Intensified use of agricultural inputs, particularly fertilizer, is a possible route to improved agricultural productivity. Field trials of these technologies show substantial increases in yields, but typically are done on highly monitored experimental plots rather than by farmers themselves

We study a drop-shipping supply chain in which the retailer receives a customer's order and the supplier fills it. In such a chain, the supplier keeps inventory and bears inventory risks; the retailer focuses on marketing and customer acquisition, and forwards the orders to the supplier. The...

We study a single-period two-stage service-constrained supply chain with an information update. The buyer has two purchasing instances: before and after the forecast update. The procurement cost at the second stage is uncertain at the first stage. We determine the optimal ordering policy with...

We study a single-period two-stage service-constrained supply chain with an information update. The buyer has two procurement opportunities with the second one after observing a market signal, which updates the demand forecast. He also commits to a service level after observing the market...

The extant supply chain management literature has not addressed the issue of coordination in supply chains involving risk-averse agents. We take up this issue and begin with defining a coordinating contract as one that results in a Pareto-optimal solution acceptable to each agent. Our definition...

We consider a financially constrained supply chain in which a supplier (leader) sells products to a retailer (follower) who has no access to bank financing due to her low credit rating. However, the supplier can borrow from a bank and offer trade credit to the retailer to alleviate her financial...

We propose a model to assess the value of a distributor in a dynamic stochastic cooperative advertising supply chain in which a manufacturer wholesales its product to the distributor who in turn sells it to a retailer. Moreover and importantly, the distributor also intermediates the pricing and...

We investigate the impact of the process of manufacturing and distribution on the safety stock levels in a supply chain. A pipeline hedging method is used to derive a model for estimating the safety stock levels. We propose methods and guidelines to redesign the manufacturing and distribution...

We study a two-stage purchase contract with a demand forecast update. The purchase contract provides the buyer an opportunity to adjust an initial commitment based on an updated demand forecast obtained at a later stage. An adjustment, if any, incurs a fixed as well as a variable cost. Using a...

In “Coordination of Supply Chains with Risk-Averse Agents” (POMS, Volume 13, 2004), we study the issue of coordination in supply chains involving risk-averse agents, and define a coordinating contract as one that results in a Pareto-optimal solution acceptable to each agent. We then develop...