For inventory problems with stock-out under probabilistic demands, most of
the published data assumes that the average shortages are very small and th
us are neglected. However, some of the stock-out in practice might be signi
ficant and is back ordered and filled as soon as an adequate size of replen
ishment arrives. Typically, a supplier will institute an emergency expediti
ng order to obtain the item when a shortage occurs and a price discount can
always be offered on the stock-out item in order to secure more back order
s. In this article, an inventory model with negotiable back orders is first
proposed, then another model where lead time is also subject to change is
discussed. Numerical examples are included to illustrate the procedures of
the solution.