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Thesis/Dissertation
Date
2025-05
Advisor
Committee member
Roy, Abhishek
Kong, Guangwen
Srivastava, Joydeep
Kong, Guangwen
Srivastava, Joydeep
Group
Department
Business Administration/Interdisciplinary
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DOI
https://doi.org/10.34944/qpcw-b134
Abstract
Understanding strategic interactions between collaborating and competing firms represents a vital yet complex challenge in operations and supply chain management. These complexities are magnified in evolving supply chain structures, particularly in multisided markets such as on-demand grocery delivery platforms that extract value from multiple stakeholders. This increasing complexity in strategic interactions motivates the present research. This dissertation integrates two studies addressing strategic and operational complexities within supply chain management, specifically focusing on horizontal cooperation among competitors and vertical coordination within grocery retail platforms.
Horizontal cooperative venture (HCV), consisting of competing firms that pool their resources in an alliance to grow the market, develop industrial standards, or compete with other alliances, are becoming increasingly common in a multitude of fields, including public infrastructure, agriculture, and R&D projects. Collaborating with competitors (coopetition)through horizontal cooperative ventures (HCVs), such as industry alliances and generic advertising campaigns, is gaining prominence as a business strategy, particularly for firms that face changing market conditions. As HCVs often rely on voluntary contribution and are susceptible to free-riding especially as the market evolves, how firms should decide on partnering with competitors, when the underlying market conditions change, remains a critical open question for business leaders and academics. Although existing literature has extensively documented the benefits of HCVs, there remains a gap in analytically examining how changes in critical market conditions influence firms’ contribution strategies within these cooperative ventures.
To address these questions, in my first dissertation essay, “To Join or Not To Join: How Market Conditions Affect the Participation of Competing Firms in Cooperative Ventures” (co-authored with Dr. Abhishek Roy, Dr. Subodha Kumar, and Dr. Joydeep Srivastava), I investigate the impact of changing market conditions, such as the efficiency of the HCV, free-rider spillovers, evolving demand, and production costs, on the strategic decisions of two competing firms when considering the prospect of collaborating through an HCV. We find several novel and counterintuitive results. First, in an HCV, even if no mandatory contribution is necessary, a firm may voluntarily contribute and not free-ride on the effort of its competitor. Furthermore, a smaller firm does not necessarily free-ride; rather, sometimes an equal or larger firm may free-ride. Second, firms may not necessarily increase their contributions even when the market is more receptive to the HCV’s efforts. Additionally, firms do not necessarily become more prone to free-riding even if the base market demand increases. Third, if two firms in the HCV have different production costs, the more cost-effective firm does not benefit if the less cost-effective firm’s costs increase further. Our findings provide valuable guidance for business leaders in tailoring their decisions to align with emerging market conditions when deciding to collaborate with competitors.
While horizontal cooperation addresses strategic-level coordination among competitors, supply chains also require effective vertical coordination to ensure operational efficiency. The second essay explores vertical coordination complexities specifically within the grocery retail sector, a crucial component of modern retail. Grocery delivery platforms have become essential components of contemporary consumer shopping routines, driven by convenience, health and safety considerations, and seamless integration of mobile technology with traditional grocery stores. These platforms act as crucial intermediaries connecting customers, shoppers, and grocery stores. Generally, grocery delivery platforms function as batching systems capable of adjusting the delay between receiving and fulfilling orders. The length of this delay reflects a delicate balance between operational efficiency and associated service costs. A common challenge arises when an in-store shopper attempts to fulfill an online order, only to find that a walk-in customer has purchased the last available unit of the requested item. Consequently, the decision on service delay involves complex trade-offs, particularly regarding inventory availability and the risk of stock-outs. The dynamic nature of inventory management within grocery stores significantly influences the operational efficiency of grocery delivery platforms.
Recognizing the distinctive dynamics between customers’ online shopping experiences and the service strategies of these platforms, in the second dissertation essay, “Strategic delay in the grocery delivery platform” (co-authored with Dr. Guangwen Kong and Dr. Yue Zhang), I explore the strategic use of service delays by grocery delivery platforms, addressing the interplay between the platforms’ delay strategies and grocery stores’ inventory management policies. Traditional approaches typically utilize service delays to balance operational efficiency and service costs within a queueing framework. However, our study identifies the links between service delays and inventory availability. We develop an integrated framework combining the batch service queue within the platform, which incorporates economies of scale, with continuous-review inventory systems employed by grocery stores. Our analysis reveals that optimal service delays often differ from those suggested by traditional queue management strategies when considering the store’s inventory policies. Specifically, the platform’s strategic delays become beneficial under low order quantity, moderate reorder points, or sufficiently high service capacity, reducing stock-out risks and improving profitability. Moreover, we find that strategic intervention in order acceptance through the setting of an inventory-based cut-off threshold further enhances profitability by balancing online and offline stock-out risks. Through this study, we illustrate the importance of coordinated inventory and delay strategies. Our research contributes to the existing literature by highlighting service delays not merely as cost control measures but as strategic tools to coordinate inventory management and queue stability, ultimately improving operational efficiency, profitability, and inventory availability within on-demand grocery delivery platforms.
These essays highlight the inherent complexity of supply chain coordination, examining strategic decisions at both horizontal (competitor cooperation) and vertical (operational logistics) levels. By integrating these studies, the dissertation aims to provide comprehensive insights into managing supply chain challenges in today’s dynamic business environments.
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