PROMOTION OPTIMIZATION IN COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENTS BY CONSIDERING THE CANNIBALIZATION EFFECT

This study proposes a new model to optimize sales promotion in competitive markets and examines the impact of competition on sales promotion planning and business performance in retail chains. The model can be used to determine the best promotional discount for different products with a cannibalization effect when competitors are present in the retail market and offer the same products with different discounts. An integer nonlinear programming problem is proposed to model the above issue. To solve the model, it is reformulated as a mixed-integer linear programming problem. Consequently, a MIP solver can be used to solve the model in a reasonable CPU time. Several examples are solved and a sensitivity analysis of the model parameters is performed. The results of our numerical study show interesting findings that considering different competitors is very important in promotion planning and optimization. Failure to take them into account can lead to loss of profits

An attitude study on the environmental effects of rationing petrol in Tehran

The objective of this study is to assess the environmental effects of implementing petrol rationing and the issuance of fuel smartcards in central Tehran. The results and their application are significant from the perspective of preserving fuel sources and protecting the environment, both of which being among the goals of sustainable development. Through the analysis of soft data (owners of automobile and light pickup trucks attitude), 3 general hypotheses were assessed and the result was compared to hard data (the traffic situation information, petrol consumption and air pollution). The soft data was gathered using a comprehensive questionnaire which randomly distributed among 2000 automobile and pickup truck drivers in the central Tehran area who were at petrol stations to refuel their vehicles. The gathered data was then analyzed at two levels: descriptive and inferential. The results of this research reveal that according to the soft data, the smartcard project has resulted in a decline in traffic and petrol consumption and a rise in air pollution; furthermore, the positive cultural effects of this project have been comparatively prominent. The actual figures show that the project has led to lower traffic load and air pollution but petrol consumption remains the same as before.Fuel smartcards Attitude study Environmental effect

Investigating the Organic Agricultural Products Supply Chain in Iran

The present study aimed to investigate the organic agricultural products supply chain in Iran and provide a processes maturity framework for this chain based on the Iranian Standard of the organic products. Accordingly, the model proposed in this research, has provided an improvement tool that addresses the integration of company's internal processes at low levels, and the integration of the processes with external partners at higher levels of maturity given the maturity levels definition. This model is designed based on the main components of maturity models, i.e. maturity levels with a five-level structure and the relevant questionnaire (confirmed by CVI index). Based on the results of the implementation of the proposed maturity model in two case studies, it was found that the two processes of customer service management and customer relationship management need the most attention and improvement, which is consistent with theoretical findings. In Company A, lack of direct communication or online communication platform to communicate with customers are among the weaknesses and good quality of products is among the strengths, and in Company B, lack of procedure for collecting and documenting information is among the weaknesses and close relationships with key partners is among the strengths, identified based on the evaluation by the proposed maturity model. Finally, improvement strategies were presented for each of these processes using the ANP method, which can be used as a roadmap by managers and practitioners in this field