The planning process and the response process
In most companies, the planning process tends to be done by a small number of people over a period of time. Whether you’re talking about corporate planning, financial planning or supply chain planning - these processes tend to be very centralized with a small number of people actively participating and the outcome being used by others in the organization.
The response process tends to be completely the opposite. As one customer said “we build a good plan…then the phone rings.” When the phone rings, the business is no longer running like clockwork and the response process needs to kick in. This process tends to involve lot’s of people - the people that are involved “where the rubber meets the road” in getting things done. These are the customer service reps, the planners, the buyers, the contract manufacturers, the suppliers - all of the people that have the knowledge and insight into what’s possible.
This is critical because, at the end of the day, dealing with unexpected changes comes down to a series of tradeoffs and compromises that people need to make. To do so, these people need to have up-to-date information and the right tools to analyze options and weigh the impact of proposed actions, but the response process tends to be quite people centric and decentralized, in sharp contrast to the planning process.
