Research on Optimal Decision of Supply Chain Quality Improvement Consider Cultural Differences between China and the Countries Along the “Belt and Road”

Abstract

Under the global epidemic situation, the issue of optimal decision of the supply chain qualitybetween China and the countries along the “Belt and Road” has been studied. First, based on the Stackelberg non-cooperative game theory, the optimal decision-making model of the centralized supply chain and the manufacturer-led decentralized supply chain under the three scenarios is constructed, and the optimal quality improvement level, optimal cultural distance, and optimal profit are obtained. Regardless of centralized decision or decentralized decision, the retail price, demand, and supply chain profit under the optimal decision taking into account both cultural distance and quality improvement are the largest. On this basis, through comparative analysis, the relationship between retail price, demand and profit under centralized decision and decentralized decision is obtained and the above conclusions are verified by analysis of examples. The research has shown that cultural distance is inversely related to the retail price and demand. As cultural distance continues to increase, supply chain profit first increases and then decreases. Centralized decision-making has smaller retail price and greater demand than decentralized decision-making. The research has important theoretical and practical significance for making optimal quality decisions along the supply chain along the “Belt and Road” with cultural differences.