Sales and operations planning: A research synthesis

• Published in: International journal of production economics Vol. 138; no. 1; pp. 1 - 13
• Main Authors: Tavares Thomé, Antônio Márcio, Scavarda, Luiz Felipe, Fernandez, Nicole Suclla, Scavarda, Annibal José
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01-07-2012; Elsevier Sequoia S.A
• Subjects: Business; Collaboration; Construction costs; Cross-functional alignment; Economics; Finance; Financial performance; Integrated planning; Integration; Literature reviews; Metrics; Operations research; Sales and operations planning; State of the art; Studies; Supply chain management; Systematic review; Systematic review; Supply chain management; Metrics; Cross-functional alignment; Integrated planning; Collaboration
• ISSN: 0925-5273; 1873-7579
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpe.2011.11.027

Despite the growing body of literature on sales and operation planning (S&OP), efforts to synthesise the overall state of the art of research in this area are limited. Within this context, this paper provides a systematic review of the literature on S&OP. The purpose of this systematic review is twofold: (i) to integrate the highly dispersed work on S&OP in order to identify and analyse S&OP as a business process and (ii) to assemble quantitative evidence of its impact on the performance of the firm. A literature search framework is proposed, with 271 papers reviewed and classified. The framework embraces S&OP context information, inputs and goals, structure and processes, outcomes, and results. The major expected outcome in most papers was a cross-functional integration of plans, although few studies report on the integration of finance plans into S&OP. Despite the existence of common process descriptors and definitions of S&OP, there is a lack of unifying frameworks for maturity models, measurement of S&OP, and constructs related to the firm's performance. The need for additional scientifically sound survey or case study research on S&OP is emphasised. This paper contributes to a better understanding of S&OP's role as a determinant of firm's performance in the supply chain.