An organization with twenty people developing sales and operations plans might receive twenty different proposals. What are some factors an organization might consider when deciding among these alternative plans?
Provide a ranking for your factors and support your ranking with examples from recent business news media.
What will be an ideal response?
Answer: The text mentions the following five factors that might be considered when weighing options. Factor ranking and examples are subject to the whims of the students and latest headlines.
1. What impact will the plan have on supply chain partners such as key suppliers and transportation providers? This could be particularly important if production levels vary considerably from one period to the next.
2. What are cash flows like? Some plans may be profitable at the end of the planning cycle but still include periods in which cash expenses exceed revenues.
3. Do the supply chain partners and the firm itself have the space needed to hold any planned inventories?
4. Does the plan contain significant changes in the workforce? If so, what would be the impact on workforce satisfaction and productivity? Could the HR department handle the additional workload?
5. How flexible is the plan? That is, how easy or difficult would it be to modify the plan as conditions warrant?
You might also like to view...
Many customers have purchased OXO's higher-priced potato peeler once, but have not tried any other OXO products. These buyers represent which type of customer on the customer relationship management matrix?
A. Butterflies B. Barnacles C. True Friends D. Strangers
A good layout requires determining:
A) material handling equipment. B) capacity and space requirements. C) environment and aesthetics. D) cost of moving between various work areas. E) all of the above