Supply Chain Decision Making: Will Shorter Cycle Times and Shared Point-of-Sale Information Necessarily Help?

Joel H. Steckel (), Sunil Gupta () and Anirvan Banerji ()
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Joel H. Steckel: Stern School of Business, New York University, New York, New York 10012
Sunil Gupta: Thinktodo, LLC, and David Shepard Associates

Management Science, 2004, vol. 50, issue 4, 458-464

Abstract: Using a simulated supply chain experiment based on the well-known "beer game," we examine how changes in order and delivery cycles, availability of shared point-of-sale (POS) information, and the pattern of customer demand affect supply chain efficiency. We find that speeding up cycle time is beneficial, but the sharing of POS information is not necessarily so. Whether or not the sharing of POS information is beneficial depends on the nature of the demand pattern represented by the POS information. If the demand pattern conveys continual change in ultimate downstream customer demand (as does an S-shaped demand pattern), the POS information can distract the upstream decision maker from what is perhaps more immediately relevant information, orders placed by the proximate downstream agent and the supply line.

Keywords: supply chain; beer game; bullwhip effect; quick response systems; experiments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (33)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:50:y:2004:i:4:p:458-464

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