Enhancing Sales and Operations Planning through Integrated Business Planning : What is Integrated Business Planning and how does it help businesses?

Abstract

Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) is a supply chain process to balance demand and supply, improving enterprises vertical and horizontal alignment. Integrated Business Planning is a strategic company management process to plan together companywide to solve problems and react to changes. According to business literature, Integrated Business Planning (IBP) enhances and secures businesses once the process is understood and done right considering the context the company operates in. The aim of my thesis is to know how to move from S&OP to IBP and succeed on a continuous basis with IBP. To find answers, I use the Gioia method to qualitatively analyse interviews done with IBP professionals from different industries. My results allow us to understand how to succeed with IBP and what it requires. My findings indicate that IBP is an advanced form of S&OP, benefitting businesses when done right. It was found that to succeed in IBP, people and change management needs to be considered. It is also highly recommended to have a successful and clearly beneficial Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) in place before implementing IBP, as IBP usually evolves from traditional S&OP to be a companywide strategic organisation management tool for CEO and the whole company. Usage of a maturity model and inclusion of contextual factors from day one are also highly recommendable. Technology and process are important factors, as IBP needs advanced technology and a very reactive and adapting process, but people come first in IBP. People lead the process and communication, plus use advanced technology to have higher benefits and maturity than traditional S&OP has.