Introducing water-saving service or not? Modeling analysis of competing high-water-consumption manufacturers

As water resources become increasingly scarce, manufacturers in high-water-consumption (HWC) industries are trying to seek water-saving services (WSS) from a WSS provider to reduce water consumption in the product-manufacturing/service-providing process. In this context, the game-theoretical decision models for dual competing HWC manufacturers under the scenario without/with WSS are developed, analyzed and compared respectively, the corresponding numerical and sensitivity analyses for all models are conducted and compared, on this basis, the corresponding management insights are summarized in this article. The research results indicate that: (1) Introducing a water-saving service (WSS) provider, conducting water-saving initiatives and adopting the cooperative strategy in the WSS supply chain are beneficial to enhancing the competitive advantage and improving operational performance, social welfare and consumer surplus for the HWC manufacturers. (2) Reducing product cost and reducing water consumption quantity per unit product are beneficial to improving the operational performance and social welfare for all stakeholders in the competition. (3) Making a proper water price could effectively motivate the HWC manufacturers to introduce water-saving service (WSS) and conduct water-saving initiatives. (4) Reducing water-saving costs is beneficial to improving the operational performance and social welfare for the WSS supply chain.