Modeling the Impact of Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce on the Organization of the Logistics Industry

In this article, we analyze patterns and recent trends of the logistics industry with specific emphasis on the impact of business-to-business (B-to-B) electronic commerce on its industrial organization. From this conceptualization, we develop an optimization-based logistics model comprising two interlinked networks representing commodity flow and information flow, respectively. The model is operationalized using Monte Carlo simulation to highlight possible scenarios of logistics industry changes in response to the use of B-to-B e-commerce. Through this endeavor, we examine how new technologies affect the cost of information and transportation transactions in the logistics industry.     

Oligopoly and the structural paradox of retail TNCs: an assessment of Carrefour and Wal-Mart in Japan

This research focuses on the case of international chains facingsignificant competition from domestic chains in advanced industrializedeconomies. In this article, I question the assumptions behindthe perceived, simultaneous process of globalization and retailconcentration by taking the cases of the world's two largestretailers, Wal-Mart and Carrefour, entering the Japanese marketin the early 2000s. Both retail TNCs have so far failed to meetinitial high expectations for their performance. I argue thatthere is a structural paradox inherent among retail TNCs, whichis expressed as contradictory forces between standardizationand localization. Empirical evidence is provided on how theseforces complicate retail TNCs’ front-end (store-front)and back-end (distribution) operations in the case of Japan.Emphasis is placed on the role of oligopoly in the retail sectorand how its absence affects retail TNCs’ operation inforeign markets.