Pricing in a two-echelon supply chain with different market powers: Game theory approaches

In this research, the optimal pricing decisions for two complementary products in a two-echelon supply chain under two scenarios are studied. The proposed supply chain in each echelon includes one retailer and two manufacturers and the same complementary products are produced. In the first scenario, we assume the unit manufacturing costs of the complementary products in each echelon are the same, while in the second one the different unit manufacturing costs are supposed and lead to demand leakage from the echelon with the higher unit manufacturing cost to the echelon with the lower unit manufacturing cost. Moreover, under the second scenario, the products with lower price are replaced with the higher price products. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of different market powers between the manufacturers and the retailer and the demand leakage on the optimal wholesale and retail prices and also on the profit of the chain. The relationships between the manufacturers and the retailer are modeled by the MS-Stackelberg and MSBertrand game-theoretic approach where the manufacturers are leaders and the retailers are followers

Optimal advertising and pricing decisions for complementary products

Cooperative advertising is an agreement between a manufacturer and a retailer to share advertising cost at the local level. Previous studies have not investigated cooperative advertising for complementary products and their main focus was only on one good. In this paper, we study a two-echelon supply chain consisting of one manufacturer and one retailer with two complementary goods. The demand of each good is influenced not only by its price but also by the price of the other product. We use two game theory approaches to model this problem; Stackelberg manufacturer and Stackelberg retailer

University of Jordan Graduate Students' Perception on Mobile Learning via WhatsApp and its Role in Easy Accessibility and Interaction with Instructional Content

The study aimed to identify the perceptions of postgraduate students at the University of Jordan about mobile learning through WhatsApp and its role in easy accessibility and interaction with instructional content. The individuals of the study were selected purposively sampling approach among graduate students at the University of Jordan including (25) students from Faculty of Educational Sciences and King Abdullah II College of Information Technology during the first semester of the academic year 2018/2019.The researcher used the qualitative research approach for achieving the purpose of the current study. The researcher has prepared an interview sheet with quasi-standardized questions for data collection purposes. The study questions were answered by using the holistic content analysis approach for the responses of quasi-standardized interview questions as well as qualitative methods such as frequencies. The results of the current study revealed that; postgraduate students have positive perceptions about the application of WhatsApp and its role in accessibility and interaction with the instructional content. In addition to the contribution of WhatsApp application was efficient and highly effective in easy and interaction with instructional content, where the application of WhatsApp has achieved the desired positive effect on students' accessibility and interaction with the instructional content.  This has been demonstrated by the high level of satisfaction among the students in WhatsApp application and its use in their educational-learning process.In light of the results of the current study, the study provided several recommendations; the most important of which is the necessity to activate WhatsApp application in a systematic and thoughtful manner to be adopted as a formal educational learning tool, giving it a wider space, and deeper tasks to enrich the educational process and raise awareness of Jordan university students about its benefits and uses that can be provided to support the educational - learning process. DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/103-11 Publication date: November 30th 202

Inventory ordering policies for mixed sale of products under inspection policy, multiple prepayment, partial trade credit, payments linked to order quantity and full backordering

The situation where serviceable products are sold together with a proportion of deteriorating products to consumers is rarely discussed in the literature. This article proposes an inventory model with disparate inventory ordering policies under a situation where a portion of serviceable products and a portion of deteriorating products are sold together to consumers (i.e. mixed sales). The ordering policies consider a hybrid payment strategy with multiple prepayment and partial trade credit schemes linked to order quantity under situations where no inventory shortage is allowed and inventory shortage is allowed with full backorder. The hybrid payment policy offered by a supplier is introduced into the classical economic ordering quantity model to investigate the optimal inventory cycle and the fraction of demand that is filled from the deteriorating products under inspection policy. Further, a new solution method is proposed that identifies optimal annual total profit with mixed sales assuming no inventory shortage and inventory shortage with full backorder. The impact of an inspection policy is investigated on the optimality of the solution under hybrid payment strategies for the deteriorating products. The validation of the proposed model and its solution method is demonstrated through several numerical examples. The results indicate that the inventory model along with the solution method provide a powerful tool to the retail managers under real-world situations. Results demonstrate that it is essential for the managers to consider inclusion of an inspection policy in the mixed sales of products, as the inspection policy significantly increases the net annual profit

Evaluación de diversidad genética molecular de especies de cítricos cultivadas en Irán reveladas por marcadores moleculares SSR, ISSR y CAPS

In this study, genetic diversity in 19 citrus cultivars was analyzed using Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR), Inter-simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) and cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) markers. Nine primers for SSR, nine ISSR primers and two primers for CAPS were used for allele scoring. One chloroplast DNA region (rbcL-ORF106) and one mitochondrial DNA region (18S-5S) were analyzed using cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) marker in 19 citrus accessions grown in Iran. In total, 45 SSR and 131 ISSR polymorphic alleles and tree organelle genome types were detected. Cluster analysis of SSR and ISSR data was performed using UPGMA method and based on Jaccard's coefficient. The result of this investigation showed that the SSR and ISSR primers were highly informative and efficient in detecting genetic variability and relationships of the citrus accessions. And CAPS marker analysis Results showed that Bakraee and one of off type Mexican lime had banding pattern similar to Clementine Mandarin, while Pummelo regarded as maternal parent of other studied genotypes Citron regarded as father parent showed definite banding pattern among 19 studied genotypes which it confirmed Cytoplasmic inheritance from mother cellular organelles.En este estudio, se analizó la diversidad genética en 19 cultivares de cítricos mediante la repetición de secuencia simple (SSR), la repetición de secuencia inter-simple (ISSR) y los marcadores de secuencia polimórfica amplificada segmentada (CAPS). Se utilizaron nueve cebadores para SSR, nueve cebadores ISSR y dos cebadores para CAPS para la puntuación del alelo. Se analizaron una región de ADN de cloroplasto (rbcL-ORF106) y una región de ADN mitocondrial (18S-5S) usando marcador de secuencia polimórfica amplificada escindida (CAPS) en 19 accesiones de cítricos cultivadas en Irán. En total, se detectaron 45 genes SSR y 131 ISSR polimórficos alelos y organelos del genoma del árbol. El análisis de conglomerados de los datos SSR y ISSR se realizó utilizando el método UPGMA y se basó en el coeficiente de Jaccard. El resultado de esta investigación mostró que los cebadores SSR e ISSR eran altamente informativos y eficientes para detectar la variabilidad genética y las relaciones de las accesiones de los cítricos. Y el análisis de marcadores de CAPS Los resultados mostraron que Bakraee y uno de tipo off cal mexicana tenían un patrón de bandas similar al Clementine Mandarin, mientras que Pummelo se consideraba como padre materno de otros genotipos estudiados Citron considerado como padre padre mostró un patrón de bandas definido entre 19 genotipos estudiados que confirmó Citoplasma herencia de orgánulos celulares de la madre. &nbsp

Multi products single machine economic production quantity model with multiple batch size

In this paper, a multi products single machine economic order quantity model with discrete delivery is developed. A unique cycle length is considered for all produced items with an assumption that all products are manufactured on a single machine with a limited capacity. The proposed model considers different items such as production, setup, holding, and transportation costs. The resulted model is formulated as a mixed integer nonlinear programming model. Harmony search algorithm, extended cutting plane and particle swarm optimization methods are used to solve the proposed model. Two numerical examples are used to analyze and to evaluate the performance of the proposed model

Coordinating Pricing and Ordering Decisions in a Multi-Echelon Pharmacological Supply Chain under Different Market Power using Game Theory

Abstract The importance of supply chains in pharmacological industry is remarkable so that nowadays many pharmacological supply chains have an effective and critical role for supplying and distributing drugs in health area. So, this article studies a three-echelon pharmacological supply chain containing multi-distributor of raw materials, a pharmaceutical factory, and multi-drug distributors companies. The distributors of raw material order raw materials of some drugs to own suppliers and sell them to the pharmaceutical factory. The factory transmutes raw materials to the several finished products and sells them to some drug distributors companies. There are several types of raw materials and finished products. Here, it is supposed that the market powers of partners are different. So, the Stackelberg game among the members of the chain is deemed to analyze the coordination behavior of the members of the proposed chain. The aim of the research is to maximize the total profit of supply chain by employing the optimal pricing and ordering decision policies where the order quantities of the distributors and the selling prices of pharmaceutical factory (manufacturer) and the distributors are the decision variables. Besides, the closed form solutions of the decision variables are presented. At the end, numerical example and some sensitivity analysis are presented

A Hybrid Meta-Heuristic Method to Optimize Bi-Objective Single Period Newsboy Problem with Fuzzy Cost and Incremental Discount

In this paper the real-world occurrence of the multiple-product multiple-constraint single period newsboy problem with two objectives, in which there is incremental discounts on the purchasing prices, is investigated. The constraints are the warehouse capacity and the batch forms of the order placements. The first objective of this problem is to find the order quantities such that the expected profit is maximized and the second objective is maximizing the service rate. It is assumed that holding and shortage costs, modeled by a quadratic function, occur at the end of the period, and that the decision variables are integer. A formulation to the problem is presented and shown to be an integer nonlinear programming model. Finally, an efficient hybrid algorithm of harmony search, goal programming, and fuzzy simulation is provided to solve the model. The results are illustrated by a numerical example

Online peer-to-peer lending platform and supply chain finance decisions and strategies

Online peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform is an emerging FinTech business model that establishes a link between investors and recipients of capital in supply chains (SCs). Businesses face capital constraints impacting directly on their final product price and demand. This article studies optimal decisions and operational strategies in a logistics network considering two capital-constrained manufacturers who produce products of different qualities and sell them to a retailer having deterministic demand over a specific period. The high quality product manufacturer borrows capital through an online P2P lending platform with a service fee, while the low quality product manufacturer pre-sells products for competing with the high quality product manufacturer. In this study, we find optimal prices of the SC participants, service rate of the online P2P platform and percentage of the pre-ordering quantity of the retailer. We analyse optimal Stackelberg and Nash equilibrium of the SC participants. We find that an increase in the amount of opportunity cost will cause a decrease in the pre-ordering quantity of the retailer affecting the SC profit in numerous ways. The online P2P lending platform should consider the amount of the retailer’s target profit in determining the platform’s service rate. We posit some practical insights based on our numerical study and observations for SC managers enabling them to take appropriate measures about their optimal strategies according to the networks’ existing economic conditions

Adolescent transport and unintentional injuries: a systematic analysis using the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: Globally, transport and unintentional injuries persist as leading preventable causes of mortality and morbidity for adolescents. We sought to report comprehensive trends in injury-related mortality and morbidity for adolescents aged 10–24 years during the past three decades. Methods: Using the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factors 2019 Study, we analysed mortality and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) attributed to transport and unintentional injuries for adolescents in 204 countries. Burden is reported in absolute numbers and age-standardised rates per 100 000 population by sex, age group (10–14, 15–19, and 20–24 years), and sociodemographic index (SDI) with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). We report percentage changes in deaths and DALYs between 1990 and 2019. Findings: In 2019, 369 061 deaths (of which 214 337 [58%] were transport related) and 31·1 million DALYs (of which 16·2 million [52%] were transport related) among adolescents aged 10–24 years were caused by transport and unintentional injuries combined. If compared with other causes, transport and unintentional injuries combined accounted for 25% of deaths and 14% of DALYs in 2019, and showed little improvement from 1990 when such injuries accounted for 26% of adolescent deaths and 17% of adolescent DALYs. Throughout adolescence, transport and unintentional injury fatality rates increased by age group. The unintentional injury burden was higher among males than females for all injury types, except for injuries related to fire, heat, and hot substances, or to adverse effects of medical treatment. From 1990 to 2019, global mortality rates declined by 34·4% (from 17·5 to 11·5 per 100 000) for transport injuries, and by 47·7% (from 15·9 to 8·3 per 100 000) for unintentional injuries. However, in low-SDI nations the absolute number of deaths increased (by 80·5% to 42 774 for transport injuries and by 39·4% to 31 961 for unintentional injuries). In the high-SDI quintile in 2010–19, the rate per 100 000 of transport injury DALYs was reduced by 16·7%, from 838 in 2010 to 699 in 2019. This was a substantially slower pace of reduction compared with the 48·5% reduction between 1990 and 2010, from 1626 per 100 000 in 1990 to 838 per 100 000 in 2010. Between 2010 and 2019, the rate of unintentional injury DALYs per 100 000 also remained largely unchanged in high-SDI countries (555 in 2010 vs 554 in 2019; 0·2% reduction). The number and rate of adolescent deaths and DALYs owing to environmental heat and cold exposure increased for the high-SDI quintile during 2010–19. Interpretation: As other causes of mortality are addressed, inadequate progress in reducing transport and unintentional injury mortality as a proportion of adolescent deaths becomes apparent. The relative shift in the burden of injury from high-SDI countries to low and low–middle-SDI countries necessitates focused action, including global donor, government, and industry investment in injury prevention. The persisting burden of DALYs related to transport and unintentional injuries indicates a need to prioritise innovative measures for the primary prevention of adolescent injury. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation