ISCOM/305 Week 4 Discussion question 2

According to our text, forecasting is simply a prediction of what will happen in the future (Russel & Taylor, 2011). It is similar of what we see when we watch the weather in the news. Forecasting in a company involves how a company will be like in the future. Again, similar to when we view the weather in the news, forecasting in a company is not entirely accurate. Reasons why a company forecasts include planning for the future of the company, what and how to meet with customer demands, how to deal with inventory, etc. Since this method isn’t entirely accurate, a company manager may use data from past experiences, customer feedback, and even educated guesses about what customers may look for in the future. I believe that forecasting, although it may not be accurate at times, is important for a company to “see” how they can be able to continue to work with other consumers and other companies so that they can be able to give quality service. One example of how forecasting may work is the consumer demands. A company should have enough stock of certain products so that they can serve customers in a timely manner. Using the forecasting strategy, the company can assume how much more customers will buy a certain product so that they can be able to meet their needs accordingly. All this data can be used to make decisions for the company and its future. There are also many methods of forecasting. Would anyone like to further discuss?