While the response to preparing for events like Coronavirus will be multifaceted, the most effective response is pre-planning.
For those businesses, countries, and organizations that have thought through the possibilities of events such as this, the unwanted impacts can be minimized.
One method of preparedness is Scenario Planning.
This approach can be applied in any area of our life – at work, at home, and in our communities.
In the case of business planning, and even more specifically, supply chain risk management, scenario planning has proven to be an effective tool to prepare for potential events.
The skills to effectively apply scenario planning to potential events are needed more than ever as we increasingly experience events like the Coronavirus.
While this event is rare, the basic principles and best practices, are just as relevant as for more common, less drastic events like increases in demand, loss of production, or supplier disruptions.
During times of acute consequences, organizations can focus on the following aspect of the Scenario Planning Framework in the Integrated Business Planning Process:
How well is scenario planning performed in your organization?
My experience has shown it is a necessary skill to drive better decision making, cross-functional collaboration, improved financial results, and agile responses.
As described in the white paper, Scenario Planning: A Necessary Skill to Drive Better Decision Making in Integrated Business Planning, I discuss the Framework for Scenario Planning as seen below.
Feel free to contact me on (443) 690-1602 to discuss how to build scenario planning skills in your organization and learn more about our Integrated Scenario Planning Workshop.
About the Author
Pamelyn Lindsey, an Oliver Wight principal, is a consultant and educator providing organizations with guidance on the design and implementation of effective and sustainable business processes. Pam has over 28 years of specialized industry experience in Integrated Business Planning implementations, Demand Planning, Financial Integration, Scenario Planning, and the Oliver Wight IBP Accelerator software tool. She has a proven track record in Supply Chain process improvement, hands-on implementation, and delivery of related coaching, training, and education for senior management as well as multi-level teams with a solution-oriented approach.
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Related Resource
How to Get the Best from Your S&OP or IBP Process
In this white paper, we discuss a series of five questions - simple 'must-haves', which can be applied to any organization and which can be used in each of the five IBP review meetings to ensure they address the key issues facing the business in a standardized way, validate the plans and make required decisions. Download Now!
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Education | Integrated Business Planning (Advanced S&OP) Course