{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,25]],"date-time":"2026-10-25T04:52:14Z","timestamp":1792903934251,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS)","issue":"4","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Management Science"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[1997,4]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Consider a series of companies in a supply chain, each of whom orders from its immediate upstream member. In this setting, inbound orders from a downstream member serve as a valuable informational input to upstream production and inventory decisions. This paper claims that the information transferred in the form of \u201corders\u201d tends to be distorted and can misguide upstream members in their inventory and production decisions. In particular, the variance of orders may be larger than that of sales, and the distortion tends to increase as one moves upstream\u2014a phenomenon termed \u201cbullwhip effect.\u201d This paper analyzes four sources of the bullwhip effect: demand signal processing, rationing game, order batching, and price variations. Actions that can be taken to mitigate the detrimental impact of this distortion are also discussed.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1287\/mnsc.43.4.546","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2008,11,8]],"date-time":"2008-11-08T09:58:02Z","timestamp":1226138282000},"page":"546-558","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3350,"title":["Information Distortion in a Supply Chain: The Bullwhip Effect"],"prefix":"10.1287","volume":"43","author":[{"given":"Hau L.","family":"Lee","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"V.","family":"Padmanabhan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Seungjin","family":"Whang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"109","container-title":["Management Science"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/pubsonline.informs.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1287\/mnsc.43.4.546","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,2]],"date-time":"2023-04-02T16:15:06Z","timestamp":1680452106000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/pubsonline.informs.org\/doi\/10.1287\/mnsc.43.4.546"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[1997,4]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-print":{"date-parts":[[1997,4]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1287\/mnsc.43.4.546"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1287\/mnsc.43.4.546","relation":{},"ISSN":["0025-1909","1526-5501"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0025-1909","type":"print"},{"value":"1526-5501","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[1997,4]]}}}