Challenges in forecasting management for global companies

Abstract: In today’s fast-moving world, a company´s ability to align with changes in the market is becoming a major competitive factor. Demand forecasting form the basis of all supply chain planning and is a process that companies often fail to recognize as a key contributor to corporate success. Different contexts and market dynamics creates different challenges for companies to overcome in order to have an efficient forecasting process, matching demand with supply. This master thesis looks at the whole forecasting process, also called forecasting management, at a decentralized global company to identify the main challenges within the process and propose recommendations on how to overcome them. The research is based on a single case study where the forecasting process is investigated using four different dimensions: Functional Integration, Approach, Systems and Performance Measurements. The study identified twelve challenges in the forecasting process where a majority can be connected to issues within information sharing and lack of support in the process. Based on the identified challenges, eight improvement suggestions where developed to target the challenges and improving the process for a decentralized global company.