Collaborative forecasting: one more challenge in supply chain management

This research aims to offer an original contribution on the debate on collaborative forecasting both in the academic and managerial perspective. Collaborative Forecasting (CF) - referring to the process of collecting and reconciling the information from diverse sources inside and outside the company, to come up with a single unified statement of demand (Hill, 1999) – has been receiving increasing attention in the managerial literature. Following Meredith’s (1998) suggestion to use case studies as a basis for theory formulation, insights from 3 case studies are used to extend existing theory on CF. The first objective of this research is to understand if the phases characterising the CF process are different from those of the conventional forecasting process, and - if yes - what are the main differences. Moreover, this research has a further explorative objective, as it intends to highlight what and how co-ordination mechanisms are activated to adapt, align and synchronise forecasting activities carried out by different members of the network.