This paper uses a mechanism design without transfer approach to investigate the optimal communication mechanism in a two-division organization. The principal, with perfect commitment power on multiple decision rules, wants decisions to be both adapted to local conditions and coordinated with...

Minimizing production cost is a key element of the industry. To use resources efficiently, various concepts of operations management have been developed since the Industrial Revolution such as just in time, total quality control or lean manufacturing. Manufacturing shops – classified broadly...

The paper is concerned with instructions as a way of setting premises for subsequent decisions in models of teams à la Marschak-Radner, under information diversification. The paper suggests that instructions can bridge people's differences in knowledge: they do not require mutual understanding...

In this paper, we consider a continuous review inventory system of a slow moving item for which the demand rate drops to a lower level at a pre-determined time. Inventory system is controlled according to one-for-one replenishment policy with fixed lead time. Adaptation to the lower demand rate...

Quite often transportation companies face two types of jobs, ones which they can plan themselves and ones which have to be done on call. In this paper we study the scheduling of these jobs, while we assume that job durations are known beforehand as well as windows in which the jobs need to be...

Critics have long faulted the wide-spread practice of trade promotions as wasteful. It has been estimated that this practice adds up to $100 billion worth of inventory to the distribution system. Yet the practice continues. In this paper, we propose a price-discrimination model of trade...

General purpose technologies (GPTs) have been important drivers of industrial revolutions and economic development, but their link to standards has not been analyzed systematically. We document that all of the most common examples of GPTs—steam, railway, electricity and information (and...

Recently, there have been several retail companies experiencing bankruptcy. Many studies on bankruptcy risk are more seen from the financial performance perspective. Studies on the risk of financial performance are good but it seems too late to detect the risk. So far, no research investigates...

We study the value of inventory integration (or pooling) for a firm selling a seasonal good over two periods: in the first period the firm charges a high price, and in the second period the firm charges a low price to clear remaining inventory. Consumers are rational and decide when to visit the...

The financial market gives significant consideration to the supply chain activities of publicly listed firms, which could in turn use their investments in the supply chain to manage market expectations. We study the effects of the capital market concerns of a publicly traded retailer that...