TWO MAJOR THEORIES OF BUSINESS FORECASTING.

Ø         CROSS CUT ANALYSIS THEORY

Ø         SPECIFIC HISTORICAL ANALOGY



WHAT IS BUSINESS FORECASTING

     Business forecasting is the process of predicting the future development in business, based on analysis of trends in past and present data.

Business forecasting also involves making informed guesses about certain business metrics, regardless of whether they reflect the specifics of a business, such as sales growth, or predictions for the economy as a whole.

According to T.S. lovs  and R.A fox                                                                          

   They viewed business forecasting as the using of a firm past history  which have being recorded, in other  to estimate what will happen at the same future movement of time.

In business, there are six (6) business theories that are being used for forecasting.

1.      Cross cut analysis theory.

2.      Specific historical analogy.

3.      Theory of economic rhythm.

4.      Action and reaction approach.

5.      Sequence method or time lag method.

6.      Model building approach.

Today i will be explaining the two major theories in business forecasting, which is the; Cross cut analysis theory and Specific historical analogy.

                                             BRIEF EXPLANATION

...  CROSS CUT ANALYSIS THEORY

       This theory is based on the knowledge and interpretation of the current forces rather than projection of past trends.

         The theory assumes that the combined effect of various factors is not studied, but the effect  of each factor , that has a bearing on the forecast is studied independently. This theory is an opposite to the analysis of time series under the statistical methods.

 

Time series analysis : it is a statistical techniques that deals with time series data or trend analysis . Time series data means that data is in a series of a particular time periods or intervals.

The theory was first developed by Danish geological pioneer Nicholas Steno in Dissertationis Prodromas in (1669)

  KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Cross-sectional analysis focuses on many companies over a focused time period.
  • Cross-sectional analysis usually looks to find metrics outside the typical ratios to produce unique insights for that industry.
  • Although cross-sectional analysis is seen as the opposite of time series analysis, the two are used together in practice.                   

Examples of Cross-Sectional Analysis

Cross-sectional analysis is not used solely for analyzing a company; it can be used to analyze many different aspects of business. For example, a study released on July 18, 2016, by the Tinbergen Institute Amsterdam (TIA) measured the factor timing ability of hedge fund managers. Factor timing is the ability for hedge fund managers to time the market correctly when investing, and to take advantage of market movements such as recessions or expansions.

The study used cross-sectional analysis and found that factor timing skills are better among fund managers who use leverage to their advantage, and who manage funds that are newer, smaller and more agile, with higher incentive fees and a smaller restriction period. The analysis can help investors select the best hedge funds and hedge fund managers.

The Fama and French Three Factor Model credited with identifying the value and small cap premiums is the result of cross-sectional analysis. In this case, the financial economists Eugene Fama and Kenneth French conducted a cross-sectional regression analysis of the universe of common stocks in the CRSP database.   

                 Advantages of a cross cut analysis theory

1.      Not costly to perform and does not require a lot of time.

2.      The data can be used for various types of research.

        

                       Disadvantages of cross cut analysis theory

1.      Cannot be used to analyze the system of a business over a period of time.

2.      Does not help to determine the cause and effect of business fall.


......  SPECIFIC HISTORICAL ANALOGY

    This theory is based on the assumption that history repeats itself. It simply implies that whatever happened in the past under a set of circumstances is likely to happen in future under the same set of conditions.

     The theory is hazed on a more realistic assumption that deals with the selecting of some specific previous conditions which has many of the earmarks of the presents and concluding that what happened in the earlier situation of a business will happen in the present one also.

Specific Historical Analogy: This theory is based on a more realistic assumption, i.e., that all business cycles are not uniform in amplitude or duration and as such the use of history is made not by projecting any fancied economic rhythm into the future, What is done is that a time series relating to the data in question is thoroughly scrutinized and from it such period is selected in which conditions were similar to those prevailing at the time of making the forecasts. The course which events took in the past under similar circumstances is then studied which gives an idea of the likely course which the phenomenon in question would follow. For example, after World War II many persons forecast a depression because World War I had been followed by a depression.

                 Advantages of specific historical analogy

1. It helps to understand the past results of a business and would be helpful for future prediction.

2. It also helps to compare the present performance of the series with that of the past.


  Disadvantages of specific historical analogy

1. Requires a lot of time to bring up past results.

2. It’s never 100% accurate.

      

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