What is Boom and Bust

This chapter illustrates how the bullwhip effect is exacerbated in the supply chain through the Tamagotchi™ case. BANDAI first introduced Tamagotchi™ to the market on November 23, 1996. It became tremendously popular throughout the world in 1997, touching the hearts of children and young adults globally. While BANDAI sold 40 million of the first Tamagotchi™ worldwide by March 1999, this effort ended in tragedy. BANDAI suffered from the tragic boom and bust. The causes can be summarized as follows: a demand forecast failure and an immature SCM including a wrong response which created an excessive boom and sudden bust. BANDAI learned from this severe lesson in launching new series and managing the company and supply chain. Instant and substantial ways to cope with the bullwhip effect exaggerated in a supply chain will be proposed.