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European Journal of Operational Research
Volume 147, Issue 3, 16 June 2003, Pages 530-548
 
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doi:10.1016/S0377-2217(02)00291-6    How to Cite or Link Using DOI (Opens New Window)
Copyright © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Production, Manufacturing and Logistics

Effects of a demand-curve’s shape on the optimal solutions of a multi-echelon inventory/pricing model

Amy Hing Ling LauE-mail The Corresponding Author, a and Hon-Shiang LauCorresponding Author Contact Information, E-mail The Corresponding Author, b

a Department of Accountancy, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Hum, Kowloon, Hong Kong b Department of Management Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Received 3 May 2001; 
accepted 8 March 2002. ;
Available online 30 April 2002.

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Abstract

When a price–demand relationship is needed in inventory/pricing models, very often a convenient (typically linear) function is arbitrarily chosen. The common-wisdom implication is that any downward-sloping demand curve would lead to similar conclusions. This paper applies different demand-curve functions to a simple inventory/pricing model, and shows that while the common-wisdom implication is valid for a single-echelon system, assuming different demand-curve functions can lead to very different results in a multi-echelon system. In some situations, a very small change in the demand-curve appearance leads to very large changes in the model’s optimal solutions. Other significant but counter-intuitive effects of the demand-curve form are also revealed. This paper does not completely resolve the difficulties revealed by the counter-intuitive effects reported here, but establishing the existence of these effects represents a first step towards developing procedures to handle such effects; these procedures will be necessary to ensure the reliability of many multi-echelon models for products having price-sensitive demands.

Author Keywords: Supply chain management; Pricing; Retailing; Inventory

Article Outline

1. Introduction
1.1. Motivation
1.2. Definitions
1.3. Overview
2. Brief summary of the single-echelon situation
2.1. Linear demand curve
2.2. The iso-elastic, exponential and algebraic demand curves
3. The two-echelon situation
3.1. Derivation of basic results
3.2. Comments on the results in Table 2
4. The three-echelon situation
4.1. Derivation of basic results
5. An often overlooked property of the linear demand curve
5.1. Proof that “d=abp” can represent the same market condition for any (a, b)-value
5.2. Extensions
6. Combining linear and iso-elastic demand curves
6.1. Confirming the earlier results and achieving a wider range of (θM*R*) and CE values
6.2. Additional complications
6.3. A closer look on how the demand curves affect θhM*, θhR* and phR*
7. An illustration of the effect of assuming different demand curves
8. Summary and conclusion
Acknowledgements
References






 
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