Price and retailer's service level decision in a supply chain under consumer returns

To investigate the optimal retail price and service level in a supply chain under consumer returns, a consumer returns model under the retailer＇s service provision is built. The optimal decision results and optimal profits are obtained in the vertical integration game and the manufacturer Stackelberg game, respectively. Through comparing the optimal profits with service provision with those of no service provision, the boundary conditions that the retailer＇s service should be provided are derived. The results show that in the manufacturer Stackelberg game, the optimal profit of the retailer and the manufacturer with service is always superior to that of a no service provision. However, in the vertical integration game, the supply chain can only benefit from the service under certain conditions. Finally, through numerical examples, the impacts of the cost for providing services and the consumer return rate on the optimal decisions are analyzed.

Study on pricing decision of new energy vehicle supply chain under Baa S model

Based on the Baa S model,a new energy vehicle supply chain game model composed of battery-swapping operators and vehicle manufacturers was constructed,and the corresponding optimal decisions of the supply chain members were obtained.The influence of related parameters on the equilibrium results was analyzed,and the Matlab was used for example analysis.The results show that:(1)The increase in the average consumer commuter mileage over the life of the vehicle can promote the increase in the demand for new energy vehicles and the profits of the supply chain members,which has a driving effect on the development of the battery swap industry.(2)Consumer sensitivity coefficient to the price of battery swap has a negative impact on battery-swapping price,new energy vehicle price,market demand for new energy vehicles,and profits of vehicle manufacturers and battery-swapping operators.

Optimal pricing decision model based on activity-based costing

In order to find out the applicability of the optimal pricing decision model based on conventional cost behavior model after activity based costing has given strong shock to the conventional cost behavior model and its assumptions, detailed analyses have been made using the activity based cost behavior and cost volume profit analysis model, and it is concluded from these analyses that the theory behind the construction of optimal pricing decision model is still tenable under activity based costing, but the conventional optimal pricing decision model must be modified as appropriate to the activity based costing based cost behavior model and cost volume profit analysis model, and an optimal pricing decision model is really a product pricing decision model constructed by following the economic principle of maximizing profit.

Investment in deepwater oil and gas exploration projects:a multi-factor analysis with a real options model

Deepwater oil and gas projects embody high risks from geology and engineering aspects, which exert substantial influence on project valuation. But the uncer- tainties may be converted to additional value to the projects in the case of flexible management. Given the flexibility of project management, this paper extends the classical real options model to a multi-factor model which contains oil price, geology, and engineering uncertainties. It then gives an application example of the new model to evaluate deepwater oil and gas projects with a numerical analytical method. Compared with other methods and models, this multi-factor real options model contains more project information. It reflects the potential value deriving not only from oil price variation but also from geology and engi- neering uncertainties, which provides more accurate and reliable valuation information for decision makers.

Pricing Decision of E-Commerce Supply Chains with Return and Online Review of Product Quality

The online review function helps consumers grasp more real product information and reduce the possibility of returning, but it may also damage firms’ reputations or profits. However, few studies considered the relationship between online reviews and consumer returns. Based on this, we develop an e-commerce supply chain(E-SC) game model consisting of a single manufacturer and a single e-platform, aiming to explore the relationship between consumer returns and online reviews and to analyze the impact on both the decision-making of E-SC members and their profits. We find that there is a negative relationship between consumer returns and online reviews of product quality, and consumer returns make the pricing decisions in the two scenarios of yes/no online reviews move toward two different directions. Only when the online review is positive and higher than a certain threshold will it have a positive impact on sales and E-SC members’ profits. Finally, we design a new “commission joint returns and quality improvement costs sharing” contract to optimize the decentralized model with online reviews, and we find that the higher the accuracy of product information, the less conducive the contract applied to E-SC.

Cause-related Marketing Strategy in Supply Chain Considering Quality Differentiation

Cause-related marketing(CRM),as an organic combination of marketing and corporate social responsibility(CSR),has been widely used in the supply chain.However,the existing literature rarely studies the CRM strategy the in the supply chain.This paper explores the pricing decisions and CRM strategy of supply chain members by examining a supply chain system consisting of a manufacturer and a retailer,where the manufacturer produces two quality differentiated products.By developing a Stackelberg model for three scenarios,including the No CRM strategy,CRM strategy for the high-quality product,and CRM strategy for the low-quality product,this paper finds that the CRM strategy will result in higher wholesale and sales prices for the cause-related product.In addition,consumers’pro-sociality and the degree of product quality differentiation are critical to the manufacturer’s choice of CRM strategy.When the quality difference differs significantly,the manufacturer should implement CRM for the high-quality product in a market with low consumer pro-sociality and for the low-quality product in a market with high consumer pro-sociality;when the product quality difference is slight,the manufacturer should choose to implement CRM for the low-quality product regardless of consumer’s pro-sociality.Furthermore,the model is extended to that the retailer implements the CRM strategy and a retailer-led supply chain.The results indicate that CRM strategy in the supply chain is not influenced by the implementing entity or the supply chain leader.

OPTIMAL PRICING AND INVENTORY POLICY WITH ORDER CANCELATIONS UNDER THE CASH-ON-DELIVERY PAYMENT SCHEME

Considering a periodic review system where the online seller allows the customers to pay when the products are delivered to them(referred as cash-on-delivery payment scheme in this paper),the authors investigate the seller's joint pricing and inventory control policy with a finite planning horizon.In particular,the authors incorporate the customers' possible order cancellation behavior with the cash-on-delivery scheme.It can be proven that the base-stock list price policy is optimal under mild conditions.The authors also analyze the impact of the customers' forward looking behavior on the optimal policy.