This research integrates factors and practices relevant to environmental and economic sustainability and, thereby, encapsulates social responsibility in supply chain (SC) design and planning to enhance its overall performance. Such factors and practices are included in the design and planning model as proactive inputs to face the potential cost impacts as well as to achieve desirable benefits. A feature of the model is to incorporate performance of the SC relative to benchmark /target values and consider options to reduce gaps for improving overall sustainability performance of the business. The model considers measurable key characteristics of the factors in a closed loop SC to have a tangible effect on the bottom line and improve the company’s image to customers with a keen view of sustainability in mind. The research outcomes show effectiveness of the proposed target based planning to pinpoint crucial sustainability indices and select appropriate options to improve the indices and overall performances within desirable bounds on cost. A numerical example is illustrated to aid managers to design and plan such SCs for their businesses.

Sustainability of supply chains (SCs) and supply chain optimization is a topic of increasing interest in academia and industry. Although several authors have studied various aspects optimization and sustainability of SC, there is still a gap in understanding sustainable development of SCs. The aim of this study is to bridge this gap and to better understand interdependencies between economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainability. To fulfill the research objective, this study examines 50 peer-reviewed articles published literature in the field of sustainable SCs and SC optimization. Selected papers used mathematical modeling techniques (optimization) as research methodology combined with one or more dimensions of sustainability. Findings of this work indicate that there are several SC optimization models addressing all three dimensions of sustainability simultaneously, and social dimension of sustainability is the least studied aspect. Furthermore, an application taxonomy of mathematical modeling approaches used in sustainable SCs is provided. Future research should shift the focus from models dealing primarily with economic and environmental dimensions towards more balanced models that include all three sustainability aspects. This paper enhances understanding how was sustainability principles are incorporated into mathematical models for SC optimization, and provides SC optimization models with pertinent sustainability indicators.

Schweitzer and Cachon (2000) demonstrated that choices of decision-maker in the newsvendor problem setting systematically deviate from those that maximize their expected profit. Since then, a large body of empirical and theoretical studies has been published to describe the newsvendor decision-making behavior. To establish further, the purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it identifies the various behavioral theories and biases that explain the newsvendor behavior by employing a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed articles published in leading journals from 2000 to 2017. Second, it classifies and analyzes the identified literature from three dimensions of human behavior namely: individual decision making biases, social preferences, and cultural aspects. Our findings from the review show that research has primarily emphasized individual decision making biases while social and cultural aspects lack analysis and are worthy of investigation. Finally, we discuss some directions for future research, followed by the conclusion and limitations of this review.

In developing country like India, logistics sector is in booming stage and grabbing opportunities to grow infinitely. Currently, Logistics sector contributes around 14% in GDP in India. Boom in e-commerce industry and initiatives like MAKE in India, will definitely bring substantial growth for Logistics Service Providers (LSPs). The LSPs need to redesign their strategies in order to grab all upcoming opportunities. Many challenges are faced by logistics service providers in order to deliver shipments on promised time and in desirable condition. Although, Government has already initiated several mega projects to support LSPs but still it is not synchronized with increased industry requirements. Fragmented and unorganized sector, Infrastructural bottlenecks and Cost implications etc. are the main challenges which come across in delivering high quality services to the end customers. In this study, it has been attempted to identify and analyze the key challenges which impede the effective service quality of logistics service providers. Based on the literature review and experts’ opinion, ten key challenges faced by logistics service providers are identified. A structural relationship model is developed by using Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) and further challenges are categorized as drivers, dependent, autonomous and linkage variables based on their driving and dependence power with the help of MICMAC Analysis. Based on MICMAC analysis, three challenges have been identified as dependent variables, four as drivers, one as autonomous and two as linkage variables. The study is expected to provide useful inputs to practitioners and service providers itself in terms of crafting better strategies which can overcome the identified challenges and can design better solutions for delivering better service quality to their customers.

Social media sales and the logistics of products is being shuttled into a new technological paradigm. The purpose of this paper is to review the role of social media sales force and its effects on lot size process and the pricing under an infinite-time horizon assumption. We begin with reviewing the role and importance of social media in business; with a focus on the mathematic deterministic model for decision making that offer ways in which social media influences each step. Scenarios are specifically considered. In the first scenario, price is determined by the market. What size to hold inventoried products and what to budget for promotions on a social media platform are the important variables in market determined pricing. In the second scenario, price is examined by the decision maker based on maximizing the profit margin. In this first case scenario, advertising and product prices are jointly considered to maximize the profit margin. In this second case scenario, lot sizing is considered to minimize costs of holding inventories and placing orders. In both scenarios, the profit function outcome is concave. Therefore, the model optimizes solutions for pricing, lot-sizing for social media advertising policies.