Exogenous coalition formation in the e-marketplace based on geographical proximity

This paper considers a model for exogenous coalition formation in e-marketplaces. Using the informational advantage e-retailer creates coalitions of customers based on geographical proximity. Most of the literature regards this process as endogenous: a coalition leader bundles eventual purchases together in order to obtain a better bargaining position. In contrast - and in response to what is being observed in business practice - we analyse a situation in which an existing e-retailer exogenously forms customers' coalitions. Results of this study are highly encouraging. Namely, we demonstrate that even under highly imperfect warehouse management schemes leading to contagion eects, suggested combined delivery service may oer signifficant efficiency gains as well as opportunities for Pareto-improvement.Coalition formation, e-commerce, multi-agent systems, consumer satisfaction, demand planning, warehouse management.

Are neighbors welcome ? e-buyer search, price competition and coalition strategy in the Internet retailing

On étudie les forces qui régissent l'agrégation des sites Web marchands (B-to-C) en concurrence sur un marché électronique différencié, où le coût de recherche pour les consommateurs est indépendant du coût d'adaptation/transport supporté lorsque le bien trouvé ne correspond pas à leur préférence. On s'intéresse à la possibilité pour les sites Internet de se coaliser, ce qui se traduit par une réduction du coût de recherche pour trouver d'autres sites à l'intérieur de la coalition. On effectue la statique comparative des structures de coalitions (en fonction du degré de différenciation de ses partenaires) lorsque les sites se font une concurrence en prix. On montre qu'un site préfère se coaliser avec un partenaire fortement différencié et fixe dans ce cas un prix unique plus bas.En vendant au détail;Coûts de recherche;Coalition

The Business Model Handbook for Developing Countries

The Business Model Handbook (BMH) for developing countries is a proposition for a tool that has the goal to help Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME) and local entrepreneurs to design business models that use Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and particularly the Internet in the context of developing economies. It shall help to develop the urgently needed critical mass of knowledge workers, technology users, and motivated entrepreneurs in order to deploy ICT in businesses of developing countries. Never before the Internet it has been as easy to share and transfer knowledge in such an efficient and global way. The objective of this Paper is twofold. First it proposes a theoretical business model framework (BMF) which shall allow SMEs, but also motivated local entrepreneurs in developing countries to understand the most relevant business issues in the Information Society. The BMF gives special attention to the opportunities that arise out of the use of Information Technology (IT) and particularly the use of the Internet for businesses in emerging economies (i.e. e-commerce). The second objective, which is the introduction of the Business Model Handbook for Developing Countries, shall allow an efficient knowledge transfer of the concepts developed and illustrated in the BMF. Therefore, the BMH should be deployed as a Web based tool, which allows Users to navigate through the concepts and the corresponding real world examples (case studies) and easily learn about business opportunities.developing countries, e-business

Coalition Formation and Combinatorial Auctions; Applications to Self-organization and Self-management in Utility Computing

In this paper we propose a two-stage protocol for resource management in a hierarchically organized cloud. The first stage exploits spatial locality for the formation of coalitions of supply agents; the second stage, a combinatorial auction, is based on a modified proxy-based clock algorithm and has two phases, a clock phase and a proxy phase. The clock phase supports price discovery; in the second phase a proxy conducts multiple rounds of a combinatorial auction for the package of services requested by each client. The protocol strikes a balance between low-cost services for cloud clients and a decent profit for the service providers. We also report the results of an empirical investigation of the combinatorial auction stage of the protocol.Comment: 14 page

The American Assembly: Art, Technology, and Intellectual Property

Examines intellectual property issues as the arts sector joins other sectors in the race to deal with an increasingly information-driven economy

COALITION DEVELOPMENT IN THE AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SYSTEM

The theory of agricultural coalition formation is enhanced by incorporating non-monetary benefits, risk, and fairness. Producer's expected utility and investment decisions in the agricultural cooperative are affected by their perception about non-monetary benefits, risk and fairness associate with the cooperative investment. (Revised edition added in August 2002)Marketing,