Journal of Business Forecasting Articles Issues

Recent changes in Big Data and analytics are having a huge impact on the culture and organizational structure of demand planning, forecasting and related roles. Whilst most companies have recognized this, we still need a blueprint of what this new organization may look like and how we get there. This article discusses a new way to optimize the skills and responsibilities of these specialized functions and the steps you need to take based on your organization’s maturity. Additionally, for professionals who work in these fields or who are about to enter, this article discusses the types of career paths that can help maximize abilities and fulfill aspirations.

It is getting more and more challenging to find the right employee with the right skills. To help, we should adjust what we are looking for and focus on core competency. The terms Skills and Competencies are used, virtually, interchangeably. In fact, with many HR practitioners, competencies seem to only relate to “Behavioral” competencies as defined in a Competency Dictionary. But this really is not the case. If you are hiring in demand planning or any similar field, you need to know what to look for and how to hire the right person. So, in this article we attempt to define the difference between Skills and Competencies, and provide some insight into the different types of core competencies that are critical to demand planning, forecasting, data science, and related fields.

With Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Augmented Reality, we cannot help but wonder if the reality is that our roles will be replaced by CPUs. While I do not think we will be replaced by robots in near future, there is an evolution happening today. In this article, we will look at the transformation of the demand planner of today to the data scientist of tomorrow, and how we may be able to start planning for how to be prepared when we get there.

The business environment is becoming more and more disruptive. New innovative technologies, product and service offerings, and globalization are upending business models in every industry. Business is fast-paced, consumer behaviors are constantly shifting, increased uncertainty and volatility is the order of the day, and the future is no longer a fixed destination. These forces have significant impact on demand forecasting and management. It is therefore imperative that managers responsible for forecasting and managing demand in this highly disruptive environment possess the right skill set to deal with these disruptive forces.

Demand Forecasting and Planning is about people, process, and technology. Unfortunately when one reads most articles today, it wouldn’t be evident. This is not to say that in a field of forecasting, there may be a bias, which is understandable, but practitioners just speak about process and software providers about technology. This goes on as little to no attention is paid to one of the most important variables in planning: people.

During the past decade there have been major shifts in demand management. Unfortunately, there has been more discussion than actual adoption; where adoption has occurred, there has been little if any sustainability. A demand-driven process is all about dynamic marketplace choices to drive profitability in existing and emerging segments.

It is well documented that Demand Planning requires a unique technical skill set. In addition to this, the most successful emulate a specific set of behaviors that separates their performance from others. In this article, I define seven of these behaviors, and provide insight to how each one translates into much greater results.