scholarly journals The Entropy Complexity of an Asymmetric Dual-Channel Supply Chain with Probabilistic Selling

Entropy ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yimin Huang ◽  
Qiuxiang Li

Considering consumers’ attitudes to risks for probabilistic products and probabilistic selling, this paper develops a dynamic Stackelberg game model of the supply chain considering the asymmetric dual-channel structure. Based on entropy theory and dynamic theory, we analyze and simulate the influences of decision variables and parameters on the stability and entropy of asymmetric dual-channel supply chain systems using bifurcation, entropy diagram, the parameter plot basin, attractor, etc. The results show that decision variables and parameters have great impacts on the stability of asymmetric dual-channel supply chains; the supply chain system will enter chaos through flip bifurcation or Neimark–Sacker bifurcation with the increase of the system entropy, and thus the system is more complex and falls into a chaotic state, with its entropy increased. The stability of the system can become robust with the increase of the probability that product a becomes a probabilistic product, and it weakens with the increase of the risk preference of customers for probabilistic products and the relative bargaining power of the retailer. A manufacturer using the direct selling channel may obtain greater profit than one using traditional selling channels. Using the method of parameter adjustment and feedback control, the entropy of the supply chain system will decline, and the supply chain system will fall into a stable state. Therefore, in the actual market of probabilistic selling, the manufacturers and retailers should pay attention to the parameters and adjustment speed of prices and ensure the stability of the game process and the orderliness of the dual-channel supply chain.

Author(s):  
Qiuxiang Li ◽  
Xingli Chen ◽  
Yimin Huang

This paper studies a low-carbon dual-channel supply chain in which a manufacturer sells products through the direct channel and traditional channel, and a retailer sells products through the traditional channel. The manufacturer considers carbon emission reduction and has fairness concern behavior. The retailer provides sales service in the traditional channel and considers fairness concern behavior. The objective of this paper is to analyze the effects of different parameter values on the price stability and utility of the supply chain system emphatically using 2D bifurcation diagram, parameter plot basin, the basins of attraction, chaos attractor and sensitivity to the initial value, etc. The results find that the retailer’s fairness concern behavior shrinks the stability of the supply chain system more than that of the manufacturer’s fairness concern behavior. The system stability region decreases with the increase of carbon emission reduction level and the retailer’s fairness concern. The customers’ preference for the direct channel decreases the stable range of the direct channel, while it enlarges the stable range of the traditional channel. The supply chain system enters into chaos through flip bifurcation with the increase of price adjustment speed. In a stable state, the manufacture improving customer’s preference for the direct channel and the retailer choosing the appropriate fairness concern level can achieve the maximum utility separately. In a chaotic state, the average utilities of the manufacturer and retailer all decline, while that of the retailer declines even more. By selecting appropriate control parameter, the low-carbon dual-channel supply chain system can return to a stable state from chaos again. The research of this paper is of great significance to price decisions of participants and supply chain operation management.


Author(s):  
Hehua Fan ◽  
Yongwei Zhou

A dual-channel supply chain system composed of one manufacturer and one retailer is considered in this paper, which existed uncertainty demands in both distribution channels and capital constraint on retailer. It set up the profit model of manufacturer dominated dual-channel supply chain system, studied to the optimal pricing and inventory strategies of decentralized and centralized supply chain, obtained the optimal pricing and inventory strategy of the two kinds of supply chain system. The analysis to the optimal solution indicated that the demand uncertainty of two distribution channels, deferred-payment rate etc, are all have certain influence relation on the pricing strategies of manufacturer and retailer. Numerical experiment has showed the effectiveness of the conclusions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (16) ◽  
pp. 2050241
Author(s):  
Junhai Ma ◽  
Yaping Li ◽  
Zongxian Wang

Showrooming has become common practice of consumers in the context of dual-channel retailing. Under different intensities of showrooming, the manufacturer can decide whether to directly retail online (the M-R case) or resell through an e-retailer (the E-R case). Dual-channel supply chain models and dynamic game models are developed and both online selling formats are investigated. The dynamic game process of the supply chain is numerically simulated. The stability of the Nash equilibrium point is investigated by parameter basins for periodical cycles and bifurcation diagrams. The results show that the price adjustment speeds have a larger stability range in the M-R case while the service effort adjustment speed has a larger stability range in the E-R case. The stability of the systems is more sensitive to price adjustment speed than service effort adjustment speed in both supply chain structures. It is found that the systems will enter chaos through a flip bifurcation or a Neimark–Sacker bifurcation. The changes in attractors and basins of attraction indicate that both channels can reach the equilibria more easily when they choose a lower speed of retail price adjustment. The effects of showrooming on decision variables are greater in the M-R case than in the E-R case. When the showrooming effect is moderate, the manufacturer should choose the M-R case; when the showrooming effect is sufficiently large or sufficiently small, the manufacturer should choose the E-R case. We propose a wholesale price markdown strategy which can: (i) eliminate the double marginalization and coordinate the supply chain; (ii) effectively control the chaos caused by the overhigh adjustment speed of wholesale price, and restore the system to a stable state; (iii) improve the retailer’s service effort.


Author(s):  
Xue-Mei Zhang ◽  
Ying-Ying Li ◽  
Zhi Liu ◽  
Qian-Wen Li

To study the impact of advertising cooperation on the decisions of dual-channel supply chain, a dual-channel supply chain system consisting of a single manufacturer and a single retailer is considered. The manufacturer can sell products to customers either through a direct marketing channel or through a traditional retail channel. This paper analyses the level of advertising investment and supply chain profits of centralized and decentralized dual-channel supply chains based on a Stackelberg game. Then, the decision models of dual-channel supply chain under different contracts are constructed, and how manufacturers can optimize the profits of both sides through an effective coordination mechanism is analyzed. The research results show that the improved advertising costs and revenue sharing contract can perfectly coordinate the dual-channel supply chain system. Numerical experiments illustrate the impacts of parameters on the optimal decision results.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 8602
Author(s):  
Haitao Chen ◽  
Zhaohui Dong ◽  
Gendao Li

This study establishs a dual channel closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) model under a government–penalty mechanism (RPM) consisting a dual-channel manufacturer, a retailer, and the government. We consider a Stackelberg game between the manufacturer and the retailer, and the government rewards or punishes manufacturers on the basis of the collection rate of used products. This paper analyzes the influence of government RPM on the optimal decisions, the relationship between the two sales channels, and the total social welfare of the supply chain system. We find that the government RPM can improve the stability of the dual-channel supply chain and the collection rate of the used products. Moreover, we are the first to provide a method of deriving the optimal government RPM through a numerical example.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 2296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhou Xideng ◽  
Xu Bing ◽  
Xie Fei ◽  
Li Yu

Although supply quality management has been studied extensively, one important marketing phenomenon, that is, reference effect has been rarely considered in dual-channel supply chain quality management literatures. In fact, the quality reference effect is also an important factor which influences consumer purchasing behavior. We aim to explore the influence of the reference effect on the optimal decisions and performance of a dual-channel supply. Thus, we formulate dynamic models that include the product quality reference effect and the service quality reference effect in a dual-channel supply chain system consisting of a manufacturer and a retailer under the different decision-making scenarios. Utilizing differential game theory, optimal decisions are obtained for the product quality and service quality decision under the different decision-making scenarios. In addition, the optimal decisions and profits are compared, then a service cost-sharing coordinating mechanism is proposed and proven to be effective in the supply chain system. The main results show when the initial reference service quality is low, the consumer service quality reference effect is beneficial to the manufacturer. The spillover effect of service quality is not conducive to the retailer and the manufacturer. When the initial reference product quality is low, both online and offline product quality reference effects are beneficial to the retailer and the manufacturer. The stable (or final) reference quality will not be affected by the initial reference quality. The sum of the two members’ profits under decentralized decision making is less than the total profit of the supply chain under centralized decision making. We design a cost-sharing coordinating mechanism to eliminate the double marginal effect.


Author(s):  
Di Wu ◽  
Juhong Chen ◽  
Ruyu Yan ◽  
Ruijun Zhang

The fierce competition in the recycling industry and the rapid development of internet technology has prompted recycling centers to develop a dual-channel reverse supply chain with both offline and online recycling channels. After the introduction of online channels, recycling centers and third-party recyclers (TPR) have paid attention to the division of profits in supply chain systems and the behavior of fairness concerns. Therefore, it is necessary to help recycling enterprises make pricing decisions in consideration of fairness concerns. This paper is aimed at answering the following two main questions: (1) When the recycling center or TPR have fairness concerns, how does the optimal pricing and revenue of supply chain members change when both sides are neutral? (2) When the fairness concern coefficient changes, how does the overall revenue of the supply chain system change? How should supply chain members adjust their pricing decisions to maximize their own profits? In order to solve the above problems, Stackelberg game models were made from three aspects: both sides are neutral, only the TPR has fairness concerns, and only the recycling center has fairness concerns. Based on the results of the example analyses for the model, we found that when only the TPR has fairness concerns, the profit of the recycling center and the transfer price of offline channels will decrease, while the profit of TPR is the opposite. Furthermore, when only a recycling center has fairness concerns, it will lead to the reduction of not only the recycling price and transfer price of offline channels, but also the profits of the entire supply chain system. Specially, whether it is for a recycling center or TPR, a lower level of fairness concern coefficient has a stronger impact on pricing and revenue than at high levels.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huihui Liu ◽  
Shuguang Sun ◽  
Ming Lei ◽  
G. Keong Leong ◽  
Honghui Deng

Many studies examine information sharing in an uncertain demand environment in a supply chain. However there is little literature on cost information sharing in a dual-channel structure consisting of a retail channel and a direct sales channel. Assuming that the retail sale cost and direct sale cost are random variables with a general distribution, the paper investigates the retailer’s choice on cost information sharing in a Bertrand competition model. Based on the equilibrium outcome of information sharing, the manufacturer’s channel choice is discussed in detail. Our paper provides several interesting conclusions. In both single- and dual-channel structures, the retailer has little motivation to share its private cost information which is verified to be valuable for the manufacturer. When the cost correlation between the two channels increases, our analyses show that the manufacturer’s profit improves. However, when channel choice is involved, the value of information could play a different role. The paper finds that a dual-channel structure can benefit the manufacturer only when the cost correlation is sufficiently low. In addition, if the cost correlation is weak, the cost fluctuation will bring out the advantage of a dual-channel structure and adding a new direct channel will help in risk pooling.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raaid Batarfi

Internet-based technologies have changed the way firms do business and manage their supply chains. They have influenced customers’ purchase patterns, thereby motivating manufacturers to introduce online channels alongside traditional ones. Such structures are known as dual-channels. Nowadays, an increasing number of manufacturers offer a return policy to attract more customers and to stay competitive. Furthermore, learning-based continuous improvements help firms cope with market changes and be competitive, flexible and efficient. This thesis presents three main models: The first model investigates the effect of adopting a dual-channel (comprised of a retail channel and an online channel) on the performance of a two-level (vendor-retailer) supply chain. The objective is to maximize the total profit of the system by finding the optimal markup margin and inventory decisions before and after adopting the dual-channel. The results show that adding an online channel would increase the profit of the system. However, it creates a conflict due to competition between the retail and online channels. The second model studies a supply chain system, which is comprised of production, refurbishing, collection, and waste disposal processes. A return policy in which customers can return the purchased item for a refund is also considered. The purpose is to examine the effect of different return policies on the behavior of the system before and after adopting the dual-channel strategy. In both strategies, the model analyzes the change in the profit, the pricing and inventory decisions. The findings demonstrate that the more generous the return policy is, the higher the demand, the selling prices and the overall profit. The third model investigates the effects of learning and forgetting in the vendor’s production processes. It also considers single- and dual-channel strategies. Each channel structure can adopt any of six inventory policies. Learning and forgetting effects are considered in all policies except one. The objective is to maximize the profit of the system by finding the joint optimal pricing and inventory decisions. The results suggests that learning, despite being impeded by forgetting, reduces inventory-related costs thereby allowing the chain to reduce the prices of its product(s), which increases demand and subsequently sales.


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