Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) as a business process is just over 30 years old. A lot has been written about why S&OP implementations succeed or fail and why many organization are stuck in their maturity. Recently Supply Chain Insights published a report with the following 5 top challenges on why S&OP is a tough nut to crack. 72% has difficulty getting to the right … Continue reading The dirty little secrets of S&OP
Changing consumer habits to do social good is not a new idea. The Max Havelaar coffee label, the world first fair trade certification mark, was launched in 1988. Consumers could contribute to the living and working conditions of small farmers in disadvantaged regions by drinking a cup of coffee, for many a daily routine. Since then many fair trade and social brands have seen the … Continue reading Habits and Social Brands that can change the world
Mental toughness is a set of attributes that make people perform at their best under any circumstances. It is a personal and organizational capability that can effectively deal with today’s continuous changes and pressures. This article explains the mindset and attributes that make up mental toughness, how mental toughness can be measured and how to build mental tough organizations that increase performance. Practice makes perfect! … Continue reading Building the Mentally Tough organization
There is no doubt that over the years, Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) has brought companies around the world many valuable business improvements. This article argues that after existing for over 30 years, the development of S&OP as an end to end business management process method has come to a standstill. This standstill is threatening the very existence of S&OP. The only way to further … Continue reading The rise and fall of S&OP
A business strategy is only as good as its execution. Still many businesses struggle to periodically align their strategy with their annual plans, performance and appraisal settings and execution. This contributes to a lack of employee engagement in strategy and a low success rate of strategy execution, which have been well documented over the years. To overcome the strategy to execution gap, executives may choose … Continue reading How to bridge the Strategy to Execution gap
‘If you don’t know where you’re going, you might not get there‘, Yogi Berra, a famous baseball player famously said. Berra knew how to achieve and win, appearing in 21 world series and winning 13 of them. He was elected to the baseball hall of fame in 1972 (Wikipedia). If we want to achieve something, we usually define our goals, measurements and targets. We usually … Continue reading The main reason why S&OP implementations fail!
A big thanks to all participants who joined in this years pulse check. Attached you can find the results of the 2014 S&OP pulse check, the fourth of its kind. It gives an indication on S&OP maturity status and change drivers. An indication indeed, as one participants said; ‘it is a check up and not an autopsy’. My biggest insights, or shock should I say, … Continue reading 7 S&OP insights from the 2014 S&OP pulse check
S&OP is a long term game, if not a never ending continuous improvement game. More than once, I’ve witnessed well working S&OP processes collapse within months after a merger, restructure, leadership change or other significant business changes. The process was working; people rocked up to meetings and had meaningful conversation. Information was on the table, some business decisions were made. Systems were working to support … Continue reading 7 Steps to Build a Sustainable S&OP Culture
A day after I came back from my holidays , I got an sms from a friend that triggered me. The sms said; ‘Just spend last month abroad with the MD – he’s in trouble. Business has collapsed and IBP didn’t see it coming’. My friend works for a company with brands everybody in the world knows and it just might be one of the … Continue reading 6 social media lessons for IBP
I’m inspired by a business leader, only for the second time in my life. Yes I know I’m a bit hard to impress! This time it is a 25 year old business leader I work with and I’m inspired because of his philosophy and his company purpose and vision. Purpose and vision statements are often made by a bunch of old people that struggle to … Continue reading Manufacture happiness in the workplace
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