Talk title: Developing and implementing contextualised Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) designs - experiences from a PROBRAL project.

Speaker affiliation: Tobias Kreuter, Ph.D. candidate at the Chair for Information Systems & Supply Chain Management, University of Münster.

Talk abstract: Tobias speaks about his recent research in relation to the PROBRAL project “Theoretical understanding and practical implementation guidance for Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP)”, which is conducted in collaboration with the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro. In particular, the talk focuses on the development and implementation of contextualised S&OP designs. S&OP is a business process that addresses cross-functional integration within a company and along the supply chain, and has become a critical success factor for companies nowadays. Despite the apparent process simplicity, companies are still struggling to realise the expected S&OP benefits. Tobias presents a novel approach for S&OP contextualisation, rooted in Enterprise Architecture Management and contingency theory. The offered approach enables the analysis of S&OP from a holistic perspective. It provides practically applicable guidance for managers to achieve the contextualisation of their S&OP designs and increase the S&OP effectiveness.

Short Bio: Tobias is a researcher and Ph.D. candidate at the Chair for Information Systems & Supply Chain Management at the European Research Center for Information Systems (ERCIS), University of Münster. He is part of the above-mentioned PROBRAL project (http://go.wwu.de/ptp-h). Moreover, Tobias works at the International Relations Center of the University’s School of Business and Economics, being responsible for international relations, staff mobility, and inter-institutional agreements. Tobias conducts research in the area of supply chain integration, mainly focussing on S&OP. His work has been published in journals such as the International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, Review of Managerial Science, PLoS One, and Business Process Management Journal.