Purpose The purpose of this paper is to apply resource-based theory to identify the relationships between logistics integration capability, supply chain integration (SCI), and performance in the context of omni-channel retailing (OCR). Design/methodology/approach An empirical study was conducted based on a mixed methodology that integrates survey research and focus group. In total, 243 retailers in China have been surveyed to examine the hypotheses of the proposed conceptual model, and focus group discussion has been applied to interpret the results and identify the critical concerns on the implementation of omni-channel (OC) strategy. Findings This study reveals that the information integration capability and organization integration capability in logistics management significantly affects SCI, while the integrated supply chain has a greater significant influence on financial performance than operational performance to OC retailers. Moreover, a firm’s characteristics can be regarded as contextual factors influencing performance in OCR. Research limitations/implications The authors obtained valuable insights for both academics and practitioners based on the findings. On the one hand, this is an early attempt to empirically study SCI of OCR, revealing the importance of a firm’s nature in the performance. Therefore, this study fills a current research gap. On the other hand, this research provides top managers of OC retailers, particularly supply chain managers, the awareness of the importance of improving of organizational integration and human-resource management capability. Additionally, this study proposes future research based on its limitations. Originality/value SCI is investigated in the context of OCR from a logistics perspective. Moreover, this study reveals that the human-resource management and organization management are the main concerns in the implementation of OCR.

No abstract

Online car hailing platforms are rapidly gaining popularity. Unlike most two-sided markets, these platforms have pricing power. The price for a specific customer ride request affects the number of interested drivers and the likelihood that a customer will accept a selected driver (and not opt for a regular taxi service). This study determines the optimal pricing strategy for online car hailing platforms, taking both ride details and driver location into account, and assuming that drivers and customers maximize utility. We do so for two types of driver selection: first to respond or closest to the customer.Under selection of the first driver to respond, we find that the platform price consists of a ride length based fare (set relative to the competing regular taxi fare) and a rush hour congestion fee, and increases with the customer waiting cost. Furthermore, the platform price is below the regular taxi fare if traffic conditions are good, drivers have low profit expectations, and the platform commission is low. We also discuss the effects on price and profit if the platform switches from first-to-respond to selecting the closest driver, which the popular Didi Chuxing platform has recently done in many Chinese cities. A numerical study based on the Beijing market further illustrates the findings.

No abstract

Solution processing of thin film encapsulation (TFE) has been a long anticipated technology to bridge the big idea of flexible organic electronics to become real world values, since only small-sized flexible devices are currently achieved with expensive multilayered TFE by complex vacuum processing. Highly demanding conditions are to carry out the process under inert gas, at a low temperature, and without aggressive chemicals to avoid damages to the organic materials. Here we show for the first time a solution-processed TFE to totally equal the level of conventional glass-cap encapsulation to achieve a “ready-to-be-used” stability of an organic light emitting diode (OLED). A seamless organic/inorganic multilayer in a structure such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)/SiO x /SiN y /SiO x N y with a built-in compositional gradient, as we named “PONT”, was achieved by a combination of two Si-based polymer coatings, UV-curable PDMS, perhydropolysilazane (PHPS), and their photochemical conversion under irradiation of vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) light (λ = 172 nm) in an N2-filled glovebox at room temperature. PDMS precursors diluted with decamethylcyclopentasiloxane were directly coated to OLED to form a protective layer. The presence of soft, elastic PDMS and its surface conversion to SiO x to improve wetting resulted in strong adhesion at the interfaces and relaxed strain to avoid cracks in ultrathin and high density SiO x N y to serve as a perfect barrier. A remarkably low water vapor transmission rate <10–4 g/m2/day was confirmed for a single PONT as thin as 280 nm. Standardized OLED devices with PONT TFEs have proven 3,864 and 528 h stability under atmospheric (25 °C, 50% relative humidity (RH)) and accelerated (60 °C, 90%RH) degradation tests, respectively, without formation of nonemissive dark spots in OLEDs. The fast processing of PONT TFE can be applied to roll-to-roll fabrication of various organic devices at low cost and in large areas, since direct solution coating as well as VUV irradiation do not cause any noticeable damages to sensitive organic materials.