Abstract:

The business model usually refers to the transaction relationship and interest connection between enterprises， which is the mode by which a company relies for survival and brings benefits. In reality， the application of different business models is extremely important for long-distance transportation of fresh agri-products. This is because the business model adopted by the supply or demand sides will involve a series of questions such as how to pay for the goods， who will pay for the freight and bear the risk of product loss during transportation， which will affect the decisions and profits of all members of the supply chain.A fresh agri-product supply chain composed of a supplier， a third-party logistics service provider（TPL）and a retailer is considered. The impact of two different business models， i.e.， FOB and CIF， on the supply chain’s decision-making and operations is explored by considering the products’ value loss during the long-distance transportation. Two non-cooperative game models are built under two business models in which the supplier and the TPL are the leaders， and the retailer is the follower. Under the FOB model， the retailer bears the freight and pays to the supplier according to the offshore products’ freshness， while under the CIF model， the supplier bears the freight and the retailer pays to the supplier according to the landed products’ freshness. It proves that the equilibrium solutions of the two business models exist and are unique. Comparing the interior-point equilibrium results under different business models， it is found compared with the CIF model， the FOB model is more conducive to motivate the TPL to improve the logistics service level， and motivate the supplier to reduce the wholesale price， whereas the retail price remains unchanged. The change of the business model won’t change the ratio of retailer’s profit to supplier’s profit， however， the ratio of the TPL’s profit to supplier’s profit under the CIF model is greater than that under the FOB model， which means the TPL will benefit from the CIF model from the perspective of fair allocation. Furthermore， an interesting counter intuitive result is found that all supply chain members prefer the FOB model， which means the FOB model is a Pareto improvement of the CIF model. This is due to the unilateral payment behavior of the freight under logistics outsourcing， which makes the CIF mode lack of incentive for the TPL to improve logistics service level. Then， a logistics service cost sharing contract between the supplier and the TPL is introduced， which can effectively motivate the TPL to improve logistics service level. Further， through the analysis of examples， it is found there exists a specific range of parameters， which can make the CIF model to be a Pareto improvement of FOB model.The research enriches the research results of fresh agri-product supply chain operation management， and also provides theoretical references for exploring the selection of fresh agricultural product supply chain business models in long-distance transportation processes.

Key words: fresh agri-product supply chain, non-cooperative game, business model