This dissertation focuses on the recent supply chain initiatives, such as Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) and Third-Party Logistics (3PL), enabling the coordination of supply chain entities; e.g., suppliers, buyers, and transporters. With these initiatives, substantial savings are realizable by carefully coordinating inventory, transportation, and pricing decisions. The impact is particularly tangible when the transporter's role and the transportation costs are explicitly incorporated into decision mechanisms that aim to coordinate the supply channel. Furthermore, expanding the perspective of channel coordination by introducing the transporter as an individual party in the channel provides tangible benefits for each member of the channel. Recognizing the need for further analytical research in the field of multi-echelon inventory and channel coordination, we developed and solved a class of integrated inventory and transportation models with explicit shipment consolidation considerations. Moreover, we examined transporter-buyer and supplier-transporter-buyer channels and solved centralized and decentralized models for these channels with the aim of investigating the impact of transporters on channel performance. In this dissertation, we also developed efficient coordination mechanisms between the transporter and the other parties in the channel.

This dissertation takes into account the latest industrial trends in integrated logistical management and focuses on recent supply chain initiatives enabling the coordination of supply chain entities. The specific initiatives of interest rely on carefully designed transportation and supply contracts such as Vendor Managed Inventory applications. With such new initiatives, substantial savings are realizable by carefully coordinating the operational decisions, such as procurement, transportation, inventory, and production decisions, for different cooperating entities in the supply chain. The impact is particularly tangible when coordinated policies address channel coordination issues between these entities. This dissertation first provides a critical review and comparative analysis of the literature on buyer-vendor coordination problems. Recognizing a need for analytical research in the field, the dissertation then develops and solves centralized and decentralized models for complex buyer-vendor coordination problems with applications in supply/replenishment and transportation/delivery contract design. The two specific classes of problems considered include i) buyer-vendor coordination under generalized replenishment costs, and ii) buyer-vendor coordination under depreciating economic value of items. Under these considerations, the dissertation also develops efficient coordination algorithms and new mechanisms for effective channel coordination.

This dissertation studies important issues in supply chain management and marketing interface research: competition, product line design, and channel efficiency, at the presence of vertically differentiated products. Vertical differentiation as a means of price discrimination has been well-studied in both economics and marketing literature. However, less attention has been paid on how vertical differentiation has been operationalized. In this dissertation, we focus our study on two types of vertical differentiation: the one created by a product line which is produced by the same firm, and the one created by products from different firms. We especially are interested in the so-called private label products vs. the national brand products. Specifically, this dissertation explores how vertical differentiation can affect the interactions among the members of a supply chain in several different contexts. In the first piece of work, we use a game theoretic model to explore how the ability of a retailer to introduce a private label product affects its interaction with a manufacturer of a national brand. In the second essay, we are investigating how an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) will be affected by the entry of a competitor when there are strategic suppliers of a critical component. If these suppliers behave strategically, it is not clear that the entry of other players will necessarily be harmful to the incumbent. In the last work, we pay our attention to an emerging change happening in the industry: some retailers begin to sell their private labels through their competitors. We investigate the strategic role of a retailer selling her own private label products through another retailer. In summary, this dissertation illustrates how vertical differentiation play a crucial role in firms' supply chain as well as marketing strategies. Therefore, it is important for firms to recognize these strategic issues related to vertically differentiated products while making operations/marketing decisions. / text