Why haven’t I seen this paper before? And why is it not cited more often? It should. It is called The role of elasticity in supply chain performance and was written by Bradley Hull in 2005, and it develops a model that describes the performance of supply chains based on their elasticities of supply and demand. The model can be used to predict a supply chain’s ability to respond to supply interruptions, cost increases, and demand shifts, while also quantifying the degree to which it is prone to the bullwhip effect. The paper identifies four types of supply chains and examines their distinct operating characters, in particular the impact of rival firms and the impact of a decoupling point on supply chain performance. What more can you ask for? It’s all here.

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