Research On Optimal Strategy Of Outsourcing Supply Chain Based On Corporate Social Responsibility

A three-tier outsourcing supply chain was explored in this study,which was comprised of an original equipment manufacturer(OEM),a contract manufacturer(CM),and a supplier.The procurement can be controlled by OEM or be delegated to CM,which causes two common outsourcing structures: control and delegation.Specially,corporate social responsibility(CSR)was considered and used as a decision variable along the outsourcing supply chain.Therefore,two typical outsourcing models were conducted,and different combinations of modeling results were obtained.To elaborate,the equilibrium wholesale prices of the supplier and the CM,the optimal level of corporate social responsibility,and the optimal profit level of each member of the supply chain are given.Further,the impacts of CSR on the profits of each partner were examined,and the operational decisions of each member towards the favorable outsourcing model were analyzed.Main findings are as follows:(1)Under both outsourcing structures,whether the supplier,the CM,or both shoulder CSR,it is beneficial for the improvement of social welfare and the OEM profit.However,when the cost of CSR is small,the supplier and the CM will refuse to shoulder CSR owing to the reduced profit.(2)When supplier takes on CSR,OEM prefers the control structure.When CM bears CSR or both CM and supplier bear CSR,OEM determines the outsourcing structure depending on the cost coefficient and elasticity coefficient of CSR.