Assessing the Bullwhip effect in supply chain: trends, gaps, and overlaps

Abstract

Due to operational and behavioral factors, the Bullwhip effect (BWE) arises with variations in the logistics flow, yielding uncertainty and disturbances along the supply chain (SC). Previous studies have discussed isolated approaches, underestimating the influence of behavioral aspects over operational ones, and multi-factor analysis, which helps to measure and diminish the BWE. This study systematically assesses the bodies of knowledge to identify new trends, emphasizing gaps and overlaps to underly behavioral-operational links and multi-factor scenarios through a unified frame of reference built during the paper review. The results from this research spot new BWE trends like COVID and closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) driven by disruption and return flows; the influence of behavioral causes over pricing, returning flows, production capacity, and batching; the combination of multi-factor topics like pricing, production capacity, synchronization, and order batching. This overview contributes to understanding new trends and connections in the issues, highlighting logistic challenges and opportunities to explore future studies with a broader scope. It also elucidates the BWE causes and how to handle them, which could assist in comprehending its effects and advantages on the technical elements of logistics.