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Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play a critical role in supply chains and social stability. Unfortunately, SMEs often lack access to traditional bank financing. To develop SME suppliers, some creditworthy companies have built platforms to coordinate banks and suppliers by employing purchase order financing (POF). After noting that SMEs differ in terms of their operational flexibility and uncertainty, this research examines optimal purchasing portfolios on such platforms. Specifically, we construct a Stackelberg model involving one buyer and two suppliers and analyse the Karush–Kuhn–Tucker necessary conditions for a buyer's strategy upon which the optimal portfolio can be achieved. According to the experiments that we design to simulate about 200,000 various scenarios, the large buyer only needs to consider the top five strategies. The choice of strategy mainly depends on cost differences of suppliers, and flexibility can be used as an identifier of the purchase quantity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study considers a tandem supply chain (S.C.) in which a credit-worthy retailer cooperates with a capital-constrained supplier to manufacture products. The retailer can use two major pre-shipment financing options, either cash in advance (CIA) or pricing support purchase order financing (PSPOF), to fund the supplier's operations. A model is developed to examine the interactions among the entities. The retailer can choose the prepayment modality, purchase price and order quantity. The supplier decides on the production input and loan amount. A Karush-Kuhn-Tucker optimality analysis is used to characterise the properties of the retailer's ordering and financing strategy: (1) The supplier might embezzle the CIA if the purchasing and financing contract is not well-designed; therefore, the retailer should establish some restrictions on the order price and CIA amount. (2) The retailer's optimal decision about the quantity to purchase is independent of the financing strategy. (3) Because these schemes are interchangeable, multiple optimal financing portfolios consisting of CIA and/or PSPOF are possible. (4) The optimal dual-financing scheme maximises the retailer's profit and integrates the S.C. Thus, the scheme can eliminate the effect of double-marginalisation. (5) As the supplier becomes more reliable, the retailer should increase the usage of PSPOF and purchasing quantity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endogeneity problems have plagued efforts to estimate the impact of military expenditures on economic growth. This paper addresses this problem with two instruments for military expenditures: the value of arms imports during periods of peace and the number of neighboring states suffering interstate violence. While positively correlated with military expenditures, the value of arms imports is unlikely to be determined by economic growth because of the time lag which exists, which in many cases runs into several years, between the placement of purchase orders for these arms and their delivery. The number of neighboring states suffering interstate violence captures regional 'political uncertainty', which spurs military spending without capturing the actual scale of domestic political violence which may directly affect economic growth. Several diagnostic tests show that both these instruments are highly correlated with military expenditures and fulfill overidentification restrictions. The results from empirical analyses of panel data on 133 countries during the 1960-2012 period indicate that an increase in military expenditure/GDP of 1 percentage point reduces economic growth by 1.10 percentage points. These results are robust to the application of 2SLS, LIML, and GMM estimators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This institutional case study analyses 1723 sources referenced in five PhD theses awarded at Alphacrucis University College between 2017 and 2021. The purpose was to demonstrate that the library's collection development policy is successfully guiding purchasing decisions in order to provide students with the resources they need to complete their research at high levels. Sources were extracted from each thesis and grouped according to type. Library holdings were then checked, revealing that, overall, 70.2% of all cited sources were available from the AC library collection. This research-in-practice paper shows that AC library's shift in focus for its collection development policy is adequately providing required resources to research students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we present a multi-product, multi-period inventory control problem under uncertainty in product demands that emerges in the fashion industry. A two-stage stochastic model is proposed to design a planning strategy where the total cost incurred by purchase orders, inventory and shortage is minimised. We incorporate the Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR) within the formulation to address exogenous uncertainty. An industrial case study involving a Mexican fashion retail company was considered to assess the performance of the two-stage stochastic model. Scenarios were considered using historical data provided by the company. A sensitivity analysis was also conducted on risk-aversion parameters to assess how the values of these parameters affect the behaviour of the proposed formulation. The results show that the proposed two-stage stochastic formulation is an efficient and practical approach to handle exogenous uncertainty in industrial-scale capacitated lot-sizing problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated non-instantaneous deteriorating items because not all products deteriorate immediately. In the high-tech product life cycle, the product demand increases linearly substantially in the growth stage and maintains a near-constant level in the maturity stage. This is a ramp-type demand rate. To satisfy the demand as shortages occur, partial backlogging is necessary. The advance-cash-credit payment scheme, comprising advance, cash, and credit payments, has gained popularity in business transactions to improve cash flow flexibility among supply chain participants. This study explored a partial backlogging inventory model with ramp-type demand for non-instantaneous deteriorating items under generalized payment. The proposed model also incorporated discounted cash flow analysis to account for the time value of the profit function. This study attempted to determine the optimal replenishment strategy to maximize the present value of the total profit. Finally, we conducted a sensitivity analysis to examine the efficacy of the proposed model and gain managerial insights. The optimal total profit rises with an increase in the permissible delay period and sale price but decreases with an increase in ordering and purchase costs. Then, the decision-maker can refer to the managerial insights to choose the appropriate parameter value for the operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The escalation of United States (U.S.) spine surgery volume has been accompanied by considerable advancements in our understanding of spine physiology and technology. Together with implant development over the past decades, these improvements have led to shifts in implant usage. This investigation aimed to elucidate the trends in spinal implant utilization in the U.S. from 2013 to 2022. Materials and Methods: Spine implant utilization and pricing averages between 2013 and 2022 were extracted from Orthopedic Network News. The total sample composed of 664,310 spine procedure purchase orders. Prices were adjusted for inflation based on 2022 prices. Trends were analyzed using linear regression. Results: The U.S. spine procedure volume increased significantly from around 800,000 procedures per year in 2013 to over 1.1 million in 2022, with 73% comprising lumbar and cervical fusions. The proportion of procedures performed in patients over 64 years old increased significantly in both lumbar and cervical cases, constituting 50% and 37% of procedures, respectively. In lumbar spine in 2022, 46% of procedures utilized both pedicle screws (PSs) and interbody devices, 37% PSs only, and 13% interbody devices only. Lumbar PS price decreased significantly to $923 each despite stable lumbar and cervical fusion procedure costs. Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and allograft interbody device usage declined while metal increased significantly. Conclusion: Nationwide spine procedure volume rose notably from 2013 to 2022, with the majority constituting lumbar and cervical fusions. The most frequent treatment for a lumbar fusion is a PS construct with an interbody fusion device. Interbody fusion device materials witnessed decline in the use of PEEK and allograft, with metals becoming the preferred material. Level of Evidence: III [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has emerged as a game-changing technology in data extraction, revolutionizing the way organizations process and analyze large volumes of documents such as invoices, purchase orders, and payment advices. This study investigates the use of RPA for structured data extraction and evaluates its advantages over manual processes. By comparing human-performed tasks with those executed by RPA software bots, we assess efficiency and accuracy in data extraction from invoices, focusing on the effectiveness of the RPA system. Through four distinct scenarios involving varying numbers of invoices, we measure efficiency in terms of time and effort required for task completion, as well as accuracy by comparing error rates between manual and RPA processes. Our findings highlight the significant efficiency gains achieved by RPA, with bots completing tasks in significantly less time compared to manual efforts across all cases. Moreover, the RPA system consistently achieves perfect accuracy, mitigating the risk of errors and enhancing process reliability. These results underscore the transformative potential of RPA in optimizing operational efficiency, reducing human labor costs, and improving overall business performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supply chain organizations typically plan purchase orders without regard to distribution center receiving capacity on planned delivery dates. This leads to bottlenecks on some days and underutilized labor on others. In this case study of a $10B+ quick service restaurant chain, a novel methodology we call Master Purchasing Receipt Scheduling (MPRS) provides a solution. The methodology schedules deliveries at the time of purchase order creation, resulting in a steady volume of deliveries and lower planning and logistics costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meat as one of the most important resources of protein has a special role in human nutrition. Understanding the meat consumption structure of households is essential for planning and policymaking in this regard. In this research, we studied consumption patterns of meat products including chicken, veal, lamb, and fish for households in Iran (Mashhad city) using demand system estimation. The hypothesis of this study is that chicken is a necessary goods and other types of meat are luxury goods. Given the cross-sectional nature of the data and presence of zero expenditure for some households, we used the censored demand model based on a consistent two-step approach. For this purpose, at first, four Probit models were estimated to determine the factors affecting the probability of purchasing each selected meat product. After that, the probability density function (PDF) and the cumulative distribution function (CDF) were calculated for each selected meat product, and the Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) considering PDF and CDF was estimated for all types of meat using a non-linear seemingly unrelated regression. Also, the effect of demographic variables on meat consumption pattern was considered in demand system. The results of expenditure elasticities confirmed the hypothesis. The highest own-price elasticity was related to veal. Based on compensated price elasticities, all types of meat were net substitutes for chicken and chicken was also a net complement for all types of meat. On the other hand, the only substitute for lamb and chicken was veal, but with compensating income effect fish also became a substitute for them. So, in the event of an increase of the price of lamb and chicken, we recommend subsidizing the consumers with low purchasing power in order to increase the diversity of consumption of protein products. This can increase the consumption of fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To assess the effects of the transparent online open procurement arrangement on the prices, volumes, and costs of medicines in Ningxia, China. Methods: Data were extracted from the Ningxia pharmaceutical procurement platform, covering 16 months of purchase orders (December 2019 to March 2021) prior to the implementation of the transparent online open procurement policy and 20 months of purchase orders after the implementation of the policy (April 2021 to November 2022). Interrupted time series (ITS) analysis was performed to evaluate the effects of the transparent online open procurement policy on the prices, volumes, and total costs of the purchase orders. Results: After implementation of the transparent online open procurement policy, the average price of purchased medicines showed a declining trend by 0.012 Yuan per month, while the total volume of purchase orders declined at a rate by 1.741 million per month measured by the smallest formulation units and the total costs of the purchase orders decreased at a rate by 5.525 million Yuan per month. Conclusion: The transparent online open procurement policy resulted in reduced prices, lowered volumes, and lowered total costs of purchased orders of medicines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do heterogeneous individual behaviors arise in response to sudden events and how do they shape large-scale social dynamics? Based on a five-year naturalistic observation of individual purchasing behaviors, we extract the long-term consumption dynamics of diverse commodities from approximately 2.2 million purchase orders. We subdivide the consumption dynamics into trend, seasonal, and random components and analyze them using a renormalization group. We discover that the coronavirus pandemic, a sudden event acting on the social system, regulates the scaling and criticality of consumption dynamics. On a large time scale, the long-term dynamics of the system, regardless of arising from trend, seasonal, or random individual behaviors, is pushed toward a quasi-critical region between independent (i.e., the consumption behaviors of different commodities are irrelevant) and correlated (i.e., the consumption behaviors of different commodities are interrelated) phases as the pandemic erupts. On a small time scale, short-term consumption dynamics exhibits more diverse responses to the pandemic. While the trend and random behaviors of individuals are driven to quasi-criticality and exhibit scale-invariance as the pandemic breaks out, seasonal behaviors are more robust against regulations. Overall, these discoveries provide insights into how quasi-critical macroscopic dynamics emerges in heterogeneous social systems to enhance system reactivity to sudden events while there may exist specific system components maintaining robustness as a reflection of system stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purchase intention is a form of consumer behavior that wishes to own a product based on the experience, use, and attractiveness of a product. Purchase intention arises because of stimuli that come from within consumers and provide encouragement or motivation to own a product. This study aims to examine the role of brand awareness in mediating the effect of social media marketing on the purchase intention of Spotify premium services for people in Denpasar City. The population of this study is people in Denpasar City who have never purchased Spotify premium services, the number of which is not known with certainty (infinite). The sample was determined using a non-probability sampling method with a purposive sampling technique. Data collection was carried out by distributing questionnaires to 108 respondents. The analysis techniques used are descriptive statistical analysis, classical assumption test, path analysis, Sobel test, and VAF test. The results showed that social media marketing has a positive and significant effect on purchase intention. Social media marketing has a positive and significant effect on brand awareness. Brand awareness has a positive and significant effect on purchase intention. Brand awareness is able to partially mediate and increase the total influence of social media marketing on purchase intention. The results of this study provide implications for marketing strategies, especially in company management can develop marketing strategies by paying attention to social media marketing indicators and brand awareness that have good performance in this study in order to increase the purchase intention of Spotify premium services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Economics & Administrative Sciences is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

【Objective/Meaning】By exploring on the optimization path of deep-rooted, long-lasting and high-level development of the regional cooperation enabled by the exhibition economy, it would provide a theoretical reference for improving the interactive mechanism system between the exhibition economy and regional cooperation in the new era, so as to realize the coordinated development of the two. 【Methods/Procedures】Based on the perspective of two-way interaction, by using the methods of field investigation and comparative analysis, in view of the Cross-Strait “Agricultural Products Purchasing and Ordering Conference”, the typical case of cooperation between Fujian and Taiwan, the interactive mechanism between the exhibition economy and the regional cooperation and development was analyzed, the operation mode and practical effect of the 16th Cross-Strait “Agricultural Products Purchasing and Ordering Conference” were induced, and then the current development bottlenecks and practical problems of the cooperation between Fujian and Taiwan and the generalized regional cooperation were summarized. Last, the corresponding development paths were put forward. 【 Results/Conclusions】 The results showed that: there was a good two-way interactive relationship between the exhibition economy and regional cooperation, and the “Agricultural Products Purchasing and Ordering Conference” between Fujian and Taiwan has achieved certain results, but there were still some problems, such as the difficulty in balancing the width and depth, the lack of effective promotion of scientific and technological innovation, and the difficulty in forming the factor market within the region. Based on this, the paths for building the system of exhibition economy in China were put forward from the three aspects of “diversification”, “integration” and “digitization”, so as to better play the advantage effect of regional cooperation enabled by the exhibition economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zbornik Radova Pravnog Fakulteta u Nisu is the property of Law Faculty in Nis and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In 2008, the American University in Cairo (AUC) moved from its downtown campus in Tahrir Square to the center of New Cairo. Through an analysis of AUC's historical land acquisitions at Cairo's urban periphery, this article examines how the university sought to influence land use over the past century. We argue that AUC's relatively recent role in New Cairo is an expression of the institution's century-long aspirations to acquire land on Cairo's periphery for a permanent suburban style campus. Drawing on the tools of political ecology and critical university studies, we trace how a suburban desert campus is consistently envisioned as a mechanism for the institution to play a significant role in influencing land politics and use in and beyond its campus. We highlight two key ways that AUC has historically situated itself in the city's development. First, purchasing land in order to relocate to the outskirts of the city has been central to AUC's strategy for accumulating wealth to ensure its long-term presence in Egypt. Second, acquiring large tracts of land for a suburban desert campus has been instrumental to AUC's educational mission to shape its student body, Egyptian society, and the political ecology of desert land in Egypt. Through archival research, we show how AUC's relationship to land positions the university as a significant institutional force in Cairo's rapidly urbanizing desert periphery. This situated case study contributes to an emerging body of scholarship examining the fraught historical and contemporary relationship between universities, land, environmental knowledge, and uneven urbanization in the Middle East and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research is dedicated to developing an innovative information service to optimize the procurement and inventory management process. The primary focus is on individual user needs, ensuring convenience and cost-effectiveness in everyday purchases. The work involves analyzing existing methods for calculating the optimal procurement period for goods, taking into account personal preferences and the time spent on the purchasing process. It emphasizes the necessity of an individual approach to optimizing the procurement process based on the user's personal characteristics, relying on the time they spend on using the product fully. The proposed algorithm is based on a detailed analysis of personal purchasing habits and order history, considering factors influencing the frequency of purchases for each user. By utilizing data from previous purchases, the algorithm adapts to changes in consumer demand and provides optimal periods for future purchases. Additionally, it can forecast user needs and automatically generate orders accordingly. In the context of the application, implementing this algorithm significantly simplifies and optimizes the purchasing process for each user. Such a service promotes convenience and efficiency in everyday life, helping users utilize their time and resources rationally. In summary, the developed information service addresses current consumer problems, promoting the convenience and efficiency of their purchases. Its individualized approach and ability to adapt to changes make it an essential tool for improving the quality of life for users in the modern world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we consider a generalization of the coupon collector problem where we assume that the set of available coupons consists of standard coupons and an additional penalty coupon, which does not belong to the collection and interferes with collecting standard coupons. Applying Markov chain approach the following problem is solved: how many coupons (on average) one has to purchase in order to complete a collection without interference or to collect n more penalty coupons than standard coupons. Also, we obtain additional results related to the distribution of the waiting time until the collection is sampled without interference or until n more penalty coupons than standard coupons is sampled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several major companies operate large online order fulfillment systems to ship goods from fulfillment centers through a distribution network to customer destinations in response to purchase orders. These networks make several types of decisions in real-time to serve customers. First, when a customer places an order, when and where (which fulfillment center) is it fulfilled from? Second, once an order has been packaged, how is it moved through the network to get to the customer? Making optimal decisions can yield significant cost savings or improvements in customer service. Unfortunately, these are large optimization problems, and are furthermore subject to uncertainty in the products and destinations of customer orders and the inventory replenishment of the fulfillment centers. This uncertainty makes the problem difficult to solve to optimality. Although the problem can be modeled as a Markov decision process, solving it exactly using standard computational methods is not possible due to the curse of dimensionality. We propose an alternative approach to this problem. We define a relatively simple real-time control policy and prove that it serves all customer demand if at all possible. This proof is achieved using Lyapunov drift techniques to relate the real-time control performance to the average performance necessary to serve all customers on average. Correspondingly, we characterize the average network performance, which may be used for network topology design while the control policy adapts to real-time stochasticity. We demonstrate the performance and stability properties on a numerical example based on hundreds of Amazon facility locations in the United States. The max-pressure control and greedy policies perform similarly at low demands, but at higher demand the throughput properties of the max-pressure control manifest as improvements in throughput and customer service metrics. Funding: Financial support from the National Science Foundation [Grant 1935514] is gratefully acknowledged. Supplemental Material: The e-companion is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/trsc.2023.0096. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite the general impression that digital order-picking supportive technologies can manage a series of emerging challenges, there is still a very limited amount of research concerning the implementation and evaluation of such technologies in manual picker-to-goods order-picking systems. Therefore, this paper aims to evaluate the performance of three alternative picker-to-goods technologies (i.e., Pick-by-Radio Frequency (RF) Scanner, Pick-to-light, and Pick-by-vision) in terms of completion time and perceived workload. Methods: The Design of Experiments (DoE) methodology is adopted to investigate order-picking technologies in terms of completion time. More specifically, a full factorial design has been used (23 × 3 full factorial design) for the assessment of the aforementioned order-picking technologies via laboratory testing. Furthermore, for the comparative assessment of the reviewed order-picking technologies in terms of workload, the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) is embraced by system users. Results: The results reveal that the best picker-to-goods technology in terms of order-picking completion time and perceived workload under certain laboratory setup is light picking when combined with few items per order line and many order lines per order. Conclusion: The paper successfully identified the best picker-to-goods technology, however it is important to mention that the adoption of such order-picking technology implies certain managerial implications that include training programs for employees to ensure they are proficient in using such technologies, upfront costs for purchasing and implementing the order picking system, and adjustments to existing workflows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Computer und Recht is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

To reduce environmental pollution and promote sustainable development, more and more suppliers are committed to producing more environmentally friendly products such as green electrical appliances through a green supply chain (GSC) system. However, some suppliers are often limited by a lack of funds in the production and supply process. In this paper, buyer-supported purchase order financing (BPOF) and advance payment discount (APD) are adopted to help the supplier successfully produce green products in a GSC system consisting of a financially constrained supplier and a reputable retailer. Moreover, the salvage values of unsold inventory in most traditional models are fixed, but in real life, the salvage value tends to be time dependent. Therefore, how the time-varying salvage value affects the operation and financing decisions as well as the profit risks is studied. We find that the clearance time of the unsold items affects the optimal order quantity and the supplier's discount rate and the financial institution's optimal interest rate. In addition, the financing equilibrium is BPOF under certain conditions, and the profit risks of the retailer and the entire supply chain are increasing with the order quantity and the clearance time. Finally, our results are verified through numerical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study investigates the impact of E-WOM information on purchasing decisions, using customer satisfaction as a mediator. It examines E-WOM information as independent variables, such as quality, quantity, and credibility, and as dependent variables, such as consumer satisfaction and purchasing decisions, with customer satisfaction serving as a mediator to investigate the relationship between E-WOM information and purchasing decisions. A questionnaire was issued to 307 social media-active clients, and the hypotheses were tested using quantitative methods. Data analysis comprised descriptive statistics, Cronbach’s alpha, skewness and kurtosis, and Pearson correlation coefficient, as well as a fit model for measuring questionnaire reliability and validity, regression for sub-hypotheses, and a path model for evaluating main hypotheses. The findings revealed that all three dimensions of E-WOM information had a positive impact on customer satisfaction and purchase decisions, both individually and jointly. Customer satisfaction has a positive influence on purchasing decisions. Furthermore, E-WOM information has been shown to positively impact purchasing decisions via consumer satisfaction. The study suggests that organizations should understand the dimensions that impact customer satisfaction and purchasing decisions in order to fulfill their goals, remain ahead of the competition, and obtain a competitive advantage. Proper tracking of social media reviews, comments, and recommendations may help organizations deliver answers, increase customer satisfaction, and aid in making purchasing decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distribution centers (DCs) run more efficiently if their inbound deliveries are spread out evenly over the days of the week so that volume is aligned with receiving capacity. However, delivery dates are often scheduled at the time of placing purchase orders without an efficient process for spreading deliveries evenly, and there has been little research on how to optimally do this. This paper terms this process Master Purchase Receipt Scheduling (MPRS) and introduces a novel MPRS algorithm developed by New Horizon Soft, LLC using data from a major U.S. restaurant chain, where the algorithm is now in use. The approach optimizes order delivery dates, accounting for vendor shipping calendars, shipment sizes, and transportation uncertainty. Results from a Monte Carlo simulation validate the effectiveness and robustness of the algorithm. By addressing the complexities of DC operations, this innovation promises to reduce receiving bottlenecks, increase efficiency and capacity utilization, and foster additional research in this vital area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PT Distributor Karpet Bandung (DKB) is a distribution services company that sells Eva Carpets in the city of Bandung. DKB purchased Eva Carpets from Suppliers in Jakarta. The number of Eva Carpet purchases in 2023 will be as much as Eva Carpet sales in 2023 will be 106,614 units, 107,000 units. The initial inventory in 2023 will be 500 units. There is excess inventory of 886 units. The author conducted research with the title "Analysis of Carpet Orders to Suppliers at PT Distributor Kartpet Bandung (DKB) Using the Probabilistic EOQ Method". The author analyzed Eva Carpet purchase orders using the Probabilistic EOQ Method by forecasting sales numbers from January 2024 to December 2024 using the linear regression method. The research results explain that the number of Eva Carpet sales calculated using the linear regression method for 2024 is 106,617 units. 3 more units than actual sales in 2023. The calculation result of the number of units purchased for each order using the Economic Order Quantity method is 38,727 units. Inventory costs before using EOQ are IDR 177,263,700. Costs after using EOQ are IDR 63,032,850. Inventory Cost Savings amounting to IDR 114,230,858. It is best for DKB to plan Eva Carpet purchase orders using the Probabilistic EOQ method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E-commerce retailers are increasingly faced with challenges of finding ways to provide a seamless shopping experience to customers. The checkout process and its related touch points are especially critical in shaping the customer experience. We study the impact of adopting one-click buying, a feature that reduces the number of steps required to place a purchase order to a single click, on subsequent customer behavior. Using quasi-experimental data over a period of 35 months from an online retailer before and after the launch of one-click buying, we find adopting one-click buying is effective in lifting customer purchases and does so by making treated customers purchase more often and more items. The impact of adopting one-click buying on customer purchases after adoption is economically significant, persistent over time, and heterogeneous across customers. Analyzing clickstream data of customer activity online and purchases across product categories, we provide evidence that the increase in purchases is driven by richer engagement through both more visits to the website and more page views on visit and the expansion of purchases across categories. We discuss the implications of our findings for customer experience and targeting. This paper was accepted by Duncan Simester, marketing. Supplemental Material: The data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.4716. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study investigated the utilization of mannequins in merchandizing ready-to-wear garments by retailers in Anambra State. Specifically, it determined the availability of mannequins in ready-to-wear garment shops in Anambra State, ways mannequins influence sales of ready–to-wear retail shops in Anambra State, functions of mannequins in merchandizing of ready-to-wear apparels in retail shops. Survey research design was adopted. Population was 820 ready-to-wear garment retailers in the area. Sample size was 110. Questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were analysed using percentage and mean. Findings revealed that flexible mannequin, wooden mannequins were averagely available. Findings reveal availability assorted types of 29 mannequins. They are grouped base-on their style; audience of focus; feature; colour; prose; materials; size and functionality. Availability frequency/percentage (F%) range from F(%) 88(19.7%) to 239(53.6%). Other findings are 18 ways mannequins influence sales of ready-to-wear garments. These include among others, help to draw customers to the ready-t-wear garment shops in order to make a purchase (X̄ = 3.87), help to tell what products have arrived and in which store (X̄ = 3.85), create a particular atmosphere or give a certain fell (X̄ = 3.81). Further findings are 29 functions of mannequins in the shops. These include, among others, showcase merchandise (X̄ = 3.04), help retailers to make good choice (X̄ = 3.09), and increase the sales of clothing in retail shops (X̄ = 3.07). Four recommendations were made for improving the mannequins clothing merchandizing. Based on the findings of the study, four recommendations were made. These including among others, workshop aqnd seminars should be organized by ready-to-wear garment association on effective utilization of mannequins for advertising ready-to-wear garments to their customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine whether options exchanges' pricing schedules affect broker order routing behavior and limit order execution quality. We find that some brokers seemingly maximize the value of their order flow by selling marketable orders and sending nonmarketable orders to exchanges that offer large liquidity rebates. Other brokers appear to bypass liquidity rebates by routing both marketable and nonmarketable orders to exchanges that purchase order flow. Using a decision by the Philadelphia Stock Exchange (PHLX) to change its trading protocol, we provide empirical evidence that brokers can enhance limit order execution quality by routing nonmarketable limit orders to options exchanges that purchase order flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latency delays intentionally slow order execution at an exchange, often to protect market makers against latency arbitrage. We study informed trading in a fragmented market in which one exchange introduces a latency delay on market orders. Liquidity improves at the delayed exchange as informed investors emigrate to the conventional exchange, where liquidity worsens. In aggregate, implementing a latency delay worsens total expected welfare. We find that the impact on price discovery depends on the relative abundance of speculators. If the exchange with delay technology competes against a conventional exchange, it implements a delay only if it has sufficiently low market share. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supplier selection (SS) and order allocation (OA) are strategic decisions that have a substantial effect on a company's performance. However, order allocation is often neglected, since it results from supplier selection and is considered supplementary: little attention has been paid to its specific nature and complexity. Consequently, the authors conducted a systematic literature review specifically regarding order allocation methods. The research aimed to evaluate how often and when the issue has been dignified with an individual focus, independently of the supplier selection problem. This study conducted a comprehensive examination of the order allocation models and solutions, criteria for order quantity allocation, features of suppliers, items, planning periods, and demand most commonly considered in the literature. Finally, it aimed to discover whether supply chain configurations and trends have been considered in efforts to find a solution to the problem. The scientific contribution of this study is threefold: (i) to expand the review of scientific literature regarding order allocation models, (ii) to identify research gaps and highlight research opportunities, and (iii) to suggest a research agenda for the development of order allocation models according to the requirements of current trends in supply chain management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The super profit method (SPM) is a valuation technique used to estimate the value of goodwill. It is commonly used in the context of valuing small businesses or professional practices. The present research aims to assess the impact of super profit, capital employed, nominal profit, and nominal rate on goodwill values. To find which parameter impacts more on the response variable, the design of the experiment (DOE) is considered. To conduct the experiments and optimize the factors for goodwill values, the study utilizes the design of experiment methodology. Notably, this research is the first to employ the DOE to identify the optimal combination of input factors. To explore the effects of input factors, the Taguchi method L9 DOE, analysis of variance (ANOVA), regression coefficient, and analysis of mean (ANOM) are used, and the analysis is carried out using MINITAB 18 software. ANOM allows us to discover the most effective combinations of variables across different levels, specifically focusing on their impact on a desired output. It also helps us establish the rank of input factors based on their influence on the respective outputs. The regression analysis can be used by the traders to check the behavior of factors that impact the goodwill valuation. ANOVA is used to gauge the percentage contribution of these factors to the variation in goodwill value. The results indicate that, for a specific dataset, the factors affecting goodwill value are ranked in the following order: purchase period (N), average profit (AP), nominal rate (r), and capital employed (CA). Finally, some other factors have also been studied that impact the goodwill of a firm during this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem definition: Smart contract improves the supply chain efficiency by enabling the supplier's commitment to postshipment financing decisions, which mitigates the bank's lending risk exposure and thereby reduces the financing cost. This paper investigates how smart contract adoption could facilitate trade finance activities and create value for supply chain firms. Academic/practical relevance: As the emerging blockchain technology could potentially reshape the trade financing landscape, understanding the impact of smart contract adoption and its interaction with trade finance activities is practically relevant and of great importance. Methodology: We develop a two-stage game-theoretic model and adopt supply chain finance theory to characterize the strategic interactions between supply chain firms in the presence of both operational risk (demand uncertainty) and financial risks (credit and liquidity risks). Results: We find that the value of smart contract depends critically on the trade finance structures, including both preshipment and postshipment financing schemes. Under the baseline trade finance model (with purchase order financing as preshipment financing and factoring as postshipment financing), smart contract alleviates the supplier's overpricing behavior caused by commitment frictions and helps restore the supply chain efficiency. When buyer direct financing serves as an alternative preshipment financing, smart contract might discourage the retailer from offering buyer direct financing, which significantly hurts the supplier and thus reduces the supply chain profit. When invoice trading serves as the alternative postshipment financing, the supplier always chooses invoice trading over factoring because of its trading flexibility, which in turn, makes the commitment frictions ubiquitous and unresolvable (namely, commitment trap). As a result, invoice trading could unexpectedly lead to a lower supplier's profit. Luckily, such an adoption dilemma can be resolved by smart contract adoption in conjunction with factoring. Managerial implications: Our findings provide guidelines for and insights into when smart contract should be adopted and its interactions with different trade finance schemes. In particular, smart contract adoption does not always benefit the supply chain. History: This paper has been accepted for the Manufacturing & Service Operations Management Special Section on the Interface of Operations, Finance and Technology. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2022.1126. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study measures the behavioral effects of continuing resolutions by examining their impact on federal procurement activities. The restrictions imposed by continuing resolutions are explored as an example of political control over a public organization. The analysis employs a dataset describing the timing of U.S. Marine Corps purchase orders for goods and services. Individual purchase orders were sampled over a four-year period (2016−2019) that endured continuing resolutions of different lengths. The analysis examines the impact of continuing resolutions on the number of purchase orders initiated, the duration of their review period, and the dollar amount per request. The results depict multiple impacts that appear to concentrate on requests for services rather than commodities. These findings help quantify the magnitude of the disruptions caused by federal budgetary dysfunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accounts Payable (AP) is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process used by large corporations to compensate vendors on time for goods and services received. A comprehensive verification procedure is executed before disbursing funds to a supplier or vendor. After the successful conclusion of these validations, the invoice undergoes further processing by traversing multiple stages, including vendor identification; line-item matching; accounting code identification; tax code identification, ensuring proper calculation and remittance of taxes, verifying payment terms, approval routing, and compliance with internal control policies and procedures, for a comprehensive approach to invoice processing. At the moment, each of these processes is almost entirely manual and laborious, which makes the process time-consuming and prone to mistakes in the ongoing education of agents. It is difficult to accomplish the task of automatically processing these invoices for payment without any human involvement. To provide a solution, we implemented an automated invoicing system with modules based on artificial intelligence. This system processes invoices from beginning to finish. It takes very little work to configure it to meet the specific needs of each unique customer. Currently, the system has been put into production use for two customers. It has handled roughly 80 thousand invoices, of which 76 percent were automatically processed with little or no human interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]