Gengui Zhou

Along with economic development and technological innovation, rapid expansion of agricultural machinery has sparked widespread concern. In particular, the superiority of scrapped agricultural machinery recycling and remanufacturing in improving environmental sustainability, economic benefits, and carbon emission reduction has garnered public attention. Based on this reality, this study constructs models for five different agricultural machinery recycling channels according to different actors involved in recovery, dismantling, and remanufacturing. Each model’s equilibrium is determined by mathematical deduction. The applicable condition of each model and the influence of multiple factors are analyzed. The results indicate the following: (i) no single recycling channel is definitely superior to others, and different channels have their own applicable conditions that are influenced by transfer payments, supply chain cooperation, recycling prices, and supply and demand; (ii) cooperative scenarios are more conducive to attracting third-party enterprises to participate to increase supply chain revenue; (iii) rise in recovery and remanufacturing prices may lead to divergence among supply chain parties on channel selection; and (iv) oversupply requires government subsidies to maintain recycling and remanufacturing.

The implementation of the dual-credit policy has had a significant impact on the development of new energy vehicles. Considering the background of the dual-credit policy, this paper examines the concept that demand is influenced by price, consumer low-carbon preference, and concerns regarding endurance. First, we study the pricing decisions of a two-level automobile supply chain consisting of two manufacturers and one dealer and discuss the influence of the dual-credit policy on decision making. Two methods are then used to coordinate the supply chain, and the results are verified by numerical analysis. The results show that: (1) the stronger the concerns of consumers regarding a low-carbon preference and endurance, the better the development of new energy vehicles; (2) raising the integral calculation coefficient and the integral price can increase the demand for, and profits from, new energy vehicles, which can expand the market; and (3) the supply chain can be fully coordinated through Nash negotiations. This paper theoretically demonstrates the impact of factors such as car endurance on corporate decision making, guiding car companies to make pricing decisions based on market conditions.

The uncertainty caused by emergencies will influence the normal operation of the supply chain. Considering demand disruptions, a closed-loop supply chain consisting of one manufacturer and two competing retailers based on decentralized decision-making is considered. In the supply chain, one retailer recovers end-of-life products while the other does not. Analytic results show that, when the disturbance of demand occurs, the manufacturer and retailers adjust the wholesale price and retail prices of products according to the direction of the market demand disruptions. Under demand disruptions, the retailer who participates in recovering can gain more profits, especially in the case of the positive disruption. Theoretic and pragmatic references for the emergency decision-making of closed-loop supply chain enterprises are provided.

To stimulate purchases from consumers, retailers nowadays use the multiple retail prices strategy (MRPS), i.e., selling the products at multiple prices simultaneously. The paper extends the current newsboy model and proposes an optimal ordering model for MRPS corresponding to uncertain consumer demands. The Lagrangian multiplier method is applied to solve the problem, and an algorithm for finding the approximate optimal total order quantity is designed. Numerical results show that MRPS is better than the single retail price strategy (SRPS). It further reveals that when there is an order quantity constraint, the retailer needs to control the number of retail prices; that is, retailer’s MRPS is affected by order quantity constraint; sensitivity analysis demonstrates that MRPS is also affected by the price discount coefficient in the case of no order quantity constraint while it is not affected by demand volatility. The research work provides some useful managerial inspirations for retailers.

Purpose: This paper aims to develop a coordination mechanism that can be applied to achieve the channel coordination and information sharing simultaneously in the fresh agri-food supply chain with uncertain demand. It seeks to elucidate how the producer can use an option contract to transfer the risk caused by uncertain demand, impel the retailer to share demand information and improve the performance of supply chain.Design/methodology/approach: An option contract model based on the basic model of fresh agri-food supply chain is introduced to compare the production, profit, risk and information sharing condition of the supply chain in different cases. In addition, a case study focusing on the sale of autumn peaches produced by a local producer is investigated, which provides evidence of the applicability of the authors’ approach.Findings: The optimal option contract can help the supply chain achieve channel coordination and reach Pareto improvement. In the meantime, such a contract will encourage the retailer to share market demand information with producer spontaneously and help maintain the strategic cooperation between two parties.Research limitations/implications: This paper considers a single-producer, single-retailer system and both of them are risk neutral.Practical implications: Presented results can be used as suggestions for improving the contract design of fresh agri-food supply chain in China and can also provide references for other countries with similar experiences as China in fresh agri-food production.Originality/value: This research introduces the option contract into fresh agri-food supply chain and takes information sharing and the risk caused by uncertain demand into consideration.

Direct chain enterprises (DCEs) face a decision-making issue as to how to allocate and supply their products to their stores for sales with the minimum losses and maximum profits for the manufacturers. This paper presents a single-cycle optimal allocation model for DCEs under the given total production amount and conditional value at risk loss. The optimal strategy for production allocation and supply is derived. Subsequently, an approximate algorithm for solving the optimal total production amount is presented. The optimal allocation and supply strategy, the minimum total production amount, the minimum allocation strategy, and the discount pricing strategy are obtained for the single cycle. Finally, with the sales data of a food DCE, numerical results corroborate that adopting different production and supply strategies reduces the risk of expected losses and increases the expected return. It is of an important theoretical significance in guiding the production and operation of direct chain enterprises.

Exponential increase of used and scrapped products has aroused worldwide attention, with various coping strategies regarding environmental protection and resource reutilization being considered and implemented. Among these, remanufacturing, processing used products environmentally and restoring them to like-new conditions, is preferred by nations around the world. China has been committed to developing and advancing the remanufacturing industry along with its products since 2013, however only a few residents are able to recognize and purchase remanufactured products at the present time. This paper aims to investigate the public awareness of Chinese residents on these emerging products by conducting a questionnaire survey and field research for data collection, and analyzing the results statistically. Results show that most Chinese residents are not familiar with remanufactured products, the superior attributes of such products, or the channels available to purchase them. This could be explained by insufficient publicity and promotion on the part of the government and business enterprises. Factors influencing the purchase intentions of customers are illuminated and potential problems are summarized, in response to which, respective recommendations are provided for both policy makers and firms to popularize remanufactured products.

The huge amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) has aroused global concern with its importance of environmental performance for resources reutilization being recognized. The incomplete collection management system is required to be improved for a more environmental and orderly recycling way. Based on the public survey, field research and information search on the Internet, we present the existing framework and problems of WEEE collection in China, according to which four innovative WEEE collection modes are put forward: (i) Unified collection channels mode; (ii) Manufacturer alliance mode; (iii) Innovative enterprise self-built network platform mode; and (iv) Third-party integrated network platform mode. The characteristics, merits and deficiencies of the four modes are compared and analyzed, combined with which, we match the four modes with regions of different economic levels and Internet application. Third-party integrated network platform integrating online and offline resources is expected to be generalized under rapid development of information technology and e-commerce in China. The purpose of our research is to explore appropriate innovative WEEE collection modes and give suggestions for countries or economies whose WEEE collection situation or system are similar with China. Besides, government support and laws implementation are emphasized in mode promotion.

There is increasing academic and pragmatic interest in leveraging patent rights to invigorate remanufacturing for waste products under governmental interventions via regulations and reward–penalty instruments. In practice, many original manufacturers that are possessed with intellectual property rights allow third-party remanufacturers to implement reproducing operations through authorization and charging licensing fees. The general purpose of this paper is to explore favorable strategies for a closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) system of waste product collection and remanufacturing, in the context of either manufacturer-remanufacturing or remanufacturer-remanufacturing. To achieve such an objective, game theory is adopted to establish models of three collection and remanufacturing modes among channel members involving a manufacturer, a seller, and a remanufacturer. In so doing, the results show that a government’s allocations of elementary remanufacturing ratio and the unit amount of reward–penalty count significantly in CLSC operations, especially for the manufacturer, who acts as the leader in the system and makes mode selections.