A coordination framework for sales and operations planning (S&OP): Synthesis from the literature

Sales and operations planning (S&OP) is a key business process to match customer demand with supply capabilities in the medium term. Coordination mechanisms play a pivotal role within S&OP to align business strategy and operational planning as well as the involved business functions and supply chain partners. The aim of this research is to synthesize a framework of coordination mechanisms in S&OP from both academic and practitioner literature, and to derive perspectives for further research. For this purpose, a sample of 99 articles from three databases covering the years 2001–2013 is selected and analyzed from two different perspectives. First, following a top-down approach, we use a general conceptual framework of coordination mechanisms to analyze and map the literature. Second, using a bottom-up concept-centric approach, we identify six relevant coordination mechanisms for S&OP: the S&OP process, S&OP organization, S&OP tools and data, performance management, strategic alignment, and S&OP culture and leadership. Synthesizing the two perspectives, we emphasize the tactical role of S&OP as a means of linking company strategy and operational planning, as well as the importance of creating a specific leadership style and culture in the organization. The major avenues for further research are identified: S&OP being a complex phenomenon, research would benefit from empirical studies, particularly from in-depth case studies with multiple perspectives, in order to provide a deeper understanding and guidelines for companies to manage the implementation challenges. Furthermore, S&OP can serve as a powerful tool for reaching business targets, a view that is mostly absent from the current literature and thus deserves more attention from the academic community.