M4A2 – Assignment 2: Applications of Forecasting by Firms
For example, if you are in a management role and overforecast sales, you will then overforecast employees or payroll as you will schedule more employees than needed to meet your projected sales. This overforecasting will lead to excess purchasing of supplies and, ultimately, lead to insufficient cash flows because you will need to pay for expenses incurred to maintain and provide services for revenues that did not come in as projected. A small error in forecasting at the start can significantly affect overall results. In this assignment, you will be exposed to the basic principles of forecasting.
Tasks:
Research a firm that applies forecasting principles and methods. You can take examples from your own work experiences. You can also consult sources such as the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Bloomberg Markets, the Economist, US News and World Report, and the Argosy University online library resources.
Create a 4- to 5-page research paper that includes responses to the following:
o Identify the sales forecast for the firm.
o Analyze how this sales forecast impacts all other forecasts for the firm, such as materials, labor, overhead, cash receipts, and disbursements.
o Explain the exogenous factors that you need to be aware of when developing these forecasts. Assess the GDP, rate of inflation, rate of unemployment, and interest rates trends.
o Evaluate the prerequisites of a good forecast that you should keep in mind as a manager when budgeting sales and production amounts.
At the end of your report, include a reference page and cite scholarly sources in APA style.
Submission Details:
o By the due date assigned, save your report as M4_A2_lastname_firstinitial.doc and upload to the Submissions Area.
Assignment 3 Grading Criteria Maximum Points
Applied accurate models to predict outcomes related to forecasting of the firm you selected and collected appropriate data from a data set. 32
Analyzed how a sales forecast impacts other related forecasts. 28
Analyzed prerequisites of a good forecast when budgeting sales and production amounts. 20
Wrote in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrated ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; and displayed accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation. 20
Total: 100
