Optimal Pricing, Advertising, Production, Inventory and Investing Policies in a Multi-Stage Sustainable Supply Chain

In this paper, the study of a sustainable production–inventory model with price and advertisement dependent on demand considering carbon emission reduction technology is investigated. The aim of this paper is to determine the optimal appropriate pricing, advertising, production, inventory, and capital investment decisions under various carbon emission policies to maximize the joint total profit of a multi-stage supply chain system. Various theoretical results and an algorithm are provided to verify and obtain the optimal solution of the problem. Further, the model is verified by numerical examples, and the robustness check of parameter variation is also analyzed. Finally, some management implications for decision makers are drawn from numerical examples. In summary, this study puts forward more realistic modeling hypothesis, which is beneficial to the academic research, and the research results can provide relevant decision makers with a model for managing a sustainable supply chain.