Investigating supply chain contracts under weather-sensitive demand

天气变化不仅影响日常生活，还会影响消费者对许多产品的需求，影响其他产品的质量，从而给企业带来金融风险。零售商被鼓励在季节开始前很久就下对天气敏感的产品的订单，但历史表明，意想不到的天气模式(例如异常温暖的冬季)可能会导致需求大幅下降，导致公司遭受巨额损失，并影响整体经济活动。例如，2005年6月，沃尔玛报告称，低于正常温度导致其天气敏感型产品的库存水平高于正常水平。在供应链管理中众所周知，在错误的时间在错误的地点存储错误的产品是要花钱的。 70%的美国公司的产品对天气敏感，其GDP的一半左右受到天气的影响。为了将天气敏感型需求的风险降至最低，金融市场在1999年推出了一种名为天气衍生品的金融工具。天气衍生品允许一家公司将其天气风险转移给另一方，后者愿意以期权、期货或掉期的形式吸收这些风险。在天气、温度、降雨量或降雪量的情况下，这种导数的值是从潜在变量中得出的。推出天气衍生品的芝加哥商品交易所(CME)在2007年交易了320亿美元的天气衍生品。 令人惊讶的是，几乎没有人对供应链中的天气风险进行研究。这项研究将首次调查天气条件温度的一种衡量标准如何影响供应链，如何在考虑到天气敏感需求的情况下更好地协调供应链，以及如何通过使用天气衍生品对冲天气风险来优化供应链合同。它将开发理论和指导方针，以便零售商能够实施供应链管理战略、风险对冲和将成本降至最低的合同。 最近，沃尔玛(Walmart)、罗纳(Rona)和家得宝(Home Depot)等零售商，以及杜克能源(Duke Power)和进步能源(Progress Energy)等能源公司，在预测产品需求以做出供应链决策时，已转向考虑天气信息。认识到天气风险在供应链合同中的重要性和规模越来越大，这项研究不仅将在帮助精明的零售商和生产商将下行风险降至最低方面发挥关键作用，而且还将增强这一领域的研究知识。

Changes in weather not only affect daily lives but also pose financial risks to businesses by influencing consumer demand for many products and affecting the quality of others. Retailers are encouraged to place orders for weather-sensitive products long before a season starts, but history has shown that unexpected weather patterns (an abnormally mild winter, for example) can result in significant drops in demand, leading to huge losses for companies and impacting overall economic activity. In June 2005, for example, Walmart reported that below-normal temperatures had caused a higher-than-normal inventory level in its weather-sensitive products. It is well understood in supply chain management that inventory of the wrong product in the wrong place at the wrong time costs money. The products of 70% of American companies are weather sensitive, and about half of its GDP is affected by weather. To minimize the risk from weather-sensitive demand, in 1999 the financial market introduced a financial instrument called the weather derivative. Weather derivatives allow a corporation to transfer its weather risk to another party willing to absorb it in the form of options, futures or swaps. The value of such derivatives is derived from an underlying variable in the case of weather, temperature, rainfall, or snowfall. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), which introduced weather derivatives, traded $32B in weather derivatives in 2007. Surprisingly, little research has been done on weather risk in supply chains. This research will be the first to investigate how one measurement of weather condition temperature affects the supply chain, how supply chains may be better coordinated considering weather-sensitive demand, and how supply chain contracts can be optimized by hedging weather risk using weather derivatives. It will develop theories and guidelines so retailers can implement supply chain management strategies, risk hedging, and contracts that minimize costs. Recently, retailers including Walmart, Rona and Home Depot, and energy companies including Duke Power and Progress Energy have moved towards taking weather information into account when predicting product demand to make supply chain decisions. Acknowledging the increasing importance and magnitude of weather risk in supply chain contracts, this research will not only play a critical role in helping astute retailers and producers minimize downside risk, but also enhance research knowledge in this area.