A study of the key factors contributing to the bullwhip effect in the supply chain of the retail industry

The purpose of this study is to explore the bullwhip effect in the supply chain of the retail industry. Based on the analysis of key factors, the importance of the factors influencing the bullwhip effect in the supply chain, as well as the causal relationships between the factors, was evaluated. Through the questionnaire survey of the fuzzy Delphi method, the experts’ opinions about the influential key factors that produce the bullwhip effect in the supply chain were acquired using quantitative analysis and the screening procedures. The interpretive structural modeling and decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory were adopted to analyze the effects of the factors and the causal hierarchical relationship, thus providing supply chain managers with a more effective analysis of finding the reasons that contribute to the generation of the bullwhip effect.