Decision making in the beer game and supply chain performance

Operations Management Research - Tập 6 - Trang 119-126 - 2013
John R. Macdonald1, Ian D. Frommer2, Itir Z. Karaesmen3
1Eli Broad Graduate School of Management, Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA
2Department of Mathematics, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, New London, USA
3Kogod School of Business, American University, Washington, USA

Tóm tắt

The beer game has been used to emphasize, investigate, and analyze supply chain inefficiencies as well as the effect of decision makers’ biases. This paper investigates the short- and long-run performance in the beer distribution game by analyzing Sterman’s (Manag Sci 35(3): 321–339, 1989) model that simulates decision-making. In this model, the system may have chaotic behavior depending on the heuristics used by decision makers. We investigate how quickly the system reaches a steady state (if at all). It is known that ignoring supply line (outstanding orders) leads to the bullwhip effect in experimental research. Among other results, we show that the short-term performance of a supply chain is not a predictor of the long-term performance even when decision makers fully recognize outstanding orders. Results of the simulation and practical implications are discussed.

Tài liệu tham khảo

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