CIPS L4M6 - Supplier Relationships

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

In strategic partnerships, including a continuous improvement clause is vital. This clause commits both parties to ongoing efforts to enhance processes, reduce costs, and improve quality over time. Such a commitment ensures that the partnership remains dynamic and responsive to changes, fostering long-term collaboration and mutual benefit.

Explanation

Supplier development is time-consuming and resource-intensive so should only be done with strategic suppliers. P.14

Contracts are normally terminated when their obligations have been fulfilled. Termination due to one late delivery or management changes would be unreasonable unless specified in the contract. Trading with other parties is common unless exclusivity clauses exist.

Explanation

Note the word ‘NOT’ in the question. In order for a competitive tender to be successful, there should be a clear specification in place (i.e. you need to know what you want, in order for suppliers to bid for it). Competitive tendering should also only be used for high value purchases; it’s time consuming to do, so you wouldn’t do it for low value items such as pens for the office. Therefore the correct answer to this question is 'items are of low value' and 'there isn’t a clear specification'. There’s a useful table on p.73 of when you would and wouldn’t use a competitive tender.

Explanation

The correct answer is ‘items of high value’. This links into the EU procurement principle of ‘Proportionality’ meaning that the procurement process must be proportionate to the value of the contract. Therefore, high value contracts must be procured via competition. What is considered ‘high value’ is decided by ‘thresholds’. These are amended every 2 years to account for inflation etc, but you don’t need to know what the thresholds are for this exam. P.75

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

Therelationship spectrumin procurement outlines the range of relationships between buyers and suppliers, from transactional to strategic partnerships. Key types include:

Transactional:Short-term, price-focused relationships with minimal collaboration.

Partnership:Long-term, collaborative relationships with shared goals and mutual benefits.

While "contractual" refers to the legal agreement aspect of relationships, it is not a specific type on the relationship spectrum. "Conspiratorial" is not a recognized relationship type in procurement contexts.

Explanation

The correct answer is ‘Yes- mediation involves a neutral third party and gets both parties to attempt to reach a compromise’. Be careful not to confuse mediation with arbitration – arbitration is when the buyer and supplier agree to accept a third party’s decision which will solve the disagreement issues. See p.112 for more information on solving disputes

Poor communication leads to misunderstandings, unmet expectations, and conflict, undermining partnerships. CIPS stresses the importance of transparent and regular communication to ensure alignment and success.

Explanation

The reason for outsourcing in this example is that the IT firm is an expert in their field. The requirement is complex and important and this is the reason why it is not being delivered in-house. The other answers given CAN be reasons for out-sourcing, but don't relate to this example. For a full list of reasons a company could use outsourcing see p. 4-5

Explanation

The correct answer is ‘They are hard to measure’ p.103