In this paper, we quantify the efficiency of decentralized supply chains that use price-only contracts. With a price-only contract, a buyer and a seller agree only on a constant transaction price, without specifying the amount that will be transferred. It is well known that these contracts do...

In this paper, we consider a periodic review inventory problem where demand in each period is modeled by linear regression. We use a Bayesian formulation to update the regression parameters as new information becomes available. We find that a state-dependent base-stock policy is optimal and we...

In this paper we develop an approximate model of an inventory control system in which there exist two options for resupply, with one having a shorter lead time. Because the optimal policy appears to be extremely complex, we consider a reasonable extension of the standard (Q, R) policy to allow...

When designing a sourcing strategy in practice, a key task is to determine the average order rates placed to each source because that affects cost and supplier management. We consider a firm that has access to a responsive nearshore source (e.g., Mexico) and a low-cost offshore source (e.g.,...

We are indebted to Jack Muckstadt and Howard Singer for calling our attention to two errors in [Graves, S. C., Schwarz, L. B. 1977. Single cycle continuous review policies for arborescent production/inventory systems. Management Sci. 23 (5, January) 529-540.].

We consider an assemble-to-order system in which multiple products are assembled from a common component and a set of product-dedicated components. Component capacities are chosen prior to a finite-horizon selling season, and the common component is allocated to the products based on observed...