Competition in the supply option market

This paper develops a multi-attribute competition model for procurement of short life cycle products. In such an environment, the buyer installs dedicated production capacity at the suppliers before the demand is realized. Final production orders are decided after demand materializes. Of course, the buyer is reluctant to bear all the capacity and inventory risk, and thus signs flexible contracts with several suppliers. We model the suppliers' offers as option contracts, where each supplier charges a reservation price per unit of capacity, and an execution price per unit of delivered supply. These two parameters illustrate the trade-off between total price and flexibility of the contract, and are both important to the buyer. We model the interaction between the suppliers and the buyer as a game in which the suppliers are the leaders and the buyer is the follower. Specifically, suppliers compete to provide supply capacity to the buyer and the buyer optimizes its expected profit by selecting one or more suppliers. We characterize the suppliers' equilibria in pure strategies for a class of customer demand distributions. In particular, we show that this type of interaction gives rise to cluster competition. That is, in equilibrium, suppliers tend to be clustered in small groups of two or three suppliers each, such that within the same group all suppliers use similar technologies and offer the same type of contract. Finally, we show that in equilibrium, the supply chain inefficiencies, i.e., the loss of profit due to competition, are in general at most 25% of the profit of a centralized supply chain, for a wide class of demand distributions.supplier portfolio; supplier competition;

Improving supply chain efficiency through wholesale price renegotiation

In a decentralized supply chain, double marginalization is an important source of inefficiency. We suggest in this paper a simple mechanism to reduce it that uses a wholesale price contract and renegotiation. Our mechanism only requires repeated interaction, and rational behavior from the players. Specifically, over T rounds of negotiation, the supplier proposes different prices in each round, and the buyer places orders at the quoted price. Even though prices are decreasing in time, the buyer places a positive order, to force the supplier to reduce its price in the following round. This interaction results in higher profits for both supplier and buyer. We solve the buyer and supplier problems and show that, as T increases, supply chain efficiency tends to 100%, and the sub-optimality gap decreases with 1/T. Finally, we discuss how these results can be applied to design negotiation processes.strategic customer; dynamic pricing; supply chain;

Mislabeled: A Study of Generational Labels and Gen Z Stereotypes

Generation Z is the newest cohort to be introduced in the generational cycle and has earned the attention of marketers, researchers, and the general public alike. While individuals and members of other generations have been quick to stereotype and assign labels to members of Generation Z, little research has been done to see if such labels are accurate. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to discover whether generational labels can accurately communicate the characteristics of individuals within Generation Z. This study used Henri Tajfel\u27s and John Turner’s Social Identity Theory to examine how group membership defines self-identity in terms of a generation and its members. In order to assess the accuracy of stereotypes for Generation Z, 14 members of Gen Z, ages 16–24, from across the United States were interviewed. Using a survey of existing literature and results from the 14 interviews conducted, the researcher concluded that prevailing stereotypes for Generation Z are accurate, yet members of Gen Z still question the effectiveness of such generational labels

Frequency Locking for Combustion Synthesis in Periodic Medium

Solutions of a 1-D free-interface problem modeling solid combustion front propagating in combustible mixture with periodically varying concentration of reactant exhibit classical phenomenon of mode locking. Numerical simulation shows a variety of locked periodic, quasi-periodic and chaotic solutions.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure

El hombre de pendulal

Copia digital. Madrid : Ministerio de Cultura. Subdirección General de Coordinación Bibliotecaria, 201

El muerto vivo : romanzo dramático

Copia digital. Madrid : Ministerio de Cultura. Subdirección General de Coordinación Bibliotecaria, 201