The Need For A Forecasting Champion

THE NEED FOR A FORECASTING CHAMPION By John T. Mentzer, Mark A. Moon, John L. Kent, and Carlo D. Smith Outlines the characteristics of a forecasting champion . . . the champion is the one who not only can develop good forecasts but also know how they can be used effectively in business planning . . . for a continuous improvement in the forecasting function, it must be someone’s primary responsibility. Outstanding performance in sales forecasting is a difficult, yet worthy goal for any company. However, there is more to achieving outstanding performance than selecting the right piece of forecasting software or choosing the optimum statistical technique. Forecasting must be viewed as a fundamental business process. Over the past three years, our research team has undertaken a data collection effort aimed at identifying those factors that contribute to a company’s ability to be successful in sales forecasting. This data collection took the form of in-depth analysis of the sales forecasting management practices at 25 companies. The purpose of this paper is to present one of the key findings from this research. Specifically, our intent is to discuss the important role that ...