From S&OP to IBP

The ‘From S&OP to IBP’ executive programme will once again be held at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, from 23-25 November 2020 and from 8-10 November 2021. Developed by Involvation in partnership with RSM, this three-day training programme is aimed at medior managers and senior managers who are involved in the S&OP and/or IBP process. It is an open programme which inspires participants from different companies across various industries to share their experiences and hence learn a lot from one another.

Unique programme

The programme is unique for several reasons, and not least because it integrates aspects of behavioural economics. S&OP/IBP training is usually primarily focused on the process and/or the tooling: the steps in the process, RACI, charters, KPIs, etc. It is rare for such training to address the human factor and the impact of biases and traps on decision-making, but this enhances and provides more depth to the decision-making to add significant value. The second unique aspect is its openness. Almost all other Involvation training courses are held as internal sessions, with all participants coming from the same company. The RSM training goes into less depth about company-specific problems, but offers a broader view by allowing people from different organisations to share their experiences with one another.

History of the Involvation and RSM partnership

Involvation and RSM have been working together for a number of years. The partnership started in 2008/2009 when a number of PhD students from RSM conducted research among the participating teams in Involvation’s annual competition called The Fresh Connection (TFC). TFC turned out to be an excellent ‘laboratory environment’ for observing team behaviour and predicting team results. This led to a number of scientific publications on the topic of ‘team reflexivity’. Within Involvation, it provided extra motivation to shape the behavioural component in change processes. In the early years, RSM held a two-day training session hosted by Professor Steef van de Velde in collaboration with Involvation, and Involvation offered its customers the same session as an in-company programme. In 2018 the programme was given more depth and extended to three days.

Time to put it into practice…

Involvation is a firm believer in continuous learning; the learning process shouldn’t stop when you complete the evaluation form after a training session. Discussing as many practical situations and examples as possible inspires participants to implement what they have learned. To help them to really put everything into practice, at the end of the three-day session participants are given an assignment related to their own work. They are then visited at work a few months later to see the results or to offer them a bit of extra help. Time and again, we are reminded that S&OP is simple but not easy… so every nudge in the right direction helps!
For more details about the programme, click here or contact Alfons Willemsen.

It is far better to be approximately right, than precisely wrong
Carveth Read