On April 18, [Mingli Lecture 2023 Issue 18], it was my honor to invite associate professor Lucy Gongtao Chen of NUS Business School to present an academic report entitled "Strategic Inventory Research of Competitive Supply Chain under Bargaining"

Teacher Lucy Chen first introduced that strategic inventory refers to the inventory held by enterprises purely for strategic reasons rather than operational reasons (such as economies of scale), and then proposed the bargaining status between upstream and downstream enterprises in the supply chain. Next, Teacher Lucy Chen explored the effects of strategic inventory on the profits of supply chain members under complete and partial bargaining in two competitive supply chain systems, and whether retailers use strategic inventory is inconsistent under different bargaining situations. Teacher Lucy Chen analyzed the equilibrium results of strategic inventory and wholesale prices under different bargaining situations, and further discussed and analyzed the strategic inventory results of traditional competitive supply chains without bargaining. Specifically, in the case of complete bargaining, horizontal competition between supply chains can lead to an equilibrium result of asymmetric strategic inventory holding strategies, where only one supply chain actively holds strategic inventory and benefits from it when the holding cost is low, which in turn leads to worse profits for the entire supply chain system. Under partial bargaining, regardless of horizontal competition, retailers in the supply chain always hold strategic inventory with low bargaining power and low inventory holding costs. In addition, in horizontal competition, when the inventory holding cost is small (above the threshold and not too large), strategic inventory can harm (increase) overall system profits. Meanwhile, when there is horizontal competition, complete bargaining may not be as good as partial bargaining.

Lucy Gongtao Chen's excellent report attracted teachers and students from domestic and foreign universities. In the report, Lucy Chen demonstrated her rigorous academic style and profound theoretical knowledge, and was highly praised by the participants.