Checklist IBP: Delivering tangible business results

Checklist IBP: Delivering tangible business results, with these 11 questions.

The ultimate objective of Integrated Business Planning (IBP) is to deliver tangible business results – things like increased revenues and margins, and greater market share. For many organizations, however, the initial motivation for implementing IBP is merely to improve processes – forecast accuracy or reducing inventory for example. This seriously underestimates the power and value of IBP. Consultancy firm Oliver Wight and Supply Chain Media have put together: Checklist IBP: delivering tangible business results.

It is typically supply chain rather than the leadership team that specifies the required benefits of IBP. The challenge is to excite business leaders about what can be achieved. If they can be persuaded that IBP can truly transform the performance of the business, they will not only buy into IBP but they will also become the passionate owners of it. The real purpose of IBP is to deploy the business strategy: planning for the future today, and managing events rather than waiting for things to happen. This means early identification of gaps in performance and dealing with them in plenty of time. Fundamental to success is the commitment of people, especially the leadership team. A high caliber of leadership understands that, to move forward, it has to focus on what is required for future success rather than falling into the trap of daily fire-fighting. Only an IBP process that is fully integrated across the entire organization will produce the consistent and reliable data that is essential for effective decision making at the top level. Without integration, inconsistency and uncertainty will prevail.

Answer these 11 questions to see if you’re getting the best from your IBP process.

For more information about IBP read this blog post.