The thesis investigates the sales and operations planning (S&OP) cycle
steps, expanding the understanding about the under-researched Global Roll-up
and Global Executive Meeting steps. It presents a multiple case study embracing
five important Latin American subsidiaries of four multinational corporations.
Two S&OP frameworks are used to guide the field observations and analysis,
aiding to improve the S&OP phenomenon s characterization. Scholars and
practitioners can gain first-hand knowledge about how Global Roll-up and Global
Executive Meeting steps are conducted in multinational corporations to improve
their planning processes. The role of finance in S&OP / Integrated Business
Planning (IBP) cycles is also examined and discussed in detail providing useful
insights to improve these processes in other organizations, addressing another
research gap. Findings indicate that there are challenges to consolidate and use
information gathered from multiple subsidiaries in different contexts worldwide
but internal benchmarking and sharing of best practices are explored as well as
business opportunities among countries regarding inventory excess, portfolio
expansion possibilities, and spare capacity utilization. Additionally, observations
led to the conclusion that early involvement of finance in the S&OP cycle is
beneficial for the business, adding value to the decision making process in the
initial steps and taking a central role in the Pre-meeting and Executive Meeting steps.
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