We consider a supply chain consisting of a single supplier and a single retailer with stochastic customer demand, which is operated over an infinite horizon. We propose a delay-in-payment contract to coordinate the supply chain. With this contract, the supplier allows the retailer to pay partial...

We consider a single-distributor multi-retailer inventory system in six operating scenarios for a finite horizon. Five scenarios are in decentralized control and the other one is in centralized control. Approximate dynamic programming (ADP) procedures are developed to obtain system performances...

This study aims to gain insight in quality assurance (QA) activities along China’s dairy chain, to assess the potential of meeting more demanding domestic and foreign consumers. The study reviewed QA literature and QA standards (HACCP, GlobalGAP, and BRC) to formulate indicators for QA. Based...

Mushrooms traditionally collected from forests and now more cultivated have recently become the products of the fifth-largest agricultural sector in China. It was estimated that more than 25 million farmers in China are currently engaged in the collection, cultivation processing and marketing of...

We conducted experiments in a multi-echelon inventory system with two scenarios: no information sharing and full information sharing. The results indicate that the bullwhip effect persists even after traditional causes have been excluded. Moreover, full information sharing cannot guarantee...

We consider a periodic-review inventory system with two suppliers: an unreliable regular supplier that may be disrupted for a random duration, and a reliable backup supplier that can be used during a disruption. The backup supplier charges higher unit purchasing cost and fixed order cost when...

We consider a supply chain with a single supplier and two retailers. The retailers choose their orders strategically, and if their orders exceed the supplier's capacity, quantities are allocated proportionally to the orders. We experimentally study the capacity allocation game using subjects...

In Nash bargaining problem, due to fairness concerns of players, instead of maximizing the sum of utilities of all players, an implementable solution should satisfy some axioms or characterizations. Such a solution can result in the so-called price of fairness, because of the reduction in the...

This paper studies the inventory management problem of dual channels operated by one vendor. Demands of dual channels are inventory-level-dependent. We propose a multi-period stochastic dynamic programming model which shows that under mild conditions, the myopic inventory policy is optimal for...

China is experiencing increased land contamination in recent years. A number of social and economic problems have developed and must be dealt with, in some cases, as a matter of urgency. Those problems have been neglected for years and so far there is no nationwide specific legislation to...