Getting Your Forecasting and Planning Fundamentals Right: A Case Study
In our previous issue (Winter 2011), Alec Finney and Martin Joseph advised readers on how to fine-tune a company’s forecasting and planning fundamentals. They recommended a three-step audit to focus on: • How good do we think we are? • In reality, how good are we? • How good should we strive to become? This new article illustrates how the audit process plays out within an organization. It provides two accounts based on a case study of a global biotechnology specialty-care group based in Paris, France. Alec and Martin’s story presents the auditors’ viewpoint. It describes the way the audit and subsequent analysis probed beneath the surface to reveal not only consensus views but polarized and outlying views. Hannah’s story is the internal view at the company, describing the challenges faced, how the interviews were received, and how the recommendations were presented to management. She concludes with an assessment of the benefits that accrued. Copyright International Institute of Forecasters, 2011
Getting Your Forecasting and Planning Fundamentals Right
In their previous Foresight article (Winter 2009), Alec Finney and Martin Joseph described the Forecasting Mantra, the elements of which guide the proper creation and presentation of the forecast. Now they employ the Mantra as a basis for an audit of an organization’s forecasting performance. The audit reveals problems with the process, enables the prioritizing of new investments in process improvement, and helps a company avoid overspending. Copyright International Institute of Forecasters, 2011
The Forecasting Mantra: A Holistic Approach to Forecasting and Planning
Applying decades of experience in pharmaceutical forecasting, Alec Finney and Martin Joseph offer a template for steering the forecasting and planning process through organizational pitfalls to a successful outcome. Some lessons were learned the hard way; but aren't these lessons the most convincing? Copyright International Institute of Forecasters, 2009