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Sourcing Flexibility, Spot Trading, and Procurement Contract Structure

Author

Listed:
  • Pamela Pen-Erh Pei

    (United BioSource, Lexington, Massachusetts 02420)

  • David Simchi-Levi

    (Operations Research Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02137)

  • Tunay I. Tunca

    (Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305)

Abstract

We analyze the structure and pricing of option contracts for an industrial good in the presence of spot trading. We combine the analysis of spot trading and buyers' disparate private valuations for different suppliers' products, and we jointly endogenize the determination of three major dimensions in contract design: (i) sales contracts versus options contracts, (ii) flat-price versus volume-dependent contracts, and (iii) volume discounts versus volume premia. We build a model in which a supplier of an industrial good transacts with a manufacturer who uses the supplier's product to produce an end good with an uncertain demand. We show that, consistent with industry observations, volume-dependent optimal sales contracts always demonstrate volume discounts (i.e., involve concave pricing). However, options are more complex agreements, and optimal option contracts can involve both volume discounts and volume premia. Three major contract structures commonly emerge in optimality. First, if the seller has a high discount rate relative to the buyer and the seller's production costs or the production capacity is low, the optimal contracts tend to be flat-price sales contracts. Second, when the seller has a relatively high discount rate compared to the buyer but production costs or production capacity are high, the optimal contracts are sales contracts with volume discounts. Third, if the buyer's discount rate is high relative to the seller's, then the optimal contracts tend to be volume-dependent options contracts and can involve both volume discounts and volume premia. However, when the seller's production capacity is sufficiently low, it is possible to observe flat-price option contracts. Furthermore, we provide links between production and spot market characteristics, contract design, and efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Pamela Pen-Erh Pei & David Simchi-Levi & Tunay I. Tunca, 2011. "Sourcing Flexibility, Spot Trading, and Procurement Contract Structure," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 59(3), pages 578-601, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:oropre:v:59:y:2011:i:3:p:578-601
    DOI: 10.1287/opre.1100.0905
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Jiri Chod & Nikolaos Trichakis & Gerry Tsoukalas, 2019. "Supplier Diversification Under Buyer Risk," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(7), pages 3150-3173, July.
    4. Xu, Jinpeng & Feng, Gengzhong & Jiang, Wei & Wang, Shouyang, 2015. "Optimal procurement of long-term contracts in the presence of imperfect spot market," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 42-52.
    5. Xing, Wei & Liu, Liming & Wang, Shouyang, 2014. "More than a second channel? Supply chain strategies in B2B spot markets," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 239(3), pages 699-710.
    6. Xu, Xinsheng & Ji, Ping & Chan, Felix T.S., 2022. "On maximizing a loss-averse buyer’s expected utility in a multi-sourcing problem," Mathematics and Computers in Simulation (MATCOM), Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 388-404.
    7. Tarun Jain & Jishnu Hazra, 2019. "“On-demand” pricing and capacity management in cloud computing," Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(3), pages 228-246, June.
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    9. Awi Federgruen & Upmanu Lall & A. Serdar Şimşek, 2019. "Supply Chain Analysis of Contract Farming," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 21(2), pages 361-378, April.
    10. Terrence August & Duy Dao & Kihoon Kim, 2019. "Market Segmentation and Software Security: Pricing Patching Rights," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(10), pages 4575-4597, October.
    11. Onur Boyabatlı & Jason Nguyen & Tong Wang, 2017. "Capacity Management in Agricultural Commodity Processing and Application in the Palm Industry," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 19(4), pages 551-567, October.
    12. Amar Sapra & Peter L. Jackson, 2022. "Integration of long‐ and short‐term contracts in a market for capacity," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(7), pages 2872-2890, July.
    13. Fan, Mengli & Xing, Wei & Huang, Yi, 2023. "Joint forward contract negotiation: The role of B2B procurement platforms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    14. Heikki Peura & Derek W. Bunn, 2021. "Renewable Power and Electricity Prices: The Impact of Forward Markets," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(8), pages 4772-4788, August.
    15. Dana G. Popescu & Sridhar Seshadri, 2013. "Demand Uncertainty and Excess Supply in Commodity Contracting," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(9), pages 2135-2152, September.
    16. Wagner, Stephan M. & Grosse-Ruyken, Pan Theo & Erhun, Feryal, 2018. "Determinants of sourcing flexibility and its impact on performance," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 329-341.
    17. Hua, Shengya & Liu, Jingchen & Cheng, T.C.E. & Zhai, Xin, 2019. "Financing and ordering strategies for a supply chain under the option contract," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 100-121.
    18. Wei Xing & Shanshan Ma & Xuan Zhao & Liming Liu, 2022. "Operational hedging or financial hedging? Strategic risk management in commodity procurement," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(8), pages 3233-3263, August.

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