Title: Evidence of bullwhip effect in healthcare sector: causes, consequences and cures

Authors: Kannan Sethuraman, Devanath Tirupati

Addresses: Melbourne Business School, 200 Leicester Street, Carlton, Vic 3053, Australia. ' Indian Institute of Management, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad, 380015 India

Abstract: The primary issue explored in this research is how demand distortions, called the |bullwhip| effect, create inefficiencies for firms in the service industries. Much of the prior research has focused on documenting the existence of bullwhip effect in a number of manufacturing situations and more recently, authors have posited possible causes and cures for this phenomenon. To our knowledge, there has not been any published research that has investigated the existence of bullwhip effect in service settings. In this paper, we demonstrate the existence of bullwhip effect in the healthcare sector through case studies. We also discuss the possible effects and propose corrective actions.

Keywords: bullwhip effect; service value chains; healthcare; demand distortions; service industries; services; Australia.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSOM.2005.007499

International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 2005 Vol.1 No.4, pp.372 - 394

Published online: 27 Jul 2005 *

Full-text access for editors Access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article