Quantitative Models in Supply Chain Management

Game Theory

Game theory is interested in the analysis of conditions that conflict and cooperation are involved. Since its development in the early 1940s game theory has found applications in various areas such as auctions, biology, business, economics, management- labor arbitration, philosophy, politics, sports and warfare. After the initial interests created by its potential applications, operations research/management science specialists more interested in game theory during the 1960s and the 1970s. However, interest of academics and practitioners on the management of supply chains was renewed in the last two decades and they emphasized on interactions among decision makers (“players”) composing a supply chain. The effects of this can be explicitly see in the fast growth of publication in various journals dealing with the use of game theory in the analysis of supply chain problems. This section is devoted to overview on game theory applications in different area of supply chain management (SCM).