Early Supplier Involvement can be described as a collaborative relationship between a buyer and a supplier to develop a new project. Handfield’s model describes four different levels of supplier involvement ranging from none to ‘black box’ (which is when the design is primarily driven by the supplier. What other level features on this model?

What are service credits?

Which of the following are advantages for the buyer in a partnership arrangement?

Price stability

Cost of relationship management

Supplier complacency

Cost savings achieved

Hungry Sandwich Co. produces over 5,000 freshly made sandwiches on-site every day. The main ingredient that Hungry Sandwich Co. buys is bread. It is the item they spend the most money on, and they have a long-term partnership agreement with a local bakery to manufacture and supply fresh bread every morning. Using a supplier positioning matrix, which is the appropriate category for bread for Hungry Sandwich Co.?

The Managing Director of XYZ Ltd has asked the Procurement Manager to support the engineering team and ensure a new product design is suitable for volume manufacturing. The Procurement Manager arranged a series of meetings with suppliers and its internal development team, the XYZ manufacturing department, and research and development department to get their feedback on the proposed design. What are the activities undertaken by XYZ Ltd called?

Early supplier involvement

Benchmarking

Cross-organisational involvement

Subcontracting

If a stakeholder has high power in a business but isn’t interested in your procurement activity, what should be your management style for dealing with this stakeholder?

When developing a supplier partnership, a buyer can take either a strategic or reactive approach. What would be a reason for a reactive approach?

Which of the following relationship types would you consider using for a Main Contractor on a building construction project, who will be responsible for co-ordinating the activities of other suppliers?

A supermarket is struggling with sales and has done an analysis on its competitors. It has discovered that it has two major competitors; one provides groceries at a much cheaper price and another that provides only organic products. The supermarket has decided that it wants to continue providing groceries to a wide target audience but that it will compete by offering superior customer service. What is the supermarket's source of competitive advantage?

Beyond Say is a manufacturer of diamond rings. It sources a lot of different parts to create its products including diamonds, gold, cardboard boxes for the rings to go in, as well as stationary and copier paper for the offices. Although it doesn't buy many diamonds, these represent a large part of Beyond Say's spend. Which category of spend would diamonds represent?

Rachel and Jacky work in the procurement department of Foddy Foods Ltd. They have been told by their CEO to build better relationships with strategic suppliers as this will create value for money for the company. In what ways can value for money be achieved by building strong relationships with suppliers? Select TWO.

Lee is a procurement manager at Real Pirates Ltd and he has a contract with Peg Leg Industries for the supply of fake, wooden legs for his team of Pirates. Real Pirates Ltd have been working with Peg Leg Industries for almost 10 years but recently Lee has discovered he will need to terminate the contract due to ‘Contract Frustration’. What could be the reason for this?

Which of the following would be benefits of partnership sourcing? Select TWO that apply.

Harry runs a hotel and has recently decided to contract an external supplier to provide the cleaning of the rooms. What is a disadvantage of doing this?

A garden centre has recently purchased some lollypop sticks to use as plant labels. The staff have written the name of the plant on the lollypop stick and put it next to the plant. This helps them identify which plant is which. However, after a couple of weeks, the lollypop sticks have become mouldy and the writing has faded. Staff are now struggling to identity their plants. The Manager of the garden centre is considering returning the lollypop sticks and asking for a full refund as they were not fit for purpose. Can the Manager do this?

Which of the following is a valid reason for ending a relationship with a supplier?

Kirsty is designing a specification for a new contract and wants to include some qualitive KPIs for the new supplier, as well as quantitative. Which of the following could she include? Select TWO.

A procurement category manager has been asked to advise the project team on the appropriate selection and awarding process for a complex procurement project in a multi-geographical organisation. It is likely the specification will be updated during the process, and several phases of negotiation will be required throughout. This will include final negotiations with the winning bidder. The team are therefore aware it will be a time-consuming project. Which process should be advised?

In the relationship spectrum, which of the following describes the most competitive relationship?

A partnership approach to a buyer-supplier relationship, as opposed to a traditional adversarial approach, would have which of the following characteristics?

Kinky Boots Ltd provides high heeled shoes in large sizes. Their target market are Drag Queens. There are a couple of rival shoe manufacturers in this market and Kinky Boots Ltd offer the cheapest high heels. What strategy is Kinky Boots Ltd employing in terms of competitive advantage?

In public sector procurement, tenders are advertised with CPV codes, which provide a reference to describe the product or service being tendered. What does CPV stand for?

Which of the following are examples of internal stakeholders of a manufacturing repair organisation? Select TWO that apply.

Sugar Doughnut Ltd has a jam supplier that they have used successfully for over ten years. They have made investments in the supplier’s factory to support them with capital equipment upgrades in return for cost reduction on jam. The two companies also collaborate on bids for large supermarkets when looking to supply doughnuts and work together on quality improvements. No contracts exist between the two companies. Could this relationship be said to be a partnership relationship?

In Public Sector procurement a PIN is sent out to inform suppliers of an upcoming tender opportunity. What does PIN stand for?

Construct Builders Ltd works very closely with a supplier called Solid Timber Co on house-building projects. They have a very close working relationship, sharing investment, setting pricing levels, and looking at sharing resources. The two companies also work closely together to set strategic directionsand explore new markets for long-term growth. There is no formal contract in place between the two companies. Using the relationship spectrum, what relationship does this scenario best describe?

Which circumstances make a buyer more attractive to the supplier?

A company is relocating its manufacturing base to a low-cost country and is considering a partnership with a local supplier for its key components rather than a tender process. Although there are some concerns regarding confidentiality and component competitiveness, the procurement director is recommending a partnership strategy to the board of directors. The recommendation is based on a range of advantages including, but not limited to, gaining local market knowledge. Is this a valid recommendation?

A buying organisation has decided to terminate its partnership with its supplier (FGH). For some time, the supplier has not been proactive in advising when deliveries will be late, which has frustrated the buying organisation. The supply market has historically been limited to a small number of suppliers, but new suppliers have decided that the market is attractive. The buying organisation is now considering setting up a partnership with a new supplier (XYZ) who has recently entered the market. What are the reasons for the buying organisation deciding to terminate its relationship with supplier FGH? Select TWO that apply.

Which of the following behaviours are you likely to see in a Partnership relationship?

Which of the following documents can be used at the selection stage of a tender process to ensure that short listed bidders meet the requirements of the buying organisation? Select TWO.

Which of the following are relationship types on the relationship spectrum?

Adversarial, transactional and outsourcing

Single sourced, strategic alliance and co-destiny

Arm's length, strategic alliance and dual sourced

Closer tactical, leverage and joint ventures

Which of the following are examples of ways in which businesses can add value? Select THREE that apply.

The ABC Analysis, also known as the Pareto Analysis, is a technique that can be used by procurement to which purpose?

A company purchases products from a supplier that falls into the 'strategic' segment of the supply positioning grid. They are drawing up a formal partnership agreement with the supplier. The supplier views the company as core to their business. What would be an important clause to include in the agreement to help make sure the partnership worked in a fully collaborative way?

Mandy is looking to source windows and doors for a new build apartment block. She has done some initial research and has discovered that there are many suppliers in the marketplace that can supply the items she needs. As it is a high-value project she is thinking of running a formal tender. What should be Mandy’s first step?

A buyer is intending to purchase a new product for their business; however, the market has a large number of suppliers. What would be the most beneficial way for them to initially narrow down the supply options?

The purpose of supplier pre-qualification is to identify suppliers that have the financial stability to assist in continuous supply. Is this statement TRUE?

Mendelow’s Stakeholder Matrix categorises stakeholders into four groups and provides insight into how these stakeholders should be managed. What is a limitation to using this Matrix to categorise stakeholders?

Which of the following describes differentiation as a method of competitive advantage?

A company that sets out to be the lowest-cost producer in the market

A company that will seek to be unique in a way that is valued by buyers

A company producing a standard or budget cost product

A company producing a product that attracts a premium price charge

Value for money is often described at the ‘three Es’; economy, efficiency and effectiveness. However some people consider a 4th E which refers to the public sector. What is the fourth E?

Which of the following statements are true regarding the characteristics of a restricted market? Select TWO that apply.

The marketplace is heavily regulated by Governments and legislation

Existing suppliers within the marketplace offer excellent services

There are many suppliers already in operation within the marketplace

High financial investment is required to enter the marketplace

Which of the following statements is an advantage to the buyer of early supplier involvement? Select the THREE that apply.

A manufacturing company which produces showers struggles to get hold of a certain part called a mixer valve. It is impossible to make the showers without the mixer-valve and there is only one supplier in the market that produces them. The good news is they aren't very expensive to buy. What type of supplier is the supplier of mixer valves?

The Queen Victoria is a traditional British pub which serves a range of alcoholic beverages. It has a partnership relationship with a local brewery which supplies several types of beer and cider. Logistics is a key concern for the Queen Victoria as deliveries must be made when there is room in the cellar to store the barrels of beer and cider. In what ways could the logistics risk be reduced?

Which of the following factors are considered when using the Kraljic Model to determine the kind of supply relationships and sourcing approaches for a category of items? Select TWO that apply.

Innovation is a key consideration when entering into a partnership. Is this statement true?

Victoria runs a hotel and has recently had several security issues such as attempted robberies. She has decided that she needs to hire a security firm to ensure these issues don’t continue. She has done some research and has found there are several local security firms who may be able to provide services to her hotel. However, she hasn’t decided exactly what she would require the security firm to do. What should be Victoria’s next steps?

A competitor develops an alternative type of vacuum cleaner to one produced by your organization. Is this an example of the threat of substitutes, one of the five forces of competition described by competitive forces theory?

A common reason attributed to many partnerships failing is ...

A partnership relationship in portfolio analysis is appropriate for which category of procurement?

When is partnering a particularly suitable approach to sourcing?

Danny is procuring a new IT software, which he doesn’t know much about. He has done a bit of research on the internet but is still unsure how much he can expect to pay. What should be Danny’s next step?

Which of the following are features of a partnership sourcing relationship compared with a traditional adversarial relationship? Select TWO that apply.

Which of the following would you use to qualify new suppliers? Select THREE.

Agile Cars Ltd is creating a ‘lean’ business model which involves receiving deliveries of components only when they are required. Which of the following ‘wastes’ is being removed from the business?

A buyer has a requirement to purchase 1,000 widgets for a manufacturing company. The widgets are critical for the next stage of the manufacturing process. What would be the key selection criterion for this buyer?

Which of the following documents would you expect a supplier to submit as part of a Request for Proposal? Select THREE

A category buyer, managing an outsourcing project, is aware of the commercially sensitive nature of the project and wishes to adopt an accommodating approach to managing conflict amongst key stakeholders. Is this the correct approach?

A company is about to invite tenders for a contract to clean external windows at several premises, all at least three storeys high. It is going to do this in two stages. For the first stage, it will issue a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) and, from the replies, select at least five potential suppliers to invite to tender. Which of the following is a selection criterion rather than an award criterion?

Which of the following is not a stage in the relationship life-cycle?

Which of the following relationship types require the most investment from the buyer?

Togo Bongos is a manufacturer of percussion instruments, in particular of bongo drums. It requires electricity to run its factories and this is a major factor of cost impact. There are lots of suppliers of electricity in the market and there is no switching costs if Togo Bongos wanted to switch suppliers. What type of supplier is Togo Bongo's electricity supplier?

A large construction group has a critical contract with a brick supplier. This represents high-value spend and the contract has a five-year duration. What type of commercial relationship would be the most appropriate?

According to Michael Porter, what is procurement?

Barry is a procurement manager at Sea Biscuits, a company which manufactures biscuits in the shape of dolphins and starfish. He works in an office that orders stationary regularly for its 100 person workforce. Stationary is a low-spend category item and Barry often orders stationary from different suppliers based on which supplier can provide the item the cheapest at that point in time. According to the Kraljic matrix, what type of suppliers provides stationary to Barry?

What is a disadvantage of including qualitative KPIs into a contract?

Which of the following is an important step in partnership sourcing?

A vehicle company has a partnering relationship with the manufacturer of its engines. The manufacturer is considered a key partner and is already involved in product development at the vehicle company in several strategic projects. The car company and engine manufacturer have integrated systems for a just-in-time (JIT) delivery. Is this an example of a significant integration partnership?

Which of the following is an advantage for the suppler of entering into a partnership with a buyer?

A competitive advantage can be gained by doing what?

The executive board of a manufacturing company is requesting support from the procurement team because the company needs to improve its levels of profitability. After segmenting the overall spend by value and risk of supply, the senior buyer for the company is planning to undertake a cost modeling activity. This will be undertaken with a cross-organizational team of internal stakeholders and key strategic suppliers. What would be the buyer's initial objective from the cost modeling activity?