A flow-based three-dimensional collaborative decision-making model for supply-chain networks

The inter-organizational collaboration of supply-chain networks is an important modern business model. This model involves the collaboration of different organizations and decentralized decision making to improve the overall performance of a supply-chain network. The current research on collaborative decision making lacks a clear and effective decision system, which leads to a series of problems, such as unclear decision positioning, vague decision processes and poor operability of decision solutions. To solve these problems, this paper studies the principles of inter-organizational collaboration and proposes a novel perspective for collaborative decision making based on material, information and time flows. A flow-based three-dimensional collaborative decision-making model for supply-chain networks is creatively advanced in this paper. The model is an efficient methodological tool for collaboration management in the following ways: (i) it clarifies both the domain and the space of collaborative decision making; (ii) it sets up mapping relationships of decision spaces in different decision domains and elaborates their formal descriptions systematically; (iii) it solves the issues related to the association and integration of inter-organizational collaboration in several decision domains; and (iv) it allows all members in all organizations to be involved in the decision making of a supply-chain network. A case is studied to elaborate and verify the efficiency of the collaborative decision-making model. Compared with previous collaborative decision-making research, this paper provides a more efficient solution for collaborative decision making. The outlined model has clearer decision-making positioning and a stronger actual operability, and it provides an effective methodological reference for operating the inter-organizational collaborative decision making of a supply-chain network.