Fashion retail competition on product greenness with overconfidence

In this paper, we study the impacts of overconfidence in a competitive retailer setting of green fashion. We model a green fashion supply chain comprising one unbiased manufacturer and two biased retailers, to explore how overconfidence affects greenness level of fashion products and expected profit of retailers. An overconfident retailer has a cognitive bias in which it believes consumers are more sensitive to greenness of fashion products than it really is. Our findings show that the competition between two retailers discourages greenness level of fashion products, while overconfidence can provide a counterbalance to the negative impact caused by competition. We also find, a retailer's overconfidence is not only conducive to the greenness level of its own fashion products, but also can benefit to its rival. Moreover, it shows a low level of overconfidence can be a comparative advantage of the retailer's profit. Even though one of the retailers is unbiased and has an advantage of information, it can still earn less than its overconfident rival.

Fiber to the home unbundling and retail competition: developments in the Netherlands

This study provides preliminary insights into how fiber to the home (FTTH) networks affect competition in the broadband Internet access market, and how, and if, competition on FTTH networks can be sustained. This study focuses on the Netherlands, a fast growing FTTH market with regulation mandating unbundling. Even though it is too early to paint a full picture of developments in the competitive landscape, initial findings suggest that rollout of FTTH has positive short-term effects on facilities-based competition. However, the extent to which competition on FTTH networks will develop at both the active operator and retail level remains unclear at this point. Additional uncertainties regarding the future of facilities-based competition suggest continued close monitoring of the market is necessary. Future research should address the extent to which competition at the active and retail level affect innovation.

Fiber to the home unbundling and retail competition: developments in the Netherlands

This study provides preliminary insights into how fiber to the home (FTTH) networks affect competition in the broadband Internet access market, and how, and if, competition on FTTH networks can be sustained. This study focuses on the Netherlands, a fast growing FTTH market with regulation mandating unbundling. Even though it is too early to paint a full picture of developments in the competitive landscape, initial findings suggest that rollout of FTTH has positive short-term effects on facilities-based competition. However, the extent to which competition on FTTH networks will develop at both the active operator and retail level remains unclear at this point. Additional uncertainties regarding the future of facilities-based competition suggest continued close monitoring of the market is necessary. Future research should address the extent to which competition at the active and retail level affect innovation.

Managing Cost Reduction Efforts in Supplier Encroachment

The extant literature has indicated that upstream supplier encroachment on the incumbent retailer could be beneficial to the supplier, the retailer, and the entire industry, when the supplier’s marketing disadvantage satisfies specific conditions. This study extends the previous investigations about supplier encroachment to the circumstance where the supplier is capable of managing and mitigating her marketing disadvantage, which further intensifies the retail competition and provides new managerial implications about the encroachment. We find that encroachment with cost reduction efforts does not necessarily hurt the retailer and the industry but always benefit the supplier and consumers. Compared to encroachment without the cost reduction effort, encroachment with cost reduction efforts does not necessarily benefit the supplier and the industry. Between encroachment with and without cost reduction efforts, the retailer and consumers always prefer the latter and the former, respectively. Our findings provide meaningful insights to manage cost reduction efforts in supply chain encroachment.

Optimal Subsidies for Development Supply Chains

Problem definition: When donors subsidize products for sale to low-income families, they need to address who to subsidize in the supply chain and to what extent and whether such supply chain structures as retail competition, substitutable products, and demand uncertainty matter. Academic/practical relevance: By introducing and analyzing development supply chains in which transactions are commercial but subsidies are needed for affordability, we explore different supply chain structures, with product substitution and retail competition motivated by a field study in Haiti of subsidized solar lantern supply chains. Methodology: We incorporate product substitution, retail competition, and demand uncertainty in a three-echelon supply chain model with manufacturers, retailers, and consumers. This model has transactions among the donor, manufacturers, retailers, and consumers as a four-stage Stackelberg game, and we solve different variations of this game by using backward induction. Results: The donor can subsidize the manufacturer, retailer, or customer as long as the total subsidy per unit across these echelons is maintained at the optimal level. Having more product choice and having more retail channel choice can increase the number of beneficiaries adopting the products; this increase becomes more pronounced as demand becomes more uncertain. Managerial implications: Donors must coordinate across different programs along the entire supply chain. They should look for evidence in their collective experience of more beneficiaries when subsidizing competing retailers selling diverse substitutable products.