Forecasting

In this course, the Discussion Boards will focus on
practical issues regarding analytics in the practical world. If you do
not want to comment on your organization (due to confidentiality issues
or if your experience does not fit the Assignment) then comment on
another organization that you are familiar with. You may also do
research on a company and base your answers on your findings.

This discussion is based on the article “Manager’s guide
to forecasting” by David Georgoff and Robert Murdick from Harvard
Business Review. Make sure to acquire this article before starting the
discussion.

In this course, you will touch on a few forecasting
methods, but there are many more approaches available to the managers
who wish to do more. This week’s article provides an overview of many
forecasting methodologies and provides a framework through which you can
explore their differences.

Your objective in this discussion is to learn to analyze
a specific forecasting situation and identify the best suited
methodology. In this discussion, first describe a specific forecasting
need in your organization. Then use the provided template to analyze the
situation and identify a forecasting methodology that you would
recommend to be used. Finally provide a description of how this
methodology would be executed. The analysis will be based on the table
shown on page 4 and 5 of the article. This table lists several questions
about the nature of the forecasting situation, such as the urgency,
detail required and costs factors, and provides an overview of how well
various forecasting methodologies will fit.

Please note that these two pages (4 & 5) go side by
side- you may wish to print them out and place them next to each other
to read across the rows comfortably.

Recommendations

What is your recommended forecast methodology? Describe
how this forecast will be executed: Who will do it, where will the data
come from, how frequently will it be repeated and how will the results
be used?