Nash Game Model for Optimizing Market Strategies, Configuration of Platform Products in a Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) Supply Chain for a Product Family

This paper discusses how a manufacturer and its retailers interact with each other to optimize their product marketing strategies, platform product configuration and inventory policies in a VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory) supply chain. The manufacturer procures raw materials from multiple suppliers to produce a family of products sold to multiple retailers. Multiple types of products are substitutable each other to end customers. The manufacturer makes its decision on raw materials’ procurement, platform product configuration, product replenishment policies to retailers with VMI, price discount rate, and advertising investment to maximize its profit. Retailers in turn consider the optimal local advertising and retail price to maximize their profits. This problem is modeled as a dual simultaneous non-cooperative game (as a Nash game) model with two sub-games. One is between the retailers serving in competing retail markets and the other is between the manufacturer and the retailers. This paper combines analytical, iterative and GA (genetic algorithm) methods to develop a game solution algorithm to find the Nash equilibrium. A numerical example is conducted to test the proposed model and algorithm, and gain managerial implications.supply chain management;nash game model;vendor managed inventory

Leader-follower Game in VMI System with Limited Production Capacity Considering Wholesale and Retail Prices

VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory) is a widely used cooperative inventory policy in supply chains in which each enterprise has its autonomy in pricing. This paper discusses a leader-follower Stackelberg game in a VMI supply chain where the manufacturer, as a leader, produces a single product with a limited production capacity and delivers it at a wholesale price to multiple different retailers, as the followers, who then sell the product in dispersed and independent markets at retail prices. An algorithm is then developed to determine the equilibrium of the Stackelberg game. Finally, a numerical study is conducted to understand the influence of the Stackelberg equilibrium and market related parameters on the profits of the manufacturer and its retailers. Through the numerical example, our research demonstrates that: (a) the market related parameters have significant influence on the manufacturer’ and its retailers’ profits; (b) a retailer’s profit may not be necessarily lowered when it is charged with a higher inventory cost by the manufacturer; (c) the equilibrium of the Stackelberg equilibrium benefits the manufacturer.Stackelberg Game;Supply Chain;Vendor Managed Inventory

Manufacturer's pricing strategies in cooperative and non-cooperative advertising supply chain under retail competition

This article studies the manufacturer's pricing strategy in a supply chain with a single manufacturer and two competing retailers. The manufacturer, as a Stackelberg leader specifies wholesale prices to two retailers who face advertisement dependent demand. Based on this gaming structure, two mathematical models are developed - the cooperative advertising model where manufacturer shares a fraction of retailers' advertising costs and the non-cooperative advertising model where manufacturer does not share any retailer's advertising expenses. The optimal strategies of the manufacturer and retailers are determined and a numerical example is taken to illustrate the theoretical results derived. We show that cooperative advertising policy is beneficial not only for the participating entities but also for the entire supply chain

Nash Game Model for Optimizing Market Strategies, Configuration of Platform Products in a Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) Supply Chain for a Product Family

This paper discusses how a manufacturer and its retailers interact with each other to optimize their product marketing strategies, platform product configuration and inventory policies in a VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory) supply chain. The manufacturer procures raw materials from multiple suppliers to produce a family of products sold to multiple retailers. Multiple types of products are substitutable each other to end customers. The manufacturer makes its decision on raw materials’ procurement, platform product configuration, product replenishment policies to retailers with VMI, price discount rate, and advertising investment to maximize its profit. Retailers in turn consider the optimal local advertising and retail price to maximize their profits. This problem is modeled as a dual simultaneous non-cooperative game (as a Nash game) model with two sub-games. One is between the retailers serving in competing retail markets and the other is between the manufacturer and the retailers. This paper combines analytical, iterative and GA (genetic algorithm) methods to develop a game solution algorithm to find the Nash equilibrium. A numerical example is conducted to test the proposed model and algorithm, and gain managerial implications

Nash game model for optimizing market strategies, configuration of platform products in a Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) supply chain for a product family

This paper discusses how a manufacturer and its retailers interact with each other to optimize their product marketing strategies, platform product configuration and inventory policies in a VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory) supply chain. The manufacturer procures raw materials from multiple suppliers to produce a family of products sold to multiple retailers. Multiple types of products are substitutable each other to end customers. The manufacturer makes its decision on raw materials' procurement, platform product configuration, product replenishment policies to retailers with VMI, price discount rate, and advertising investment to maximize its profit. Retailers in turn consider the optimal local advertising investments and retail prices to maximize their profits. This problem is modeled as a dual simultaneous non-cooperative game (as a dual Nash game) model with two sub-games. One is between the retailers serving in competing retail markets and the other is between the manufacturer and the retailers. This paper combines analytical, iterative and GA (genetic algorithm) methods to develop a game solution algorithm to find the Nash equilibrium. A numerical example is conducted to test the proposed model and algorithm, and gain managerial implications. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.postprin

Cooperative Advertising for Competing Manufacturers: The Impact of Long-Term Promotional Effects

Producción CientíficaThe effectiveness of cooperative advertising programs is studied in a market where two competing manufacturers deal with an exclusive retailer and two products. Two twostage game theoretic models are developed to analyze the long-term effects of retailer’s promotions, which can be positive or negative, on the effectiveness of cooperative advertising. Closed-form equilibrium solutions are obtained and compared. We find that the level of product substitutability and the sign and magnitude of the long-term effects of retailer’s promotions on sales determine whether cooperative advertising should be offered and accepted by the manufacturers and retailer. In particular, depending on the level of product substitutability, cooperative advertising can benefit both the manufacturers and retailer even when retailer’s promotions negatively affects future sales. Conversely, it may not be in the interest of the manufacturers to offer cooperative advertising when the products are fairly undifferentiated regardless of the nature of the long-term effects of promotions. Finally, the manufacturers and retailer may refuse to respectively offer or participate in cooperative advertising programs that enhance total channel profits.Research of the first author is supported by the National Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC). Grant # 1509. The second author’s research is partially supported by MEC under project ECO2014- 52343-P, co-financed by FEDER funds and the COST Action IS1104 “The EU in the new economic complex geography: models, tools and policy evaluation”

Modelling quality as a cooperative advertising coordination mechanism in a decentralised channel using game theory

Considering the scarcity of cooperative advertising models on the interaction between product quality and market variables such as price, advertising effort and subsidy, this paper considers the effect of quality in cooperative advertising in a manufacturer-retailer supply channel in which the channel members engage in a Stackelberg game. The manufacturer is the channel leader, while the retailer is the follower. The research adopts the incorporation of product quality into the traditional cooperative advertising model setting through the multiplicative impact of price, advertising and product quality on demand. It considers two channel structures: an unsubsidised channel structure in which the manufacturer does not provide advertising subsidy to the retailer, and a subsidised channel structure in which the manufacturer provides advertising subsidy for retail advertising. It obtains the prices, the advertising effort, the retailer’s payoff and the manufacturer’s payoff for both channel structures. The results reveal that for both subsidised and unsubsidised advertising, increase in retail advertising and retailer’s payoff resulting from quality improvement is limited due to diminishing marginal returns. Also, quality improvement negatively affects the manufacturer’s payoff after a certain quality level. Further, it shows that quality can be substituted for subsidy, and can be used to coordinate the channel

An Integrative Framework of Cooperative Advertising: Should Manufacturers Continuously Support Retailer Advertising?.

Producción CientíficaA two-period game is developed in a bilateral monopoly where, besides pricing decisions, the retailer and manufacturer can set their advertising and cooperative advertising support rates for each period. It is demonstrated that, in addition to the established continuous cooperative advertising programs, in which the retailer advertises and the manufacturer supports retailer advertising in each period, two other advertising schedules are possible. First, the retailer advertises in each period, while the manufacturer only supports the second-period advertising. Second, whether or not the manufacturer provides a cooperative advertising program in the first period, the retailer only advertises in the second period and receives advertising support. The conditions under which each of these advertising arrangements is implemented are identified. In a continuous cooperative advertising schedule, the manufacturer may change his advertising support over time depending on the nature of the long-term effects of retailer advertising. The implications of these findings are discussed.The fi rst author's research is partially supported by MEC under projects ECO2011-24352 and ECO2014-52343-P, co- nanced by FEDER funds and the COST Action IS1104 \The EU in the new economic complex geography: models, tools and policy evaluation"

An Integrated Bargaining Solution Analysis For Vertical Cooperative Sales Promotion Campaigns Based On The Win-Win-Win Papakonstantinidis Model

Authors intention was to examine the possibility to investigate win-win-win papakonstantinidis model in order to develop an integrated bargaining solution analysis for vertical cooperative sales promotion campaigns. Based on previous theoretical extensions (Spais and Papakonstantinidis, 2011; Spais, Papakonstantinidis and Papakonstantinidis, 2009), this study presented an integrated bargaining solution analysis for cases of optimal allocation of a promotion budget in a cooperative sales promotion campaign in vertical marketing channels. This integrated bargaining solution analysis included: a) three (3) adjusted utility functions, considering the parameters of sales response budgeting method, the break-even sales analysis and the marketing channel members trade promotion goals; b) the referee solution, the optimal solution for the three players and the constraints; c) the definition of the third win in terms of a continuous sensitization process and perfect information; and d) the presentation of the potential outputs from a bargaining process regarding to the sharing of the cooperative sales promotion cost among A, B and C parties/players for different sales promotion offerings. Encouragingly, the review of the modern literature and the four (4) critical case studies of cooperative marketing programs confirmed the need for a win-win-win approach in cooperative sales promotion planning in vertical marketing channels