studies have focused on residential or school neighbourhoods, without accounting for other settings where individuals spend time, that is, t...