Optimization of supply chain finance based on Stackelberg model

In recent years, the relationship between the concepts of operations management and finance management has been an attractive area of research among researchers. One of the emerging areas at the beginning of the 21st century in the literature of operations and supply chain management is the topic of supply chain finance (SCF). SCF is a new concept that provides efficient financing of the supply chain, where all parties can balance the working capital and improve cash flow at a reduced cost by utilizing the buyer's or other parties' credit rating. Hence, in this study, an approach to optimize financing based on the Stackelberg model in a three-level supply chain, considering the circumstances in which the supplier is financially constrained for fulfillment the buyer's order and funded by the bank as another member of the supply chain based on the purchase order financing (POF) is discussed. For this purpose, a nonlinear mathematical programming model has been developed to maximize the payoff function of the partners.