Research of Buyer-Supplier Relationship Based on Agent Approach

Alliances bring firms some advantages. A good and stable buyer-supplier relationship is crucial in a firm alliance. In this study, we develop an agent-based model to study how the myopic behavior of retailer in a distributed supply chain affects the whole supply chain alliance. We investigate the effect of firm´s myopic behavior both in stable and dynamic environment including competition for price and orders. Simulation results show that the retailer´s myopic behavior reduces the revenue remarkably both in stable and dynamic environment. When market has more competitors the retailer should maintain the long-term relationship even further. The order´s lead-time affects the relationship differently in long-term contract and short-term contract.