Free CIPS L4M4 Practice Exam with Questions & Answers | Set: 4

Incoterms are grouped as E (Ex Works), F (Free Carrier), C (Carriage Paid To), and D (Delivered Duty Paid), reflecting various stages of responsibility transfer between buyer and seller. Understanding Incoterms is critical for responsible sourcing, as it clarifies logistics and cost responsibilities.

The most effective way to demonstrate zero tolerance is by embedding a comprehensive anti-bribery framework: clear policies, mandatory staff and supplier training, reporting channels, and monitoring. Simply requesting suppliers’ policies or avoiding known offenders is reactive, not proactive. Requiring suppliers to read policies without internal enforcement lacks substance. CIPS highlights that robust governance structures, supported by recognised frameworks such as the UK Bribery Act or FCPA, reinforce organisational credibility, protect reputation, and ensure compliance. This builds trust across supply chains and ensures ethical standards are maintained.

Single sourcing can be appropriate when set-up costs are high, making it impractical to involve multiple suppliers. This aligns with responsible sourcing principles, particularly for high-value or specialised items, where relationship management and collaboration with one supplier can enhance quality and efficiency.

Explanation

Weighted points systems can be time consuming to create. They're very transparent and allow for objective grading of supplier bids (so these answers are incorrect). They are not easy to manipulate and this is an advantage of using them.

The balance sheet provides a snapshot of a company's financial position at a specific point in time, detailing assets, liabilities, and equity. Short-term liabilities, such as unpaid taxes and bank overdrafts, are obligations the company must settle within a year and are critical indicators of the company's liquidity and financial health.

Exact Extract from Study Guide:

"The balance sheet includes details of current liabilities, such as unpaid taxes and bank overdrafts, which are essential for assessing a supplier's short-term financial obligations and overall stability."

Explanation

This is sole sourcing as there is only one supplier in the marketplace.

Be careful not to confuse single sourcing and sole sourcing. Single sourcing is when a buyer chooses to work with only one supplier (usually to achieve economies of scale), sole sourcing, on the other hand, is when the buyer doesn't have a choice- they work with one supplier because there is only one supplier in the market.

Types of sourcing is a key concept for this exam.

Explanation

energy, agriculture, metals, livestock are the four trading categories on the stock exchange. Some-times there's a 5th category added which is 'environmental credits'. This is a fairly new thing and you don't need to know anything about this for this exam.

Question no commodities will mainly centre around characteristics of commodities and factors that affect pricing.

Commodities are discussed much more in detail in L5M4. At level 4 you just need a basic overview.

Explanation

You should investigate automatically low tenders by clarifying the bid with the supplier. It could be they have misunderstood the requirement. Or the bid could be genuine and they can really provide best value for money. But without enquiring, you just don't know.

Incorporating recognized standards into procurement specifications provides clear guidelines for suppliers, reducing ambiguity and ensuring that products or services meet predefined quality and safety criteria. This is particularly important in sectors like healthcare, where equipment must adhere to strict standards to ensure patient safety and operational efficiency.

Explanation

Request for Quotations can include more details than just prices. They can include specs and technical drawings and samples. It's like saying 'we can give you this price with these conditions'.

The other no answer is wrong because RfQ don't always include samples. A sample wouldn't be possible for a quote for an IT consultancy piece of work.