A sales and operations planning application in the Brazilian subsidiary of a multinational chemical company

Abstract

Goal: the goal of this paper is to investigate how Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) is conducted in the Brazilian subsidiary of a global corporation of the chemical industry that manufactures and commercializes a variety of hygiene and cleaning consumer products.

Design/Methodology/Approach: the case study approach was adopted. Data was gathered during four months by means of visits to the organization for direct observation, interviews with key executives, and internal and public documents, guaranteeing data triangulation. A well-known framework from the literature is applied to analyze the S&OP practices performed by the organization.

Results: Findings contribute to aid in the understanding of the S&OP process. The case study indicates that S&OP has been a central process to organize and to align the enterprise’s efforts and deliver its business objectives.

Limitations of the investigation: the research is conducted within one single company, a Brazilian subsidiary of a multinational chemical corporation, which limits the generalization of the findings.

Practical implications: The research findings enhance the knowledge about S&OP providing practitioners with valuable information to understand better its phenomenon, such as how the process is performed, and the best practices and benefits.

Originality/Value: S&OP has been an object of interest of scholars and practitioners for decades. However, the process is far from being completely understood and there is a call for more empirical studies. Thus the academic literature can benefit from this in-depth research that sheds light on an S&OP industry application.