Description

Arguably the central problem in operations research and management science (OR/MS) addressed by e-Business is better coordination of supply and de­ mand, including price discovery and reduction of transactions costs of buyer­ seller interactions. This book addresses two key issues of central importance in emerging electronic markets: first, improved coordination of supply and demand through options / forward contracts on output and capacity, and second the integration of such contracting methods with B2B exchanges and electronic markets. The book provides both a thorough review and synthesis of the growing literature in these areas as well extending this literature to accommodate state-dependent demand and contracting. The latter is an important issue since the spot markets for many markets, e.g. energy, are fundamentally conditioned on such variables as temperature, and therefore these « states » need to be accomodated in the underlying theory of financial instruments supporting such contracting. A discussion of emerging applications in logistics, energy, chemicals and e-manufacturing illustrate the importance of the subject matter.