Category: Household Products

Implications of Trust, Preparedness and Risk Perceptions on Deprivation Costs and Disaster Relief Planning

By J. Amaya📧, I. Serrano, V. Cantillo, J. Arellana, and C. Pérez

In Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 2024, 91, February. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seps.2023.101780

Deprivation Costs Functions (DCFs) are key to designing effective relief distribution operations after disasters. In this paper, data are collected in Colombia and Ecuador to estimate DCFs for water and food, considering the influence of individuals’ attitudes on preparedness, risk perception, and trust in response agents. Hybrid Choice Models are used to analyze and compare the estimated DCFs. The analyses confirm that DCFs differ by commodity. Additionally, socioeconomic characteristics of individuals influence their willingness to pay for critical supplies to reduce their own suffering. Preparedness, risk perceptions and trust in response agents impact individuals’ behavior in disaster situations. The results also show that community and religious groups are considered the most trusted response agents in both countries. As a result, their involvement in official relief efforts should be more articulated. Colombia and Ecuador show significant differences in their estimated DCFs, confirming that deprivation costs are context-specific by nature. As such, DCFs should not be directly transferred among disaster locations. The findings from this study will support decision-makers in designing effective preparedness and response plans that are based on trust relationships that serve as foundations for community resilience.

Keywords: Humanitarian logistics; Deprivation costs; Hybrid choice models; Trust; Preparedness; Risk perception

From Brick to Click & Click to Brick: The Retail E-Volution

By Rachel Fay Gimuriman, supervised by Robert A. Novack📧 (Thesis Supervisor) and John C. Spychalski📧 (Honors Advisor) (2018)

The new age of business revolves around data, technology, and the incredible capabilities said advancements have brought every company and consumer in the world. The retail sector, in particular, has been completely transformed and catalyzed because of the revolutionary vision of companies like Amazon or Walmart. They have focused on creating new strategies that are fueled by data and technology, and furthermore, being the ones who create the consumer expectation; no customer knows what they need to make their life better or more convenient…until Amazon or Walmart tells them. This thesis aims to delve into the history and evolution from solely traditional brick and mortar stores to click and mortar stores, and vice versa, and how the octopus that is Amazon and the hippo that is Walmart have disrupted retail as we know it. This publication creates a platform that students and professionals can reference to gain a deeper understanding of the evolution of “brick to click” and “click to brick” over the recent decade and begin to understand where these two animals will take us next. The main foci include: developing consumer trends, competitive strategies, pricing, operations, product assortment, private label, store formats, and supply chain management. The industries and companies studied includes grocery (Whole Foods Market, Kroger, Instacart, and Blue Apron), wholesale (Costco, Sam’s Club, Boxed Wholesale), department stores (Lord and Taylor, Kohl’s and Nordstrom), home delivery companies, big box retailers (Walmart and Target), private label manufacturing, and the future of the retail store. This thesis aims to examine the entire retail industry.

Access the paper at Electronic Theses for Schreyer Honors College (ETDA) website here.

Consumer Markets of Closed-Loop Supply Chains

By V. Daniel Guide📧 and J. Abbey

In Environmentally Responsible Supply Chains, Volume 3: 3–17, 2016 (Invited. Peer-reviewed/refereed). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30094-8_1

Though product reuse through closed-loop supply chains has many benefits for firms, as outlined throughout this book, consumers may not fully appreciate the benefits of buying previously used products. This conjecture led to a series of studies related to how consumers perceive reused products produced in a closed-loop supply chain. Specifically, this chapter summarizes the results from a series of studies that examined how consumers perceive remanufactured and refurbished products. The studies ranged from measuring simple reactions to remanufactured products through experimental manipulation of discount levels and brand equity as a means to determine the appeal of remanufactured products in the general U.S. consumer market. The findings breakdown into multiple levers that prompt consumer interest in remanufactured products including the usually assumed consumer greenness, quality perceptions, discounts, and brand equity. However, the studies also revealed the issue of aversion toward remanufactured products through both disgust and a segment of consumers who only desire new products.

Keywords: Supply Chain; Product Category; Brand Equity; Consumer Market; Online Channel 

Supply Chain Disruptions Are Inevitable—Get READI: Resiliency Enhancement Analysis via Deletion and Insertion

By Terry P. Harrison📧, P. J. Houm, Douglas J. Thomas, and Christopher W. Craighead

In Transportation Journal, 2013, 52 (2): 264–276. https://doi.org/10.5325/transportationj.52.2.0264

Companies have increasingly turned to the use of optimization to create value and drive efficiencies in their supply chains. However, this practice also exposes the firm to increased levels of risk stemming from supply chain disruptions which can be quite costly relative to both short- and long-term performance. In response, companies need to build and maintain resilience to combat these disruptive events. Yet managers struggle with how to build resilience and where to focus resiliency enhancements. This article proposes a versatile optimization approach, READI—Resiliency Enhancement Analysis via Deletion (of key supply chain node, flow, or activity) and Insertion (of mitigation strategy), and demonstrates this approach on the supply chain of a major consumer products company. READI can be enlightening relative to both descriptive insights, such as the criticality of supply chain nodes and current levels of network resilience, and prescriptive insights, such as where to implement resiliency enhancements.

Keywords: Supply Risk Management; Supply Chain Disruptions; Optimization