Global Supply Chain Management

"Aggregated forecast-based demand management with growth expectations and over-ordering routinely built into it, generates the well known‘Bullwhip Effect' in Supply Chains thus potentially increasing overall stock-holding in the supply chain network."

1. Discuss in detail the origins and development of the Bullwhip Effect in Global Supply Chains.

2. By taking as an example a Supply Chain that you are familiar with, identify and discuss methods and approaches that could be utilised by organisations to minimise the effect of Bullwhip to their Inventory and Customer Service Levels.

Typical examples of Supply Chains may include: production of fresh milk, automobile manufacturing, outpatient appointments or accident and emergency departments in public hospitals, banking services, supermarkets etc. Some of the data for this assignment may be ‘live'; for instance some of the data may be reported extensively in newspapers, on the media and also in parliamentary or other accounts. You should use these sources for information. Academic material for most Supply Chains is easily available and is included in books and articles. Theory of the Bullwhip and how it may affect given supply chains can be found in textbooks and peer reviewed journal articles.

One of the clear academic objectives of a Master's level programme is to show in the paper that you have read, understood and "absorbed as your own" the many concepts associated with Supply Chain Management. That is not the same as providing a summary of which author said what; good assignments discuss the literature in terms of themes or concepts. Try to structure your paragraphs so that the first sentence introduces the theme or concept discussed in the paragraph, and the paragraphs themselves should be grouped in such a way that your "story" flows in a structured, balanced and comprehensible way.