Disintermediation and co-opetition in platform ecosystems and modern value chains

textThis dissertation investigates partial disintermediation and co-opetition in platform-based ecosystems and modern supply chains. Disintermediation has been an intriguing puzzle for managers for the last several decades, but recent development in electronic commerce makes the management of this trade-off even more challenging. The first type of partial disintermediation I study, often referred to as platform envelopment, is widely observed in platform-based businesses. Platform owners often rely on complementary innovations from third-party providers (i.e., third-party contents), while providing their own products/services to consumers (i.e., first-party contents). The second type of partial disintermediation I study is referred to as supplier encroachment. Due to the fast development of electronic commerce, many manufacturers have established their direct-selling channels on the internet (e.g., online stores), instead of completely relying on third-party retailers to reach customers. The widespread observation of disintermediation and the resulting co-opetition behaviors in various industries has motivated me to investigate two important questions: (1) what's the impact of partial disintermediation on consumer demand and firm profits? (2) what strategies can be used to manage the co-opetition relationship? I use both analytical modeling and empirical methods to study the impact of disintermediation on consumer behaviors, firm profits, and social welfare. The findings provide managerial insights into how to manage the co-opetition dilemma due to disintermediation.Information, Risk, and Operations Management (IROM

An American Reset – Safe Water & a Workable Model of Federalism

In 2015, at least 3.9 million Americans were exposed to lead in their drinking water at legally unacceptable levels. An additional 18 million Americans were at risk because their water systems were not in compliance with federal rules designed to detect the presence of lead contamination and to ameliorate its impact. What’s more, in 82 percent of the cases where the violation related to a health standard, no formal state or federal enforcement action was taken. These startling statistics indicate that the Flint Water Crisis (“Flint Water”) is not an isolated event. In fact, it is a case study that might explain these statistics. Flint Water reveals a fault line within our cooperative federalism model: We are relying on an increasingly ineffective power structure to guarantee the safety of our water supply, one that places the heaviest burden on the least powerful actor—the water supplier. This article proposes a ‘reset’ of the model in order to achieve safe water and government accountability

An American Reset – Safe Water & a Workable Model of Federalism

In 2015, at least 3.9 million Americans were exposed to lead in their drinking water at legally unacceptable levels. An additional 18 million Americans were at risk because their water systems were not in compliance with federal rules designed to detect the presence of lead contamination and to ameliorate its impact. What’s more, in 82 percent of the cases where the violation related to a health standard, no formal state or federal enforcement action was taken. These startling statistics indicate that the Flint Water Crisis (“Flint Water”) is not an isolated event. In fact, it is a case study that might explain these statistics. Flint Water reveals a fault line within our cooperative federalism model: We are relying on an increasingly ineffective power structure to guarantee the safety of our water supply, one that places the heaviest burden on the least powerful actor—the water supplier. This article proposes a ‘reset’ of the model in order to achieve safe water and government accountability

Online expansion: is it another kind of strategic manufacturer response to a dominant retailer?

YesThe issues of channel conflict and channel power have received widespread research attention, including Geylani et al.’s (2007) work on channel relations in an asymmetric retail setting. Specifically, these authors suggest that a manufacturer can respond to a dominant retailer’s pricing pressure by raising the wholesale price for a weak retailer over that for the dominant retailer while transferring demand to the weak retailer channel via cooperative advertising. But, is online expansion another kind of strategic manufacturer’s optimal response to a dominant retailer? In this paper, we extend this work by adding a direct online selling channel to illustrate the impact of the manufacturer’s internet entry on firms’ demands, profits, and pricing strategies and on consumer welfare. Our analysis thus includes a condition in which the manufacturer can add an online channel. If such an online channel is opened, the channel-supported network externality will always benefit the manufacturer but hurt the retailers. Consumers, however, will only benefit from the network externality when a dominant retailer is present and will be hurt when both retailers are symmetric.National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chongqing’s Natural Science Foundation, British Academ

Imperialism after empire? Britain and Qatar in the aftermath of the withdrawal from East of Suez

The existing historiography on relations between Britain and the states of Lower Gulf after British withdrawal from ‘East of Suez’ in 1971 suggests that the former imperial power successfully established an informal role in the 1970s and beyond which amounted to empire in all but name. While Britain certainly sought to retain as much of its influence and as many of its interests in the economically important Lower Gulf as possible, an analysis of Anglo-Qatari relations after 1971 demonstrates that Britain’s former exclusive position was substantially eroded. British economic weakness, fierce competition from Britain’s industrial rivals, and the encroachment of the Arab world into the affairs of Qatar all militated still further against the preservation of British influence and interests, let alone the establishment of an informal imperial relationship with Qatar

Trade Collapse, Trade Relapse and Global Production Networks: Supply Chains in the Great Recession (revised)

Global supply chains reshaped international trade since the 1980s. Their role in explaining the trade collapse that followed the financial crisis of September 2008 was significant. Because manufacture production is internationally fragmented, adverse external shocks affect firms not only through final demand, but also through the disruption on the flow of inputs received from their suppliers. The future of supply chains depends of alternative exit scenarios from the Great Recession; as a result of global rebalancing, they will probably be smaller and more regional. Left unchecked, these centripetal forces may lead to a deterioration of global governance and to rampant deglobalization. On the other hand, because trade in goods for processing inflated artificially some bilateral trade imbalances, correcting them will prove easier in the short term, while the technical factors that made possible the internationalization of production will keep promoting further "flattening of the Earth" in the longer term. The reshaping of global effective demand is of particular importance for the labour abundant Least Developed Countries that were relying on global supply chains to attract productive investments.international supply chain; global value chains; great trade collapse; exit scenario; trade and development

Strategic Supplier Dynamics and Decision-making in Supply Chain Management: Exploring Market Segmentation, Copycatting, and Encroachment

In this dissertation, we explore the intricate dynamics of supplier relationships and strategic decision-making within the realm of Operations Management, focusing on the critical aspects of supply chain management. The research consists of three papers, each offering unique insights into supplier dynamics and their implications for manufacturers and businesses. The first paper presents a robust framework for joint learning of consumer preferences and market segmentation. Leveraging ideas from machine learning and mathematical programming, this framework efficiently segments the customer base and accurately learns preferences without compromising consumer privacy. By optimizing assortment decisions, this approach maximizes profits and offers superior prediction accuracy, enhancing marketing strategies in dynamic market scenarios. The second paper delves into the pressing issue of supplier copycatting, where suppliers imitate original products, posing challenges to manufacturers and suppliers worldwide. Employing a game-theoretic approach, the research analyzes strategic responses of manufacturers and suppliers to cope with this emerging trend. The findings reveal the impacts of quality improvements and potential shifts in outsourcing decisions, providing valuable insights for managing supplier relationships and mitigating copycatting risks. The third paper investigates the ramifications of supplier encroachment, as upstream suppliers venture into direct sales and compete with manufacturers. Through a two-period game-theoretic model, the research examines optimal outsourcing strategies for manufacturers while considering the potential repercussions faced by encroaching suppliers. This comprehensive analysis sheds light on the dynamics of supplier- manufacturer collaborations, highlighting the importance of trust and commitment in maintaining successful partnerships. Overall, this dissertation contributes valuable and comprehensive insights to the field of Operations Management. Employing a multi-method approach, we delve into supplier dynamics and decision-making, offering robust strategies and solutions to enhance supply chain efficiency and competitiveness. By addressing challenges such as consumer preference learning, supplier copycatting, and supplier encroachment, this research contributes to the growing body of knowledge in Operations Management and provides actionable guidance for businesses to thrive in the dynamic supply chain environments

Examining the Supply Chain Management Models for Agricultural Products Under the Context of E-Commerce

Agricultural products market changes constantly along with the thriving of e-commerce and agricultural products e-commerce keeps growing as an innovative industry; however, there are still many loopholes in the management of the supply chain from beginning to end. In order to effectively address these issues, this paper utilizes the dynamic requirement forecasting method based on SVM (support vector machine) to identify and fit the secular trend in and potential cyclical fluctuation factors for the market requirements for agricultural products. The supply chain coordination decision center is established by integrating the collaborative supply management component and other components. XML technology and CORBA technology are adopted to construct the integrated management model of agricultural products supply chain in e-commerce environment. For its relatively high management level, the model established can promote both agricultural consumption and agricultural economic output, strengthen the competitiveness of enterprises in agricultural products market and realize maximization of profit targets