Sales and Operations Planning : A study into managing the silo culture in an ETO manufacturing

Abstract: Background: Over the past years, companies have competed in a globalized and dynamic environment which has forced them to implement various incentives in order to gain cost advantages. Companies have tried to implement Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) but many have not managed to get the expected results. Coordinating sales and operations remains a crucial challenge because of the multiple differences and conflicts in objectives and responsibilities, referred to as having a silo culture. As many companies have encountered this barrier in conjunction with an S&OP implementation, investigating the S&OP process in a company with functional silos and a complex planning process remains.  Objectives: The objective with this study is to provide a deeper understanding of how to manage the silo culture challenge, in order to achieve a higher S&OP maturity level in a manufacturing with a complex planning process.  Methods: The objective with this study was fulfilled through an in-depth empirical case study research in an Engineering-to-order (ETO) company. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with employees working in the departments involved in the S&OP process, along with a survey that was used to identify the organizational culture. Moreover, a framework synthesis was carried out in order to identify the most suitable S&OP maturity model for assessing the maturity level.  Results: The results revealed that no written rules or policies govern the organizational activities, but an organization chart and some job descriptions exists. The total work is divided, resulting in a functional organizational design. The results showed that the departments facing supply and demand, have different objectives due to their functional specialization and that no common goals exist between the departments. The results also showed that the prevailing organizational culture appeared as different among the departments. The S&OP diagnosis reveled that the S&OP maturity level was low on most of the dimensions except from the IT dimension. Moreover, it revealed the lack of a shared understanding of the S&OP process among the different departments.  Conclusions: The main findings for managing the silo culture in order to reach a higher S&OP maturity level was to: (1) possess a organizational design that facilitates cross-functional alignments, (2) focus on people by ensuring that the S&OP process is fully understood, (3) define clear job roles and job descriptions, (4) state goals for each department and incorporate common goals along with metrics for all departments, (5) incorporate a strong organizational culture with shared values and beliefs and (6) have a clear decision making process along with moving towards a decentralization in some areas.