We consider a manufacturer's dual distributions channels consisting on the one hand of a virtual (online) channel operated directly by a manufacturer and on the other hand of a real (offline) channel operated by an intermediate retailer. Customers are assumed heterogeneous in their virtual...

SweetDeal is a rule-based approach to representation of business contracts that enables software agents to create, evaluate, negotiate, and execute contracts with substantial automation and modularity. It builds upon the situated courteous logic programs knowledge representation in RuleML, the...

The benefits of dynamic pricing methods have long been known in industries, such as airlines, hotels, and electric utilities, where the capacity is fixed in the short-term and perishable. In recent years, there has been an increasing adoption of dynamic pricing policies in retail and other...

Group-buying auction is a new business model in e-commerce. This auction has its own characteristics that make it distinct from other types of auctions. Customers' waiting time is an inherent attribute for group-buying auction. However, this attribute is rarely considered in the previous pricing...

We consider a retailer that sells a product with uncertain demand over a finite selling season. The retailer sets an initial stocking quantity and, at some predetermined point in the season, optimally marks down remaining inventory. We modify this classic setting by introducing three types of...

Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are commonly prepared and signed agreements that form the contracts between a service provider and its customers, defining the obligations and liabilities of the parties. Naturally, SLAs should reflect the business needs of both customer and supplier. SLAs are...

A recent study found that supply-chain problems cost companies between 9 and 20 percent of their value over a six-month period (T.J. Becker, 2000). The problems range from part shortages to poorly utilized plant capacity. When you place this in the context of the overall business-to-business...

Information systems have revolutionized the provisioning of decision-relevant information, and decision support tools have improved human decisions in many domains. Autonomous decision- making, on the other hand, remains hampered by systems’ inability to faithfully capture human preferences....