Manager’s Guide to Forecasting, business and finance homework help

ALL WORK MUST BE ORIGINAL. PLAGIARISM WILL RESULT IN WITHDRAWUnit 5 DiscussionThis Discussion is based on the article, “Manager’s Guide to Forecasting” by David Georgoff and Robert Murdick fromHarvard Business Review. Make sure to acquire this article before starting the Discussion.Inthis course, you will touch on a few forecasting methods, althoughthere are many more approaches available to those managers who wish todo more. This week’s article provides an overview of many forecastingmethodologies and provides a framework through which you can exploretheir differences.Yourobjective in this Discussion is to learn to analyze a specificforecasting situation and identify the best suited methodology. You willcomplete three steps.Step 1: Describe a specific forecasting need in your organization.Step 2: Use the provided table below to analyze the requirements of the forecasting problem.Step 3: Identify the best matching forecasting methodology to your situation and describe how it would be executed.InStep 2, the analysis will be based on the table shown on pages 4 and 5of the article. This table lists several questions about the nature ofthe forecasting situation, such as the urgency, detail required, andcosts factors, and provides an overview of how well various forecastingmethodologies will fit those requirements. For example, some forecastingmethods cost more than others and depending on your financialresources, some of them may not be suitable. The same holds true withthe math skills available or the need for high accuracy. So understandwhat each category is referring to, fill in the information, and followthe table to see which methodology is recommended for your specificcase. You are learning how to analyze your situation so as to pick thebest approach. Please note that these 2 pages in the article (pages 4–5)go side by side. You may wish to print them out and place them next toeach other to read across the rows comfortably. The table shown below isbased on the table in the article.Pleaseuse the template below in your answers, so everyone can easily followyour answers to all the questions (copy and paste to your post).Use this format for your Unit 5 Discussion.Forecast needDescribe what question this forecast aims to answer, and why it is important for your organization to have this information.Forecast situation analysisIdentifya forecast method by filling in the table below. The full table is onpages 4–5 of the article. You should fill in the table by answering thequestions in the “Questions” column. Your answers will lead you to themethods that are most suitable for your forecasting need.CategoryDimensionQuestionsAnswer to the questionsTimeSpanIs the forecast period a present, short/medium, or long-term projection?UrgencyIs the forecast needed immediately?FrequencyAre frequent forecast updates needed?ResourceMath skillsAre quantitative skills limited?ComputerAre computer capabilities limited?FinancialAre only limited financial resources available?InputAntecedentAre only limited past data available?VariabilityDoes the primary series fluctuate substantially?Internal consistencyAre significant changes in management decisions expected?External consistencyAre significant environmental changes expected?External stabilityAre significant shifts expected among variable relationships?OutputDetailAre component forecasts required?AccuracyIs a high level of accuracy critical?Capability for reflecting direction changesShould turning points be reflected properly?Capability for detecting direction changesShould turning points be identified early?FormIs an internal or probabilistic forecast critical?RecommendationsWhich forecasting methodology listed in the article is the best match to your situation?Describehow this forecast will be executed: Who will do it, where will the datacome from, how frequently will it be repeated, and how will the resultsbe used?