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Retail firms have developed new product and service offerings to meet the changing needs of omnichannel customers. While, prior research has documented these offerings in detail, little is yet known about how retail firms can best adapt different aspects of their organizations to the new omnichannel environment. We specifically focus on the intra‐firm changes that affected the role of the firm's supply chain organization and its interactions with other business entities within the retail enterprise. This paper provides an in‐depth understanding of the new business processes, organizational structures, governance mechanisms and customer interactions; collectively described as the retail business model (BM). Drawing on the tenets of BM theory, we present findings from a qualitative study of 15 leading U.S. omnichannel retailers to identify key elements of the new retail BM, develop a conceptual framework of the BM innovation process, and highlight the pivotal role of the supply chain organization in helping firms adapt and implement the omnichannel strategy. We conclude by developing research propositions to articulate the connections among different elements of the BM innovation process and how firms can institutionalize this process to respond to the everchanging retail business environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This inductive research provides a deeper understanding of the digital transformation of retail supply chains and its underlying impact on supply chain strategy and operational structure. In this context, we develop a conceptual framework of digital retail supply chains to identify the key elements and their interactions. We offer a theoretically derived explanation of the ecosystem characterization of digital supply chains and show how retail supply chains fit this characterization. The supply chain ecosystem provides retail firms a way to strategize an organizational outlook that enables digitization of conventional supply chain processes. We find that emerging digital supply chains harness corporate digital awareness to operate within an ecosystem that iteratively guides the digital transformation process. The subsequent analysis highlights a digital transformation process that incorporates real‐time reporting, speed of discovery/action, visibility across the enterprise, and flexibility to react to environmental changes. Consequently, these contributing elements enable executional flexibility that is the hallmark of digital supply chains. We conclude by theorizing relevant research propositions that describe relational connections among the constituent elements of the digital supply chain framework and offer avenues for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluates the effectiveness of mitigation strategies currently employed by retailers to manage operational issues related to inventory record inaccuracy (IRI) in retail stores. A simulation study of different IRI mitigation strategies, grounded in empirical data, indicates varying levels of amelioration across items with different IRI profiles within the store inventory. The cumulative negative effect of inventory errors is shown to be strong enough that adding more inventory to match the error rate would not recover the corresponding loss in inventory position. On the other hand, a replenishment-based approach works better at mitigating the effect of inventory errors. The study concludes that correcting IRI errors through technology-driven inventory audits would be the best approach for retailers to improve store performance as compared to other mitigation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an automotive supply chain, long production time and demand uncertainty lead to major challenges in meeting customer demand. To respond to these challenges, automotive supply chain incorporates flexibility in the order‐fulfillment process through vehicle trades. This study focuses on a new category of vehicle trades where dealers trade vehicles that are still under production (order‐trades) and in the delivery phase of the order‐fulfillment process (distribution‐trades). Using empirical data in an experimental design setting, order‐ and distribution‐trades are shown to improve flexibility in order fulfillment, with no additional costs for the manufacturer. Different managerial levers such as trade fees and trade caps are evaluated to develop insights for managing vehicle trades. The results show that the involvement of the manufacturer in planning order‐ and distribution‐trades helps in lowering inventory, reducing lost sales, and improving logistics costs for the entire supply chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Retailers face a major operational challenge in fulfilling online orders while managing their traditional store‐based distribution processes. In this context, the following order fulfillment options available to retailers are considered: store‐facing distribution centers (DCs), dedicated order fulfillment facilities (DTC), retail stores, and direct‐fill by vendors. A framework for the online order fulfillment process is developed to evaluate these options using operational and financial measures collected from a large U.S. retailer. The study presents managerial insights regarding each fulfillment option and identifies operational and cost thresholds where a particular fulfillment option would be preferred. The results show that due to better order fulfillment efficiency, distribution facilities (DC and DTC) out‐perform fulfillment from stores and vendors. However, retailers can leverage their network of stores to overcome the shortfall in store‐based fulfillment costs by focusing on the order delivery process. The analysis presented in this article is useful for practice as it helps retailers identify options that best suit their order fulfillment strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The changing landscape of environmental regulations, discovery of new domestic sources of natural gas, and the economics of energy markets has resulted in a major shift in the choice of fuel for electric power generation. This research focuses on the relevant factors that impact a power plant's decision to switch fuel from coal to natural gas and the timing of such decisions. The factors studied in this article include capital costs of plant replacement, public policy, associated monetary penalties, availability and access to gas supply networks, and the option of plant retirement. These factors are evaluated in a case study of power plants in the Southeastern United States, using mathematical programming and logistic regression models. The results show that environmental regulations can be effective if the monetary penalties imposed by such regulations are set at an appropriate level, with respect to plant replacement costs. Although it is economic for large-size (power generation capacity > 600 MW) coal-fired power plants to switch fuel to natural gas, plant retirement is more suitable for smaller-sized plants. This article also presents a multi-logit decision model that can help identify the best time for a power plant to switch fuel and whether such a decision is useful in the context of plant replacement costs, fuel costs, electric power decommission limits, and environmental penalties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]