Forecasting is the art and science of predicting the future events. Organizations are continually creating forecasts for different uses in the organization. Besides setting production levels, what are some other uses of forecasts in the organization?
If an organization forecasts independent demand, it has the opportunity to take either an active role to affect demand or take a passive role and simply respond to demand.
In your opinion, under what conditions would an organization select to take an active or a passive role? Explain why? What strategies would supermarkets, airlines, hospitals, banks and cereal manufacturers use to affect demand? Give specific illustrations explaining why these organizations would select such a strategy.
Validate your answers with suitable reasoning.