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This paper aims to analyze the potentials of dynamic, commitment and revenue-sharing contracts; that a nonrebate offering manufacturer can use to safeguard his profit while his competitor offers customer rebates in a supply chain consisting of two manufacturers and a common retailer.

We consider a two-period supply chain model to explore optimal decisions under eight possible scenarios based on the contract and rebate offering decisions. Because the manufacturers are selling substitutable products, therefore, a customer rebate on one of the products negatively impacts the selling quantity of other. Optimal price, rebate, and quantities are examined and compared to explore the strategic choice for both the rebate offering and non-rebate offering manufacturer. Comparative evaluation is conducted to pinpoint how the parameters such as contract parameters and its nature affect the members.

The results demonstrate that all these contracts instigate the rebate offering manufacturer to provide a higher rebate, but do not ensure a higher profit. If the revenue sharing contract is offered to the common retailer, the effectiveness of the rebate program might reduce significantly, and the rebate offering manufacturer might receives lower profits. A non-rebate offering manufacturer might use a commitment contract to ensure higher profits for all the members and make sure the common retailer continues the product.

The effect of customer rebate vs. supply chain contract under competition has not yet been explored comprehensively. Therefore, the study contributes to the literature regarding interplay among pricing decision, contract choice and rebate promotion in a two-period setting. The conceptual and managerial insights contribute to a better understanding of strategic decision-making for both competing manufacturers under consumer rebates.

This study aims to investigate the influence of the interrelationship between the deployment of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies and the application of lean production (LP) practices on the degree of organizational sustainability performance (SP) enhancement of the Bangladeshi ready-made garment (RMG) sector.

Previously, researchers have applied the resource-based view (RBV) or dynamic capability view (DCV) to describe the interaction of resources and capacities (technologies, management practices, SP) to analyze their effectiveness. However, in light of several contemporary academic discussions, this study contends that these organizational views are inappropriate for explicating SP. Hence, as the foundation of this study’s theoretical framework, the authors used the practice-based view (PBV), which is recommended as a useful window to evaluate the function of practices that are common and simple to emulate in execution. To test the theoretical framework and research hypothesis, this study used partial least square (PLS) analysis. For that, the authors carried out a systematic survey to collect data from 80 Bangladeshi RMG factories.

The results of this research imply that LP is a crucial factor in enhancing organizational SP. Moreover, the results also indicate that the adoption of I4.0 technologies along with LP can assist in delivering the lean objectives more efficiently and, therefore, the combined application of LP practices and I4.0 technologies play a significant role in enhancing organizational SP.

Though the present literature indicates the probable significant association between LP and SP or I4.0 technologies and SP, no study, with the best of the authors’ knowledge, has empirically examined the combined impacts of correlation between LP and I4.0 on SP. This is also a unique study to apply the PBV theory to explain the organizational SP through the combination of common resources and technologies.

The primary objective of this article is to examine current procurement, inventory control and management practices in modern healthcare, with a particular focus on the procurement and management of surgical supplies in a prominent public, highly specialized healthcare sector.

This study was conducted in three phases. In Phase 1, the study team interacted with various hospital management stakeholders, including the surgical hospital store, examined the current procurement process and identified challenges. Phase 2 focused on selecting items for a detailed study and collected the qualitative and quantitative details of the store department of the healthcare sector chosen. A detailed study analyzed revenue, output/demand, inventory levels, etc. In Phase 3, a decision-making framework is proposed, and inventory control systems are redesigned and demonstrated for the selected items.

It was observed that the demand for many surgical items had increased significantly over the years due to an increase in disposable/disposable items, while inventories fluctuated widely. Maximum inventory levels varied between 50 and 75%. Storage and availability were important issues for the hospital. It is assumed the hospital adopts the proposed inventory control system. In this case, the benefits can be a saving of 62% of the maximum inventory, 20% of the average stock in the system and optimal use of storage space, improving the performance and productivity of the hospital.

This study can help the healthcare sector administration to develop better systems for the procurement and delivery of common surgical items and efficient resource allocation. It can help provide adequate training to store staff. This study can help improve management/procurement policies, ordering and delivery systems, better service levels, and inventory control of items in the hospital business context. This study can serve as a pilot study to further investigate the overall hospital operations.

This study can help the healthcare sector administration develop better systems for procuring and delivering common surgical items and efficient resource allocation. It can help provide adequate training to store staff. This study can help improve management/procurement policies, ordering and delivery systems, better service levels and inventory control of items in the hospital business context. This study can serve as a pilot study to further investigate the overall hospital operations.

This study is an early attempt to develop a decision framework and inventory control system from the perspective of healthcare inventory management. The gaps identified in real hospital scenarios are investigated, and theoretically based-inventory management strategies are applied and proposed.