QUANTITATIVE DECISION MAKING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

QUANTITATIVE DECISION MAKING - Essay Example The catastrophe had halted its domestic production and suspended its manufacturing operation because two of its refinery and assembly plants near the epicenter of the earthquake had been burned (â€Å"Japan Earthquake†). Due to this event, Toyota had experienced a decline in their monthly sales and reported the biggest lost in the company’s history. Forecasting underlying demand for steel in Japan is made to be difficult, â€Å"since substantial part of Japanese domestic steel consumption depends on exports of products containing steel, such as the automobile and consumer durables sectors† (Old et al., 92). In addition, the event is difficult to forecast for it is critical for the company to evaluate the impact of the natural disaster to worldsteel demand. However, the worldsteel Economics Committee forecasted that â€Å"apparent steel use will increase by 5.9% to 1,359 mmt for 2011, following 13.2% growth in 2010. In 2012, it is forecast that world steel demand will grow further by 6.0% to reach a new record of 1,441 mmt† (â€Å"Worldsteel†). But the forecast is said to be biased for it is prepared before the occurrence of the natural disaster. It is illustrated in figure 1, the historical relationship of global GDP and steel industry from 2009 to 2010.