Indranil Biswas

Impact of structure, market share and information asymmetry on supply contracts for a single supplier multiple buyer network

Market share of buyers and the influence of supply chain structure on the choice of supply contracts have received scant attention in the literature. This paper focuses on this gap and examines a network consisting of one supplier and two buyers under complete and partial decentralization. In the completely decentralized setting both buyers are independent of the supplier. In the partially decentralized setting the supplier and one of the buyers form a vertically integrated entity. Both buyers order from the single supplier and produce similar products to sell in the same market. The supplier charges the buyer through a contract. We investigate the influence of supply chain structure, market-share and asymmetry of information on suppliers choice of contracts. We demonstrate that both linear two-part tariff and quantity discount contract can coordinate the supply chain irrespective of the supply chain structure. By comparing profit levels of supply chain agents across different supply chain structures, we show that if a buyer possesses a minimum threshold market potential, the supplier has an incentive to collude with her. We calculate the cut-off policies for wholesale price and two-part tariff contracts by incorporating the reservation profit level of individual agents. The managerial implications of the analyses and the directions of future research are presented in the conclusion.

A route efficiency analysis using Shannon entropy-based modified DEA method and route characteristics investigation for urban bus transport in India

ABSTRACT In the context of urban bus transport, the efficiency study of the bus routes, the impact of the contextual factors on the efficiency, and environmental performance measurement have not been paid enough attention. For performance evaluation, scholars mostly apply conventional data envelopment analysis (DEA) model whose limitation regarding handling the undesirable parameter limits its usefulness in the presence of undesirable outputs. Here, we propose a Shannon entropy-based output-oriented consolidated DEA model for the holistic performance measurements of the bus routes. Apart from operational and financial performance measurement, we introduce a novel ‘emission metric’ for environmental performance assessment of the bus routes. We show the context-specific implementation of several modified DEA models for measuring the efficiencies of the bus routes and integrate the efficiencies from different models into a single score using Shannon entropy approach. We apply the proposed method on 21 bus routes of Kolkata, an urban city in India. Our method facilitates consistent and more improved score in case of profit-making and loss-making routes, respectively. According to our analysis, route length, route overlapping, number of intermediate stoppages, and cost structure play a crucial role in the performance. We provide several route-specific as well as policy-level recommendations.

Case Article—ABCtronics: Manufacturing, Quality Control, and Client Interfaces

Teaching statistics in an undergraduate or a graduate business administration course, business analytics course, or engineering program remains a challenging task for the instructors. Often students fail to comprehend the real-life application of statistical concepts with the help of disconnected textbook examples. This failure inspires scholars to develop case studies on statistical theories in real-life industry backgrounds or realistic industrial settings. Recognizing the students’ difficulty to understand the diverse statistical concepts in a realistic setting, we design a case study in an industrial background to facilitate students’ learning. It is constructed by drawing inspiration from real-life business scenarios in the context of the integrated chip manufacturing industry. It helps to bridge the gap between theoretical understanding and practical application. The case starts with introducing various probability distributions and gradually incorporates intricate concepts of statistics like sampli...

The Price-Setting Newsvendor Model with Variable Salvage Value

The classical newsvendor problem decides the optimal order quantity for a single period, with the assumptions that the selling price and the end of period salvage value are fixed. However, the salvage value or clearance price in many instances depends on the leftover inventory. A fixed salvage value assumption could lead to suboptimal decisions in many situations. We determine the optimal pricing and ordering decision for a newsvendor with variable salvage value. Both additive and multiplicative demand models are considered, and we provide the necessary and sufficient conditions for unique pricing and ordering policies in both cases. We mathematically compare the results against the fixed salvage value newsvendor model and prove that the variable salvage value newsvendor model improves the ordering decision and profit level.