LAUSR

This paper considers an economic order quantity (EOQ) inventory model for items with imperfect quality and shortage backordering under several styles of managerial leadership via lock fuzzy game theoretic approach. The decision maker (DM) controls several cost components by playing as Player 1 on the one side and the consumers who may accept/reject those items (unwilling to buy those commodities) stands as Player 2 on the other side. First of all, we develop a profit maximization backlogging EOQ model where the imperfect items are screened out batchwise. Because of the fuzzy flexibility of the model parameters we also develop a fuzzy mathematical model by considering the demand, all cost parameters, and other input parameters of the inventory system as triangular lock fuzzy numbers. Then we develop a 3 × 3 matrix game by applying a five‐stage leadership theory employing several key vectors in the model itself. The problem has been solved for crisp, general fuzzy models of several leadership styles also. Numerical results show that for a cooperative game, inventory profit function reaches its maximum rather than the noncooperative game by the use of proper keys. Finally, comparative study, sensitivity analysis, and graphical illustrations are made to justify the new approach.