The determinants of retailer power within retailer manufacturer relationships evidence from the Irish food manufacturing industry

This research investigates the determinants of retailer power within retailer-manufacturer relationships by specifying and testing three models of retailer power. It is based on a sample of 55 Irish food manufacturers and their experiences of relationships with Irish and British retailers. The study adopts the view that the existing body of research into relationships with retailers is fragmented, and that a more complete understanding of these power relations may be obtained by simultaneously focusing on three sets of factors. The factors are industry specific, firm and product specific, and relationship specific. Much of the existing empirical work investigating power relations implicitly assumes power to be unidimensional through the measures employed. Consequently, the current study investigates retailer power, measured as a unidimensional construct. However, the work proceeds to explicitly acknowledge that power is multidimensional by examining retailers' power over manufacturers' product related and margin related activities. In examining these two dimensions of power, findings ofa more strategic nature are obtained. The analysis draws on the importance French and Raven (1959) attributed to observability as a determinant of power. While neglected throughout the power literature, observability, by introducing monitoring activities, provides a bridge with the transaction cost literature. In this way, specific investments, and the role of retailers' branding strategies, are incorporated into our study of power. The relationship between retailers' monitoring activities and power is specified. Proceeding from monitoring activities, the analysis sheds light on the determinants of inter-firm integration between retailers and food manufacturers. The role of specific investments, symmetric dependency, brand portfolio and retail influence on price are highlighted. The analysis of retailers' product related power supports the role of retail concentration, product shelf-life, manufacturer specific investments and retailers' product monitoring activities. Examining retail margin related power points to the importance of retail concentration, own brand penetration, the importance of economies of scale in manufacturing, product shelf life and manufacturer specific investments. Finally, retail power, measured as a unidimensional construct, is found to be related to own brand market penetration, the importance of economies of scale in manufacturing, manufacturer specific investments and retailers' monitoring activities

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

Coordination contracts of dual-channel with cooperation advertising in closed-loop supply chains

On the background of an online/offline dual channel, this paper studies contract coordination of centralized and decentralized dual-channel closed-loop supply chains. With the feature of recycle rate fluctuation, we develop a revenue-sharing mechanism by taking the relationship between the recycle rate and the recycle revenue sharing ratio into consideration. After comparing of centralized decision and the manufacturing led decentralized decision, the optimal online/offline price, wholesale price and advertising investment are derived. The influence of revenue sharing ratio in forward and reverse channels on the online/offline prices and wholesale prices is discussed. The numeric example is used for observing the relationship between variables, and between the optimal profit and variables through analysis of changing parameter valuations

Supply Chain Coordination under Advance-purchase Discount Contract with Sales Effort and Transshipment

In today’s business environment, a competition is no longer about competing between firms, but between supply chains. Improving supply chain’s performance has become necessary for companies to survive. Supply chain coordination ensures a maximumperformance of a supply chain. This dissertation studies impacts of an advance-purchase contract and supply chain coordination in two different supply chains.We first consider the supply chain with the manufacturer and retailer who can exert sales effort to stipulate demand. We develop the contract that combines the advance-purchase contract and the target rebate contract to coordinate the retailer’s ordering and effort decisions. We analytically show that supply chain coordination is achievable, but profit splitting may not be fully flexible depending on market conditions.We second consider the supply chain with the manufacturer and two retailers who can transship products to satisfy unmet demand as a result of an inventory shortage. We establish a new mechanism that integrates the advance-purchase contract to coordinate the supply chain. The coordination mechanism follows in two steps: it first aligns the objective of the retailer group with the objective of the supply chain, and second aligns the individual objective of each individual retailer with the joint objective of the retailer group. We analytically show that supply chain coordination and arbitrary profit split is achievable.The coordinating contracts lead to Pareto improving situations. The numerical analyses show the performance improvement of the supply chain from the inclusion of the advance-purchase contract. We also conduct the sensitivity analyses to see the impacts of the contract terms on the retailers’ optimal decisions, and the impacts of market conditions on the contracts. The potential future research directions for both studies are also discussed.Industrial Engineering & Managemen

An assessment of a quick response case study in an apparel textile pipeline in the Western Cape

Bibliography: leaves 165-172.The aim of this thesis was to establish whether South African companies implementing Quick Response in an apparel textile pipeline moved towards flexible specialisation and post-Fordism or a neo-Fordist method of production. I also determined whether these companies implemented Quick Response according to the theory or to suit their environment. Manufacturing 6 Fordism or mass production became the most important manufacturing system in the early 20th century. When it was in crisis a new era, post-Fordism, was born. The change in manufacturing in post-Fordism was labelled flexible specialisation. It utilises new technology and flexible ways of organising work to help companies become more competitive. However, some people believed the new era was not new, but rather a modification of Fordism. They called this modified system neoFordism, consisting of both Fordist and post-Fordist features. The clothing and textile industries South Africa's textile and clothing industries are faced with increased competition due to the country's re-entry into the world economy and the subsequent drop in tariffs. One way for textile and clothing companies to compete is by developing a Quick Response approach - a type of flexible specialisation. It could help these companies fight cheaper imports as it cuts lead times and allows companies to use their local proximity to deliver the right products at the right time. Methodology using qualitative research methods I attempted to describe Quick Response in this pipeline by finding out what it is, what its features are, how it is implemented and what its effects are. I combined descriptive and explanatory elements in my study. I used semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions to interview workers, middle and upper management of the companies in the pipeline. I also used nonparticipant observation by attending meetings these companies held. Quick Response or not? The system that this pipeline implemented has some of the main trademarks of Quick Response. The companies improved their relationships, shared some information, cut the lead times, and relied on sales figures to determine production. All of this resulted in an increase in sales, Quick Response's ultimate goal. However, this system lacked many features of Quick Response such as worker involvement, full information sharing, Pareto improving measures to ensure no company is worse off than before, and cutting lead times constantly. Despite this I still believe this system could be classified as Quick Response as it was mainly about cutting lead times and this pipeline did that in a small way. Post- or neo-Fordism? Although these companies introduced elements of Quick Response, Fordist production features were still evident. These include manufacturing with long runs, just-in-case or safety stock, power differentials, mistrust, managerial prerogative, and large wage gaps. It is clear that Quick Response as described in the theory is a type of flexible specialisation, which is the change in manufacturing in the post-Fordist era. However, the version used in this pipeline contained many elements of Fordist production combined with post-Fordist methods. So the conclusion is that the companies who implemented Quick Response moved towards a neo-Fordist method of production. Only when they import Quick Response as an integrated package might their methods be described as post-Fordist

The impact of replenishment rules with endogenous lead times on supply chain performance..

In dit proefschrift beperken we ons tot een basis supply chain met één klant en één producent. We bestuderen verschillende bestelpolit ieken van de klant, en meten de impact van deze bestelregels op de produ ctie van de producent. We modelleren het productieproces als een wachtli jn- of queueing model. Uit de analyse van dit productiemodel vinden we de levertijden, die op hun beurt gebruikt worden in het voorra admodel van de klant. De methodologie die hiervoor gebruikt wordt, is tw eevoudig. Enerzijds maken we gebruik van statistische technieken om de v oorraad te beheren en bestellingen te plaatsen. Anderzijds maken we gebr uik van wachtlijntheorie en Markov ketens om de doorlooptijden te bepale n. Eerst onderzoeken we een eenvoudige "chase sales" bestelpolit iek: de klant plaatst elke periode een bestelling die gelijk is aan de c onsumentenvraag. We ontwikkelen een efficiënte procedure om de impact va n deze bestelregel op de doorlooptijden te berekenen op basis van

Classification of Empirical Work on Sales Promotion: A Synthesis for Managerial Decision Making

Sales Promotion activities have gained strategic focus as markets are getting complex and competitive. Key managerial concerns in this area are budget allocation across elements of promotions as well as trade vis. consumer promotion, how to design individual sales promotion techniques and a calendar in face of competitive promotions, how to manage them and evaluate the short-term and long-term impact of the same. The objective of this paper is to present, through Meta-analysis, an overview of recent contributions appearing in scholastic journals relevant to the field of Sales Promotion, to classify them into different classificatory framework, report key findings, highlight the managerial implications and raise issues. The database used is the EBSCO host available on VSLLAN (Library)- Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad). The selection procedure consisted of peer-reviewed scholarly contributions for recent five year period. Out of more than 700 articles 64 article were selected which were analyzed for classifying them into • Perspective addressed: Manufacturer, retailer or consumer. • Market [country where the research was undertaken] • Type of promotion activity addressed - coupon, contest, price cut etc. • Management function addressed: planning, implementation, control [evaluation] • It was found that majority of the articles addressed manufacturers perspectives ; almost all studies were done in developed countries ; coupon as a consumer promotion tool was widely researched; and more than half of the articles were addressing planning related issues. Finally attempt has been made to synthesize managerial implications of the studies under broad topic areas for guidelines for managers.

Modeling supply chain benefits of efficient assortment

Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2010.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 92-97).The recent developments in retail industry created a challenging environment for companies in the sector and their trade partners. Retailers' focus on recovering their financial results through eliminating unproductive inventory and reducing unnecessary complexity has led to an increased pressure on their suppliers. In order to adapt to the new market settings, a major manufacturer of consumer goods wanted to be able to look at its product portfolio through the perspective of its direct clients. This capability was established in form of a decision model which utilizes Point of Sales, operational, and financial data of the company's downstream partners to recommend assortment changes at item, category and cross-category levels, as well as to project results of these changes. The tool uses the input data and information on product variety to assess risk of lost sales and to quantify possible improvements in product availability, retailers' logistics costs, efficiency of their operations, utilization of supply chain assets, and-perhaps most importantly-their revenues and profits. The new decision model reinforced the manufacturer's competence to support objectives of clients while continuing to pursue its own goal of offering end-customers products which they need, trust and value.by Marta Lew.M.Eng.in Logistic

CONCENTRATION ISSUES IN THE U.S. BEEF SUBSECTOR

Industrial Organization, Livestock Production/Industries,