Mass Customization in Wireless Communication Services: Individual Service Bundles and Tariffs

This paper presents results on mass customization of wireless communications services and tariffs. It advocates for a user-centric view of wireless service configuration and pricing as opposed to present-day service catalog options. The focus is on design methodology and tools for such individual services and tariffs, using altogether information compression, negotiation algorithms, and risk portfolio analysis. We first analyze the user and supplier needs and aspirations. We then introduce the systematic design-oriented approach which can be applied. The implications of this approach for users and suppliers are discussed based on an end-user survey and on model-based calculations. It is shown that users can achieve desired service bundle cost reduction, while suppliers can improve significantly their risk-profit equilibrium points, reduce churn and simplify provisioning.negotiation;mass customization;service configuration;mobile communication services;individual tariffs

Competition Between Auctions

Even though auctions are capturing an increasing share of commerce, they are typically treated in the theoretical economics literature as isolated. That is, an auction is typically treated as a single seller facing multiple buyers or as a single buyer facing multiple sellers. In this paper, we review the state of the art of competition between auctions. We consider three different types of competition: competition between auctions, competition between formats, and competition between auctioneers vying for auction traffic. We highlight the newest experimental, statistical and analytical methods in the analysis of competition between auctions.auctions, bidding, competition, auction formats, auction houses

Improving the efficiency of the purchasing process using total cost of ownership information : The case of heating electrodes at Cockerill Sambre S.A.

Improving the efficiency of the purchasing process provides important opportunities to increase a firm's profitability. In this paper we introduce a mathematical programming model that uses total cost of ownership information to simultaneously select suppliers and determine order quantities over a multi-period time horizon. The total cost of ownership quantifies all costs associated with the purchasing process and is based on the activities and cost drivers determined by an activity based costing system. Our approach is motivated by the purchasing problem of heating electrodes at Cockerill Sambre S.A. a Belgian multinational steel producer. In this case quality issues account for more than 70 % of the total cost of ownership making the quality of a supplier a critical success factor in the vendor selection process.Efficiency; Heating; Processes; Purchasing;

Introduction of Electronic Combinatorial Auction to a Food Manufacturer

Food manufactures often face difficult purchasing decisions when multiple business constraints and several bidding options affect them. The objective of the buying organization is to ensure corn sweeteners are purchased so as to minimize the total operational cost. To do so, the purchasing department compared the conventional method of a sealed-bid auction to, first, a reverse auction with single-item bids and, then, to a reverse auction with bundled bids. The senior author—as director of corporate purchasing—researched, proposed and executed the combinatorial auction to source corn sweeteners for a large, processed-meat manufacturer who uses large quantities of four corn sweeteners at its eight processing plants located across the United States. Two buying techniques were — electronic reverse auctions and combinatorial reverse electronic auctions. First, we present the difficulties of using a reverse combinatorial auction and describe the method used to obtain the least cost combination of bids that satisfies buyer’s RFQ. Second, we show the progression of the bidding rounds and estimate the savings from this combinatorial auction as compared to what the company did with either a manual or a reverse single item auction. Finally, we address the diminishing marginal returns of repeated usage of CeRA, and describe how this food company advanced from the auction setting to a risk-management-based procurement process.Citation: Harris, K. D., Biere, A. W. (2014) Introduction of Electronic Combinatorial Auction to a Food Manufacturer. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 17(3

Climate Change Reporting: A Resource Based Perspective

Kajian ini dilakukan untuk mengkaji tahap serta faktor yang mengalakkan laporan pemanasan global di antara syarikat-syarikat yang tersenarai di Bursa Malaysia. This study investigates the extent of climate change disclosure among Malaysian public listed companies

Analysis of multi-attribute multi-unit procurement auctions and capacity-constrained sequential auctions

This dissertation examines an iterative multi-attribute auction for multi-unit procurement in the first part. A multi-unit allocation problem that allows order split among suppliers is formulated to improve the market efficiency. Suppliers are allowed to provide discriminative prices over units based on their marginal costs. A mechanism called Iterative Multiple-attribute Multiple-unit Reverse Auction (IMMRA) is proposed based on the assumption of the modified myopic best-response strategies. Numerical experiment results show that the IMMRA achieves market efficiency in most instances. The inefficiency occurs occasionally on the special cases when cost structures are significantly different among suppliers. Numerical results also show that the IMMRA results in lower buyer payments than the Vickrey-Clarke-Grove (VCG) payments in most cases. In the second part, two sequential auctions with the Vickrey-Clarke-Grove (VCG) mechanism are proposed for two buyers to purchase multiple units of an identical item. The invited suppliers are assumed to have capacity constraints of providing the required demands. Three research problems are raised for the analysis of the sequential auctions: the suppliers\u27 expected payoff functions, the suppliers\u27 bidding strategies in the first auction, and the buyers\u27 procurement costs. Because of the intrinsic complexity of the problems, we limit our study to a duopoly market environment with two suppliers. Both suppliers’ dominant bidding strategies are theoretically derived. With numerical experiments, suppliers’ expected profits and buyers’ expected procurement costs are empirically analyzed

Analysis of multi-attribute multi-unit procurement auctions and capacity-constrained sequential auctions

This dissertation examines an iterative multi-attribute auction for multi-unit procurement in the first part. A multi-unit allocation problem that allows order split among suppliers is formulated to improve the market efficiency. Suppliers are allowed to provide discriminative prices over units based on their marginal costs. A mechanism called Iterative Multiple-attribute Multiple-unit Reverse Auction (IMMRA) is proposed based on the assumption of the modified myopic best-response strategies. Numerical experiment results show that the IMMRA achieves market efficiency in most instances. The inefficiency occurs occasionally on the special cases when cost structures are significantly different among suppliers. Numerical results also show that the IMMRA results in lower buyer payments than the Vickrey-Clarke-Grove (VCG) payments in most cases. In the second part, two sequential auctions with the Vickrey-Clarke-Grove (VCG) mechanism are proposed for two buyers to purchase multiple units of an identical item. The invited suppliers are assumed to have capacity constraints of providing the required demands. Three research problems are raised for the analysis of the sequential auctions: the suppliers\u27 expected payoff functions, the suppliers\u27 bidding strategies in the first auction, and the buyers\u27 procurement costs. Because of the intrinsic complexity of the problems, we limit our study to a duopoly market environment with two suppliers. Both suppliers’ dominant bidding strategies are theoretically derived. With numerical experiments, suppliers’ expected profits and buyers’ expected procurement costs are empirically analyzed

Risk Mitigation Of Outsourcing Manufacturing Process: A Study On The Semiconductor Manufacturing Organizations In Malaysia

Penggunaan perkhidmatan pihak ketiga daripada proses pembuatan semikonduktor menjadi sebahagian daripada strategi korporat sebuah organisasi yang didorong oleh kelebihan kos dan fleksibiliti dalam ketidakpastian. Outsourcing of semiconductor manufacturing process is becoming integral part of the corporate strategy of an organization which is driven by cost advantage and flexibility during uncertainty

Integration of an Improved Grey-Based Method and Fuzzy Multi-Objective Model for Supplier Selection and Order Allocation

For multi-attribute decision making (MADM) problems, a grey based approach (LI) had been developed to evaluate, rank and select the best suppliers. The method calculates a grey possibility degree between compared suppliers alternatives set and positive ideal referential alternative. The drawback of the method is that the negative ideal referential alternative is not considered in evaluating and ranking of the alternatives. Moreover, the method can only consider interval fuzzy number as input data and real number is neglected. Based on this model and other MADM methods, all demand was sold by the best supplier. In other cases, if the best supplier cannot satisfy all demand, multi-objective programming is used to formulate the problem and assign optimum order quantities to the best suppliers (multi-sourcing). Some techniques, such as goal programming (GP) approach, ε-Constraint method, Reservation level (RL) driven Tchebycheff procedure (RLTP) method had been proposed to solve the multi-objective models. It may be a problem that these techniques traced back to more than 10 years ago. Therefore, there may be still the need to produce a new technique in order to solve the multi-objective models. In this study, to overcome the first drawback, the LI method was improved based on the concepts of technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) to consider both the positive and the negative ideal referential alternative for evaluation of the suppliers. The improved version of the LI method is called the I.LI method. Based on the concepts of TOPSIS, the chosen alternative should have the shortest distance from the positive ideal solution and the farthest from the negative ideal solution. Moreover, in order to solve the problems, a new grey based method (NG) based on the TOPSIS concepts was proposed that can easily consider both interval fuzzy number and real number simultaneously. Afterwards, an innovative comparative approach was proposed to compare the three MADM methods, the LI, the I.LI and the NG methods, and to show that which method is more optimal than the other methods. Subsequently, in this thesis, an integration of the NG method and fuzzy multi-objective model was suggested for multi-sourcing and multi-product supplier selection problem. The score of suppliers calculated by the NG method was served as coefficients in one objective function of the multi-objective model. In this fuzzy multi-objective model, the products are divided into two independent and dependent products so that (1) the price breaks (discounts) depend on the size of the order quantities, (2) independent products’ sales volume affect the prices and discounts of the dependent products and (3) all products must be sold as a bundle. Finally, to overcome the third problem, a new weighted additive function, which is able to consider relative importance of each objective as well as condition of fuzzy situation, is proposed to solve the fuzzy multi-objective model and assign optimum order quantities to the suppliers evaluated and ranked by the NG method. The results of the innovative comparative approach showed that the result of the NG method is more optimal than the I.LI method and the latter is more optimal than the LI method. Therefore, the NG method was selected to be integrated with the fuzzy multi-objective model. Also, the fuzzy multi-objective model was solved by the new weighted additive function, and the results demonstrated that besides considering the relative importance of the objectives, the new technique is also able to consider the condition of fuzzy situation

Market Structure and Competition in Food Retail: Some Evidences from Brazil

The paper analyzes competition among supermarkets in Brazil. In contrast to part of the economic literature which suggests that the fast growth of big supermarket chains would destroy independent, medium and small supermarkets, the paper argues that big supermarket chains can coexist with different formats of independent food retailing. As a result, competition in food retail is complex and cannot be described as a simple Darwinian process of market concentration. The analysis is divided in two parts. In the first part, the competition between hypermarkets and supermarkets is examined. Evidences for the district of Sao Paulo, Brazil, suggest that these retailers form separate markets. The second part is focused on neighborhood supermarkets. The results differ from the general belief that independent supermarkets establish higher prices in comparison to big chain supermarkets. The analysis brings to light the heterogeneity of the competitive fringe in the oligopoly model of Brazilian retailing.Food retail, Supermarkets, Differentiation, Agribusiness, Industrial Organization,