Free CIPS L4M6 Practice Exam with Questions & Answers | Set: 2

The Restricted and Two-stage procedures involve a PQQ stage to shortlist suppliers before issuing an ITT. This approach is common for contracts requiring stringent supplier qualifications.

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.

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.

Partnership sourcing is ideal for high-spend, high-risk situations where collaboration mitigates risks and maximizes value through innovation, efficiency, and trust.

For low-cost, high-volume business models, maintaining profitability depends on tightly controlled procurement costs. Price management is critical for ensuring competitive pricing while safeguarding slim margins. CIPS L4M6 highlights that effective cost management and price negotiation are essential in such scenarios.

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.

Explanation

Value for money is not a principle of EU procurement. The four key principles are; transparency, non-discrimination, proportionality and equality of treatment. The principles are basically about ensuring the procurement process is fair. See p.75

Explanation

In an oliogopy, supplier power is strong. Sometimes regulators are required in the market to prevent the group of suppliers conspiring together to artificially increase prices. See p.40 for more information on Oligopy markets.

Explanation

The correct answer is ‘An unexpected incident has occurred beyond anyone’s control’. A good example of this would be the Covid-19 pandemic- neither the buyer nor supplier could have predicted this, and if this means that the contract can’t be completed – then the contract can be terminated (in the UK at least). A way to avoid this would be to include a Force Majeur clause listing possible circumstances that could occur. When there’s a Force Majeur clause, these eventualities are now classed as foreseen rather than unforeseen. See p.108

When procuring critical components essential for the continuity of manufacturing processes, timely delivery becomes paramount. Delays can halt production lines, leading to significant financial losses.Therefore, the supplier's ability to meet delivery deadlines is the key selection criterion, as emphasized in the CIPS L4M6 study guide.