Question

Research and then briefly discuss the Delphi technique. Considering a current or past employer, how might the Delphi technique be applied to that employer? DO NOT LIST THE NAME OF THE EMPLOYER.

Answer 1

Ans

Delphi technique is a forecasting or decision making process which relies on a panel of experts. The experts are required to answer a set of questionnaire in the first round. After the first round the anonymous summary of the results of the round are shared with the experts by a facilitator. Experts revise their earlier estimate (or decision) based on the replies of other members of the panel. Thus a consensus gradually emerges about the outcome after a set of rounds.

A cosmetics company in India which imported cosmetics from Germany had poor forecasting accuracy. The accuracy of the demand forecast could be increased by getting the forecast figures from the sales, marketing and demand planning team spread across different geographies and sharing the same anonymously with the team to get revised figures. After a set of rounds this would lead to more realistic forecast with higher accuracy.