CIPS L4M6 - Supplier Relationships

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

Partnership sourcing is most appropriate for products that are critical to the buyer's business, involve high spend, and are technically complex or require innovation. The chocolate brownie cake is the company's most popular product, indicating high sales volume and strategic importance. Establishing a partnership with suppliers for this product can lead to benefits such as improved quality, innovation, and supply chain efficiency.

Value-added benefits are additional services offered by suppliers that enhance the buyer’s operations without significant additional cost. These typically include:

Free training (A) – improves buyer staff skills.

Customer service hotlines (C) – improves responsiveness and support.

Expert consulting services (D) – provides specialist knowledge.

Options B, E, and F are operational necessities, not “value-added extras.”

Explanation

The correct answer is ‘Yes- joint innovation projects are often a strong motivation for entering into a partnership’. The other options are simply not true statements. A lot of the questions on the ‘Partnerships’ chapters of the book are common-sense questions like this. It involves reading the QUESTION NO: and using logic, rather that relying on your knowledge of procurement. If you found this QUESTION NO: easy – that’s a good sign for the exam.

Drivers for partnership include a high spend with the supplier, criticality of the product, and technical complexity. These factors encourage collaboration for cost efficiency, quality improvement, and risk management. Partnerships are less likely when there are many suppliers or the product is a commodity, as competition and standardization reduce the need for close collaboration.

Explanation

The correct answer is Measurable, achievable and relevant. This is from SMART KPIs on p. 151. Smart stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound. In the exam they come up in different orders so be careful.

Explanation

The correct answers are; tradeshows, internal stakeholders’ knowledge and e-procurement platforms. Intranet is incorrect as this is an internal system so you wouldn’t find information on external suppliers on here the careful not to confuse intranet with internet). OJEU is also incorrect; this is the platform on which tender opportunities in the public sector are published- its not a list of suppliers.

Partnerships are characterized by joint performance measurement (e.g., shared KPIs) and transparent information sharing to build trust and alignment. Win:lose negotiations and rigid end periods are more associated with adversarial or transactional relationships.

Explanation

A PIN is a ‘prior information notice’ – it is sent out before the ITT to let suppliers know that an opportunity is coming up and they should look out for it. See p 72 “supplier identification- public sector” for more details.

Arranging a meeting to clarify roles and setting performance targets provides clear expectations and encourages accountability. This aligns with CIPS guidelines on managing conflicts through constructive engagement.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

The accommodating conflict management style is characterized by a low concern for self and a high concern for others. This approach involves yielding to others' needs and maintaining harmony, which can be appropriate in situations where preserving relationships is more important than achieving personal goals.

In the context of a commercially sensitive outsourcing project, adopting an accommodating approach may be suitable to ensure stakeholder cooperation and minimize conflict.