This study was conducted to find out how payback analysis would affect consumer decision making with regards to home energy efficient upgrade packages. Three different home plans were obtained from a local builder and seven different energy efficient packages were created. Using Hot2000 the heating and cooling loads were calculated for each building, with each energy efficient package, in each of the four major cardinal directions. The averages were taken and the payback information was calculated. The payback information included the increased cost of the package, the increase in the mortgage payment, the annual savings from heating and cooling bills, the monthly savings, the positive or negative monthly cash flow, the amount of time and interest saved if the monthly savings were added to the mortgage principle, the number of years required to pay back the original investment, the rate of return and the increased home value. A survey was taken to see how the subjects would react to viewing the payback information. The subjects were individuals looking to buy a home in the next 12 months somewhere along the Wasatch Front area in Utah. Depending on the size of the home the subjects were looking for, the subjects were shown the different packages with their accompanying cost increase and how that would affect the subjects monthly mortgage payment. The subjects then chose the package they would want for their home, based on their knowledge of construction materials, the additional cost, and how it would affect their mortgage. They were then shown the payback information for the home that was chosen and asked if they would change their mind concerning the previous decision. They were then asked what parts of the payback information they found to be most useful. This study shows that payback information is indeed useful and would help builders to attract new customers, increase profits, and provide customers with powerful information that will empower them to make better decisions about home energy efficiency.

This paper examines risks that arise from buyer-manufacturer relationships from Malaysian garment manufacturers' perspectives. In addition, the risk management techniques used to handle these risks are studied and cross-examined. The nature of the relationship is also discussed in relation to the risks and risk management techniques identified. Design/methodology/approach: This thesis is based on a deductive research approach. Two research questions are answered with the help of six semi-structured in-depth interviews with managers at Malaysian garment factories and a thematic analysis. Findings: The most significant risk associated with the relationship is late payments. The most common risk management technique to minimize this risk is to demand deposits before production starts. The nature of the relationship between the manufacturer and their customers plays a substantial role in the types of risks faced by manufacturers and their use of risk management techniques. Research implications: The managerial implications are that garment manufacturers can learn from other manufacturers’ risks and risk management techniques to improve their own business and act proactively. The research question of this report sheds light on the hidden field of the effects of purchasing practitioners' decision-making and can inspire future research. Originality/value: This study explores a topic from a perspective that has not been studied before. The research role, given that we are young students, has offered unfiltered and unique data which gives the results high value.

Background: The importance of transitioning to a more sustainable and circular production and consumption model is growing, with the looming threat of climate change. The supply chains (SC) are at the foreground of this change, with the linear model as a polluter of magnitude. Transitioning to a circular supplychain (CSC) is a massive undertaking, and barriers may arise between SC partners embracing this significant change. However, the literature is vague on which barriers are significant within buyer-supplier collaboration and how to address and overcome the barriers that may stand in the way of implementing CSCs. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis to explore to investigate how to support circularity implementation in SCs through dyadic buyer-supplier collaboration. By exploring the collaboration barriers presented in academic literature, this study aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of which barriers can arise during collaboration when implementing circularity in the SC, while linking relevant actions to address these barriers. Thereby providing new insights to practitioners who wish to implement circularity in their SC. Method: A multiple case study method with four interior textile companies were studied with the help of collaboration barriers when implementing CE in the SC from existing literature. By using a qualitative research approach, data was collected through ten interviews. Conclusion: Five major barriers occur in buyer-supplier collaboration when implementing circularity in the SC within the case companies. Including (1) lack of shared vision, (2) lack of commitment, (3) lack of capable suppliers, (4) lack of transparency, (5) and lack of power balance between buyer-supplier. To address the five barriers, five action groups emerged from the case companies, (1) communication, (2) supplier engagement, (3) education, (4) addressing cultural differences, and lastly (5) long-term commitment. These barriers and actions are matched to each other in a framework and summarizes the finding of this study.

In the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the textile industry faced significant challenges regarding the SC. The importance of managing the relationship between the supplier and buyer was crucial in order to cope with the disruption in the SC. The textile industry implemented measures to manage and minimize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there was a crucial missing link between the disruption and how or if the relationship between the buyer and supplier changed. The thesis aims to explore and investigate how Swedish-based fashion textile SC actors (buyers and suppliers) can manage the relationship in the SC and what factors can be identified that characterize a change. Further, the thesis examines the relationship between buyer and supplier, with emphasis on what relationship management factors have changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The thesis is based on Swedish companies, having a global textile value chain. To satisfy the purpose of this study, a qualitative method with a deductive approach was implemented. The data gathering consisted of primary data, including three semi-structured interviews with two buyer representatives and one supplier representative. Additionally, a literature review was conducted to complement the primary data. The analysis is based on exploring and comparing the themes found in the primary data and the literature review regarding the factors characterizing the change in the relationship between the buyer and the supplier. The common characteristics found in the literature review and primary data indicated the change in the relationship between supplier and buyer during the COVID-19 pandemic. It could be identified that trust and communication strengthened the collaboration between suppliers and buyers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Flexibility was further a factor that characterized a positive change in the relationship because of the deeper understanding between the supplier and the buyer during the pandemic. In contrast to the findings from the interviews, the relationship factor “power” was prominent in the literature review with the characteristic of changing the relationship. However, power was not central in the interviews as a factor enabling changes. The practical implication of this study highlights the importance of the relationship between a supplier and buyer, especially the relationship during a disruption, as the textile SC is complex, and the actors are interconnected. Multiple factors can characterize the change in the relationship. In the thesis, two relationship factors were prominent from the literature and interviews, collaboration, and flexibility. Suppliers and buyers in the textile industry can use the result of this study to improve and understand the relationship factors that can characterize a change in the relationship during a pandemic disruption.

Relationship/collaborative selling, as opposed to traditional, transaction oriented selling, stresses the need to form relationships with prospects and customers across all stages of the buyer-seller relationship (Jolson, 1997). The problem is that applying the relationship selling process to all types of customers may lead to inappropriate interpersonal interaction if the customer's orientation is only short-term in nature (Jackson, 1985a, 1985b). Anderson and Narus (1991) make the point that significant variations within industries (i.e., hotel industry) can exist in the buyer's expectation of working relationships with sellers, from a collaborative relationship desire to a transactional (i.e., discrete) relationship. This study developed and empirically tested a model of international buyer-seller relationships in the hospitality industry. The model analyzed several relationships: 1) the relationship between National Culture (Hofstede, 198oa, 1980b & 1997) and the interpersonal interaction "success" variables (i.e., structural bonding, social bonding, communication content, communication style, and trust) in the buyer-seller relationship (Wilson, 1995); 2) the relationship between the "success" variables and the outcomes of the buyer-seller relationship (i.e., relationship commitment and long-term orientation of the buyer); and 3) the relationship between the level of knowledge of the selling strategy used by the salesperson and the buying preferences of the buyer, as perceived by the salesperson. In addition, each of these relationships was examined in terms of the differences that may exist in base of operation of the salesperson (i.e., North America or Asia). The study specifically focused on the hotel industry salesperson and the relationship he or she has with his or her top account. The cross-cultural differences were captured by use of a sample of salespeople that were based either in North America or Asia. The results of this study showed that the relationship/collaborative selling strategy is not necessarily appropriate for all selling situations, but the salesperson may not be knowledgeable enough of his or her customer's preference for interpersonal interaction to be able to identify that fact. It also indicated that different importance is placed on different "success" variables in the buyer-seller relationship in different bases of operation. Specifically, trust is more important in North America than Asia, but it is still an important factor in both selling environments. It was also concluded that social bonding might be overrated in regards to the top account buyer-seller relationship. The conclusion can be made that more emphasis needs to be placed on the building and maintaining of trust than the need to "build a relationship" through social bonding, at least with the top account. The implications of the study can be applied to the improvement of how sales training is taught on a global basis. / Ph. D.

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In today's competitive market place, all the components of a supply chain must be well coordinated to achieve economic and service goals. This dissertation is devoted to the modeling, analysis, and development of solution approaches for some logistics problems with emphasis on coordination of various supply chain components and decisions. Specifically, we have addressed four problems in this domain that span various decision levels. The first problem deals with integrated production and shipping scheduling for a single manufacturer and multiple customers. We develop an optimum-seeking algorithm and a fast heuristic, both of which exploit structural properties of the problem. The second problem is a joint production and delivery scheduling problem in which a single vendor supplies goods to a single buyer over a finite horizon. We model this multi-period problem by using a dynamic programming framework and develop an effective Lagrange multiplier method for the solution of the single-period problem, which is then used to solve the multi-period problem. We show that the optimal shipments in each period follow a pattern of geometric-then-equal sizes except for the last shipment, which may be of a larger size. We also show that an optimal solution for the infinite horizon problem can be derived as a special case of our finite horizon approach. In addition, we propose two fast heuristic methods, which, as we show, can obtain almost optimal solutions. We also address the design and logistics operation of biomass feedstock supply chain. To that end, we consider two problems. The first of these problems arises in the context of delivering biomass sorghum to a biorefinery. We propose multi-period, mixed integer linear programming models, which prescribe the strategic and tactical logistics decisions. Our aim is to investigate different logistical configurations available in a sorghum biomass feedstock logistics system. The second of these problems further allows sharing of loadout equipment among storage facilities. We develop an efficient Benders decomposition-based algorithm, and also, two heuristic methods that are capable of effectively solving large-scale instances. We also show the advantage of using mobile equipment. / Doctor of Philosophy / Invariably, logistics cost constitutes a significant portion of the total cost incurred in operating a supply chain. In today’s fierce market competition, it is imperative to reduce this cost to a maximum extent. To that end, our work in this dissertation is devoted to the modeling, analysis, and development of solution approaches for some supply chain problems with the aim of reducing logistics cost. Specifically, we address four problems that span strategic-, tactical- and operational-level decisions in supply chain optimization. The first problem that we address deals with integrated production and shipping scheduling for a single manufacturer and multiple customers. Our aim is to integrate the production and shipping functions of a manufacturer for the objective of minimizing the sum of the shipping cost and the penalty incurred for late deliveries. We develop an optimum-seeking algorithm and a fast heuristic both of which exploit structural properties of the problem. The results of our computational investigation reveal efficacy of our approaches and a significant benefit that accrues from integrating the production and distribution functions. In the second problem, we address a joint production and delivery scheduling problem in which a single vendor supplies goods to a single buyer over a finite horizon. The vendor’s production rate and buyer’s demand rate can vary from period to period and are known in advance. The objective is to determine a production/shipment schedule that minimizes the total cost of production setup, shipment of orders, and holding of inventory at both the vendor and the buyer. We model this problem as a dynamic program, each stage of which constitutes a single-period problem with prescribed starting and ending inventory levels. We develop an effective approach for the solution of this single-period problem, which is then embedded within the dynamic programming framework. We show that the optimal shipments in each period follow a pattern of geometric-then-equal sizes except for the last shipment, which may be larger in size. We show that an optimal solution for the infinite horizon problem can be obtained as a special case of our finite horizon approach. In addition, we propose two fast heuristic methods, which, as we show, can obtain almost optimal solutions. For the third problem, we aim to address the design and operation of a biomass feedstock supply chain. We first present a comprehensive taxonomic literature review of the work in this area that exploits the operations research (OR) methodologies. Then, we study sorghum-biomass-to-biofuel logistics supply chain, and call it as a sorghum biomass feedstock logistics system (S-BFLS). We propose a multi-period, mixed integer linear programming model which prescribes the strategic locations and sizes of storage facilities, number of equipments to purchase, and allocation of farms to satellite storage facilities (SSLs), as well as tactical decisions including period-to-period biomass transportation flows and period-to-period biomass inventory plans. We study a wide spectrum of available harvest, preprocessing, transportation, and storage options as a part of the sorghum biomass feedstock logistics system. We have also investigated the option of just-in-time (JIT) delivery in conjunction with regular delivery, and call it as a hybrid delivery system. Our model is applied to a real-life-inspired case. Based on our analysis, the most cost-effective S-BFLS consists of forage-chopping for harvesting, bunkers or bags for ensiling, and hybrid delivery. Ensiling by modules is not found to be as cost-effective as by bags or bunkers due to the occurrence of high equipment ownership cost and operating cost. Compression of biomass is also not found to be cost-effective. It incurs extra equipment ownership and operating costs while not amounting to sufficient reduction in transportation cost because of the requirement of over 50% moisture content for ensiling. Forage-chop harvest and whole-stalk harvest have little difference in economic effectiveness. The hybrid delivery system is found to be effective since it reduces logistics cost for all the configurations. In the fourth and last problem, we permit sharing of mobile equipment among SSLs for loading biomass on tractor-trailers. We develop an efficient Benders decomposition algorithm (BA) to solve this problem. Our model formulation implicitly takes into account transportation of loadout equipment among SSLs. The BA further takes advantage of this feature of our formulation and Benders cuts. We have also proposed two fast approximate methods called Heuristics H1 and H2, both of which exploit the decision hierarchy of the problem. Computational experiments reveal efficacy of the proposed methods. Heuristic H2 generates fast and high quality solutions. However, the BA generates solution of desired accuracy (optimality gap) when not optimal. Our real-life-inspired case study has shown that 1.73–4.13% of cost reduction can be achieved by mobilizing loadout equipment in a BFSC. Also, expensive equipment leads to a greater benefit due to mobilization.

No / In the past, marketing researchers have proposed the use of simple net present value analyses to assess customer lifetime values (CLVs). However, simple net present values disregard two important aspects: (1) environmental risks affecting customer cash flows and (2) a firm's flexibility in reacting to these risks. Consequently, they are inappropriate for assessing CLVs in relationships, in which risks affect customer cash flows and suppliers are able to react. This paper suggests a typology of CLV models in accordance with the degree of environmental risk and the supplier's flexibility. The paper thus contributes to a more differentiated customer lifetime valuation and, consequently, to a more accurate basis for decision making in relationships. The use of real options analysis is recommended for relationships which are affected by environmental risks and in which suppliers are flexible. By applying real options analysis to customer lifetime valuation, the paper offers a new methodological approach, thus merging financial valuation methods with key marketing concepts.