Foresight: Winter 2020 - International Institute of Forecasters

This Winter 2020 issue of Foresight--number 56 since the journal began in 2005--formally introduces a new section: Integrated Business Planning (IBP), the meaning of which is evolving from a term virtually synonymous with Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) to something far more encompassing, especially for large enterprises. For more than a generation, S&OP has provided the infrastructure through which forecasts are shared across functional areas of the company, then debated and hopefully reconciled. The emphasis has been short term, generally a planning horizon of several months, and tactical. Now, Foresight's new Editor for IBP Dean Sorensen is proposing an expansive consideration of strategic as well as tactical elements. Dean's article in the Forecasting and Planning Perspectives section of this issue sets the stage for a dialog on how fully integrated the planning function should be if the organization is to optimize its resources.