OPTIMAL AND INCENTIVE COMPATIBLE PRICING FOR HETEROGENEOUS PERIODS

This paper studies a service firm whose business time can be divided into several periods, each providing different value to customers. Heterogeneous service is a major reason resulting in imbalances between supply and demand. Since customers differ in their degree of impatience, firrns can use differential pricing mechanisms to optimize their objectives and match supply with demand in each period, by inducing customers to choose different periods. We study two types of firrns, an internal firm, the objective of which is to maximize the system＇s （including the f＇nan and all the customers） total net value, and a commercial firm, which aims to optimize its own profit. Though impatience factors are customers＇ private information, for each type of firm, we derive the optimal incentive compatible pricing policy, under which all the coming customers will follow the firm＇s assignment, that is, patient customers will buy the service in high-value periods, but their waiting time will be longer, while impatient customers will enter into the low-value periods, but they will be compensated by shorter waiting times. Furthermore, in the internal firm, we also prove that this mechanism enables the decentralization of decisions, while maintaining centralized system-wide optimality. Numerical analysis shows that when there is sufficient capacity, the internal firm does not always need to set lower prices than the commercial firm in every period.     

Allocation Planning for R&D with Uncertainty:Model and Procedure

A decision support model with the stochastic objective function measuring the benefitcontributions of projects and stochastic resource constraint and its decision making analysis pro-cedure with the case study are presented for selecting R＆D projects,in which the uncertainty inproject evaluation and selection,the technical or outcome,cost or resource and benefit or payoffinterrelationships among projects,and the experience and knowledge of ther R＆D manager can beconsidered.     

How Does the General Output Quantity Distribution of Suppliers Affect the Value-appropriation of Supply Chain？

This paper studies the problem of value-appropriation of supply chain, which is composed of a monopoly manufacturer downstream and multiple suppliers upstream. Firstly, we introduce two special examples in which output distribution of suppliers satisfy equal or equal-difference sequence. It is found that the more difference the distribution will be, the less preference will be gain by the manufacturer in the value-appropriation of supply chain. For the general distribution, the parameter ＂competitive residual＂ is introduced to score the influence of the suppliers＇ output quantity distribution on manufacturer＇s preference. The general conclusion will be given and it can directly deduce the conclusions above. Finally, we extend our basic conclusion to the more general situation in which the numbers of suppliers are not equal.     

MANUFACTURER’S UNIFORM PRICING AND CHANNEL CHOICE WITH A RETAIL PRICE MARKUP COMMITMENT STRATEGY

The paper studies channel choice decisions in a multi-channel supply chain under a strategy where there is an ex-ante commitment made on the retail price markup. The market demand is uncertain and dependent on the price and sales efforts. The results show that in any channel structure, when making order decisions the retailer only examines the price ratio and the fluctuation size of random demand, rather than the channel cost and the retailer＇s marketing efficiency. When the retail price rises, the manufacturer is willing to increase inventory quantity for direct sales, because the manufacturer＇s profit margin is higher in direct channel. The increase in demand fluctuation only affects the degree of channel preference but doesn＇t change the manufacturer＇s channel choice. No matter in which level the price ratio is, when the sales efficiency of retail channel is not high or the demand proportion of direct channel is low, the manufacturer and the retailer will be both apt to choose a dual-channel structure. Then adding a direct channel becomes a marketing strategy, rather than a competitor of the retail channel, and helps the supply chain win more market demand.     

An Empirical Research on the Evolution Model of Competitiveness Between Different Life Cycle Stages in Chinese Enterprises

The characteristic of enterprise competitiveness is different between different life cycle stages. In this paper we surveyed the enterprise competitiveness＇s differences in various stages of the life cycle and the evolution model of three aspects of enterprise com- petitiveness as resource, capability and dynamic capability by questionnaire survey. The result shows that there are significant differences between different life cycle stages of en- terprise competitiveness in China. The enterprise competitiveness is stronger and stronger during the periods from the enterprise＇s birth to maturity, while in the enterprise＇s recession period the competitiveness becomes much weaker. The competitiveness＇s constitutive features in each stage are as follows： in the enterprise＇s born stage the enterprise is lack of resources and its competition mainly relies on the ability; in the enterprise＇s growth stage the enterprise＇s resources become richer and are as important as enterprise＇s ability in the constitution of enterprise competitiveness; in the maturity stage the enterprise＇s people, money and material resources all become very rich but the role of capability in enterprise competitiveness begins to decrease; in the enterprise＇s recession stage the en- terprise resources begin to exhaust, and the enterprise＇s competitiveness returns to rely on capability, and in this period the enterprise＇s learning ability, innovation ability and dynamic mechanisms perform worst, which will affect the enterprise＇s revival and lead to the ultimate death of enterprise. These conclusions have great value for reference to the enterprise＇s competitive strategy making for different life cycle stages.     

Investigating Overall Technical Efficiency in China Commercial Banks： a DEA Approach

Based on the non-Archimedian infinite model C^2R of the Data Envelopment Analysis, combined with characteristics of Chinese mainland banks＇ inputs and outputs, the paper sets up an index system of inputs and outputs as well as an overall technical efficiency evaluation model for Chinese banks, which considers not only the profit ability, but also the control capacity of banks risk. The overall technical efficiency values of Chinese banks are given respectively based on the samples of state owned banks and 14 integrated samples both state owned banks and shareholding banks. The input redundancy of labor, net value fixed assets, operating expenses, owner＇s equity, branch number and output deficiency of operating income, total increase in deposits, total increase in loans, ROE, decrease in bad debts ratio, are also calculated. The pertinence policy suggestions of efficiency improvement of banks are put forward. The results show that the efficiencies of new shareholding banks are far higher than non-shareholding bank and the all four state owned banks are commonly lower in overall technical efficiency. The overall technical efficiency of Agriculture Bank of China is the lowest one in all banks, and Bank of Communications is the efficiency lowest in all shareholding banks. The contributions and characteristics of the paper are： 1） the bad debit ratio is used to reflect the quality of the outputs, which is an improvement to the current literature of neglecting the difference in loans quality. 2） The inefficiency reasons of banks are list out by quantity analysis, and the pertinent macro strategies and concrete measures on improving banks efficiency are given, which is another improvement to current research that tend to give the efficiency value, but not ignore giving improving strategy from quantities analysis. 3） Banks overall technical efficiency values under several portfolios of inputs and outputs are given respectively, which not only overcomes the restraints that the sample size is at least the 2 times of the number of inputs and outputs indexes, but also measures banks overall technical efficiency from several directions. 4） It makes the efficiency values estimation more comparable by extracting four state owned banks for another efficiency evaluation. Combining both state owned banks and shareholding banks as a whole group of efficiency evaluation shows the real overall technical efficiency distance between two different kinds of bank and provide realistic basis for the bank reform of China.     

R ＆ D STRATEGIC INVESTMENT IN AN ASYMMETRICAL CASE

This article analyzes R ＆ D investment decisions in an asymmetrical case. The investment decisions share three important characteristics. First, the investment is completely irreversible. Second, there are two kinds of uncertainties over the future returns from the investment and over technology in R ＆ D process, respectively. Third, there is strategic competition in the asymmetrical case. This article presents the optimal investment threshold values and the optimal investment rule of high-efficient firm （leader）, and shows that the investment threshold values are reduced by competition of two firms. Finally, the mixed investment strategies for two firms, the probability that each firm separately exercises the option to invest, and the probability that two firms simultaneously exercise the option are given in the paper.     

The Causal Relationship Between Managerial Pay and Firm Performance： a Confirmatory Study with Structural Equation Model

We use structural equation technique to test four hypothesis relationships between the managerial pay and firm performance. Data from 208 Chinese listed companies is used, the evidence supports Hypothesis 3. It opens out that ownership concentration affects firm performance indirectly through managerial pay, and illustrates managerial pay is a valid mechanism in corporate governance to motivate manager to maximize firm‘s performance.At the same time, we find ownership concentration is negative to managerial pay, while IPO time and registration areas are positive to managerial pay obviously. It suggests that finding a correct solution to management incentive is the key to improve firm performance.     

PRICE AND SERVICE COMPETITION WITH MAINTENANCE SERVICE BUNDLING

In many equipment manufacturing industries,firms compete with each other not only on products price,but also on maintenance service.More and more traditional products oriented firms are offering their customers products bundled with maintenance service(P&S bundles).In this study,we examine firms’ incentive to offer customers products bundling with long-term maintenance or repair support service in a duopoly competitive environment.When providing P&S bundles,a firm need to determine the service level(in terms of average response time guarantee for the service in this paper) to offer and needs to build a service facility to handle the maintenance service requirements.Based on the analysis of three sub-game models,we characterize the market conditions in which only one firm,both firms or neither firm will offer P&S bundles.Finally,we analyze the affects of serval market factors on firms’ strategy choices.     

Life Cycle of Chinese Public Company and Competence Strategy Research

From start-up, growth, maturity to decline, a company will experience a complicated process, in which the company needs to change its anticipated objective, structure and business model with the variation of environment, in order to survive and gain sustainable development. Based on an enterprise＇s life-cycle theory, this paper makes use of both qualitative and quantitative models to do an empirical study on measurement of the life-cycle of 1135 Chinese public companies from 1991 to 2002, both FoxPro and SAS programs are used to process data. At the end of the paper, the author comes up with a company＇s value goals and relevant competence strategies in every stage of life cycle, with the purpose to promote the Chinese public companies＇ sustainable development.     

系族化经营与企业创新——来自集团附属上市公司的经验证据

Although familized-affiliated enterprises are common in the capital market, there is a lack of evidence on whether their innovation performance is better than that of only-child group-affiliated enterprises. This paper divided the listed companies affiliated to the Chinese group into familized group-affiliated enterprises and only-child group-affiliated enterprises, and examined the differences in innovation performance between the two types of organizations. It is found that the innovation performance of familized group-affiliated enterprises is significantly higher than that of only-child group-affiliated enterprises, and the innovation performance advantage of the familized group affiliation is more obvious in private than in state-owned enterprises. Moreover, the more the business of a familized group-affiliated firm is related to that of its parent company, the better the innovation performance of the affiliated firm will be. Conversely, the higher the diversification of a familized group, the lower the innovation performance of its affiliated firms will be. This paper shows that the familized group affiliation promotes the innovation of the affiliated enterprise. The findings enrich the understanding of the impact of the familized group on the innovation of affiliated firms, and have important practical implications for the innovation management of the group enterprise.     

Optimal Policy for Remanufacturing Firms with Carbon Options under Service Requirements

This paper studies the procurement management of carbon financial instruments and the production decisions for an emission-dependent remanufacturing firm under service requirements.In the presence of demand uncertainty,carbon emission options are introduced to hedge risks for the firm who purchases carbon financial instruments under a cap-flexible emission trading scheme(ETS)and then conducts remanufacturing.We develop three optimization models to determine the optimal remanufacturing quantity(procurement quantity of carbon financial instruments)maximizing the firm's expected profit under three contracts:a pure wholesale price contract,a pure carbon option contract,and a portfolio contract.Through analyses and comparisons of optimal solutions,we demonstrate the values of introducing carbon options and committing to service levels for the firm.Compared with the other two pure contracts,the portfolio contract makes the firm better off.However,high service requirements may lead to a profit loss to the firm.We generalize to the cases when the yield rate is dependent on the quality of used products,when the yield is stochastic,and when carbon price performs volatility.Discussion of these extensions illuminates how the variability of used product quality,yield rate and carbon price influences the firm's performances.     

Simulating the supply disruption for the coordinated supply chain

There are many disruptive accidents in the supply chain operations system and achieving the coordination of supply chain is main objective for supply chain research. While disruptive accidents have increasingly influenced the coordinated operation of the supply chain, existing research literature on the supply chain coordination is setting in a stationary environment. The answer for how the disruptive accidents affect the coordinated supply chain is given in this paper. Based on the benchmark supply chain which is coordinated by the negative incentive mechanism, we study the impacts of supply disruption on the supply chain system by using simulation approach in which two different distribution function of random variable are used to express the supply disruption. Comparison between these two simulation results and possible coordination mechanism under the supply disruption are proposed. From the perspective of supply chain risk management, we provide the inspiration for the manager.     

The Gray Relevancy Research on New Products Output and Science ＆ Technology Resources input in State-owned industrial Enterprises

This paper analyzes the correlativity between new products output and science ＆ technology resources input by the method of Gray Relevancy model, and finds that the spending for new products has greatest correlativity with new products output in large and medium sized state-owned industrial enterprises.     

Order decision making based on different statement strategies under stochastic market demand

Based on the stochastic market demand,this paper considers the order decision-making strategies of the supply chain by introducing statement strategies.Consequently,the time-variant variance in the demands of the market is incorporated into the model.The retailer simultaneously determines the purchase time(i.e.,lead time)and order quantity,and the manufacturer determines the statement strategy and the reserved profit rate.The results show that the no overtime statement strategy can induce the retailer to place more orders in advance by limiting the available order quantity within the available time.Finally,we also adopt numerical examples to support the conclusion of this paper.     

MARKETING OBJECTIVES OF RETAILERS WITH DIFFERENTIATED GOODS： AN EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE

1. Introduction Conventionally, different marketingmanagers have different marketing objectives before making marketing decisions. For360 JOURNAL OF SYSTEMS SCIENCE AND SYSTEMS ENGINEERING different marketing objectives, a firm has different quantity and/or pricing strategies. Furthermore, to a large degree the marketing objective strategies determine the profit and survival of a firm. Should a firm take the profit maximization strategy or the revenue maximization strategy? …     

COMPETITIVE INVESTMENT STRATEGIES IN ADOPTION OF NEW TECHNOLOGY WITH A FURTHER NEW TECHNOLOGY ANTICIPATED

In dynamic uncertain environments, the investment timing of the firm about adopting the existing new technology is influenced by the rival's actions and technological progress. This paper employs option games approach to present a simplified duopoly continuous time model of technology adoption. In the model, the irreversible investment in adoption of the existing new technology is in strategic competitive circumstances and facing the threat of a further new technology after the competition setting is established. The purpose of the paper is to examine the effect of technological displacement on firms' strategic investment. The results show that rapid displacement of the technology encourages the leader's investment and discourages the follower's investment. Comparing with the optimal timing without the expectation of a further new technology, the firm hastens to invest when no firm has invested; however, once one firm has invested first, the firm will delay its investment. Using mixed strategy analysis,     

Contractor Prequalification Based on Neural Networks

Contractor Prequalification involves the screening of contractors by a project owner, according to a given set of criteria, in order to determine their competence to perform the work if awarded the construction contract. This paper introduces the capabilities of neural networks in solving problems related to contractor prequalification. The neural network systems for contractor prequalification has an input vector of 8 components and an output vector of 1 component. The output vector represents whether a contractor is qualified or not qualified to submit a bid on a project.     

The Characteristic of Enterprise Systems Engineering in the New Economic Era and Its Innovation

This paper reviewed the mode and optimization of the traditional enterprise＇s system engineering management briefly by combining the new situation of economy in the 21st century, pondered over its development and optimization in the new century, explored its new development and optimization under the new situation of economy.     

The Action of Structure and Efficiency on Energy Intensity Variation in China- An Empirical Analysis Based on AWD

This paper discusses the factors influencing Chinese energy intensity from 1980 to 2003 based on adaptive weighting Divisia index method and the analyzing results are different in different phase. In period of 1980～1990, both the structure factor and the technology factor effected positively Chinese energy intensity＇s fall but the former became inefficacy and even turned out to be negative in 1991～2001 meanwhile the later factor strengthened its function. After 2001, the two factors promoted Chinese energy intensity＇s rising together. The conclusion is given in the end.