Going Beyond the Demand Plan—Business Forecasting for Strategy Development

As Forecasters, we are familiar with demand forecasting and the resulting demand plans that drive business operations across a company. What is perhaps less known is business forecasting for strategic development, borrowing many of the same techniques used in demand forecasting but focusing on a longer time frame to develop long-term business goals and vision. In this article I discuss how Forecasters can drive strategic development with forecasting, taking into account market trends, macro data, other external factors. I discuss the inputs to use (including economic and industry data), models to use for forecast generation, and the process to engage senior management and track progress towards ...