Free CIPS L4M6 Practice Exam with Questions & Answers | Set: 8

An adversarial relationship is highly competitive, often win:lose, focusing on cost and negotiation power rather than collaboration. It contrasts with partnerships or strategic alliances.

Explanation

This question is very, very similar to a real exam QUESTION NO: and is a really mean one. The CIPS study guide describes stages of team development as forming, storming, norming and performing. Of those listed in the book only forming is listed above. What the textbook fails to tell you is that some people add on two additional stages to this model which are mourning and adjourning. I strongly recommend doing some further reading on this (it’s called the Tuckman Group Development Model) as it comes up a lot in the exam and the study guide doesn’t really go into enough detail.

Explanation

The correct answers are; The marketplace has become more volatile, Working together will create synergies and The need to improve performance to satisfy the end customer. Further Drivers ofPartnership Sourcing can be found on p.127. The other answers are incorrect as entering a partnership won’t protect intellectual property rights- in fact that’s one of the big risks of entering into a partnership. Partnerships won’t increase costs and lead-times, they’re likely to decrease them.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

In the Supplier Preferencing Model, customers are categorized based on their attractiveness and value to the supplier. A "Nuisance" customer is characterized by low profitability and high maintenance, often requiring disproportionate resources relative to the benefits they provide. Such customers may be deprioritized or even considered for discontinuation by the supplier.

The stages of team development as defined by Tuckman include forming, storming, norming, and performing. These stages reflect how teams evolve and mature through collaboration and problem-solving.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

Partnership sourcing is a strategic approach that emphasizes long-term collaboration between buyers and suppliers to achieve mutual benefits. While achieving a competitive acquisition cost is a component, it is not the sole objective. Partnership sourcing also focuses on:

Quality Improvement:Ensuring that products or services meet or exceed quality standards.

Innovation:Collaborating on new product development and process improvements.

Risk Management:Sharing information to anticipate and mitigate risks.

Supply Chain Efficiency:Streamlining processes to reduce lead times and inventory levels.

Therefore, while cost is important, partnership sourcing encompasses a broader range of objectives aimed at creating value for both parties.

Explanation

The correct answer is ‘A situation when the apparent output from collaboration is considerably less than expected’. This is verbatim the definition given in the study guide on p.166 A synergy is the concept that the value and performance of two companies combined will be greater than the sum of the separate individual parts.

Routine suppliers typically supply low-value, low-risk items. Maintaining partnerships in such cases is inefficient since alternative suppliers are readily available. Adopting a transactional or adversarial relationship would be more appropriate.