MNP3701 - Strategic Sourcing_july_2020_exam_with_notes.

MNP3701 - Strategic Sourcing_july_2020_exam_with_notes. 1 INTRODUCTION For your safety, in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, Unisa's management has decided that the May/June/July 2020 examination will be non-venue-based (i.e. online). This document contains all the information you need to complete this examination, which should be presented as a portfolio. Please carefully follow the instructions to complete and submit the portfolio. 2 DUE DATE FOR THIS PORTFOLIO This examination is to be written on 10 July 2020, starting at 11:30 and finishing at 14:30, South African Standard Time. Please note that it is 3-hour paper. Note to students studying overseas: You have to start at 11:30 (South African Standard Time) and complete at 14:30 (South African Standard Time). No late assessments will be accepted. 3 INSTRUCTIONS AND GUIDELINES This assessment consists of three sections.  Section A (5 marks) is compulsory and consists of five (5) multiple-choice questions, which count one (1) mark each. No negative marking will be applied.  Section B (20 marks) is compulsory and consists of essay-type and application questions, which are based on the case study titled “Department of Health – Supplier concern”.  Section C (40 marks) is also compulsory. For this section, you need to write a report based on the case study titled “Walmart competitive strategies”. Five (5) marks will be allocated for the presentation of your portfolio (cover page, table of contents, neatness, structure, paragraphs, headings, referencing and reference list). The overall mark allocation for the portfolio is therefore 70 marks. Follow the steps below to ensure that you fulfil all the requirements for this assessment: 1. Complete the cover page by filling in your details (see appendix A). (You can also find the cover page and declaration as an announcement, titled “Declaration of own work and cover page” (in MS Word format), under the Announcements tab, on myUnisa.) Your answers should come after the cover page and the declaration. Please note: Students who do not have a computer can create a cover page, as long as it includes the information as set out in appendix A S - The Marketplace to Buy and Sell your Study Material Downloaded by: nurse01 | Distribution of this document is illegal S - The Marketplace to Buy and Sell your Study Material CONFIDENTIAL Page 4 of 15 MNP3701 JULY 2020 2. Complete the declaration (see appendix B). You must then declare that this alternative examination/portfolio is your own work. You need to sign the declaration or type in your details. By signing the declaration, you agree with the fact that this portfolio is your own work and that no one has done it on your behalf, nor did you copy the answers from someone else’s work (i.e. commit plagiarism). In addition, you declare that you have not plagiarised any author’s work, but have referenced the relevant material correctly and responsibly, by acknowledging the sources in the text, as well as in a reference list. Refer to appendix C for more information on student plagiarism, policies and rules. Please note that no portfolio will be marked without the declaration form. 3. Answer the questions in sections A, B and C. 4. Convert the cover page, declaration, answers and the report to one combined PDF document before uploading them. 5. Submit your answers and the report via the Assessment info option on the myUnisa platform (where you usually upload your assignments). 4 TECHNICAL PRESENTATION  Your report/answers should not exceed nine (9) pages in total, which includes the cover and declaration pages. (Marks will be deducted if you exceed the specified number of pages.)  Use the Arial font, size 12, and 1.5 line spacing.  Run a spelling and grammar check for errors, before submitting your work.  Ensure an overall neat, academic presentation of the report by using headings and subheadings. 5 SECTION A: MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS All the questions in section A (Question 1) are compulsory. QUESTION 1 [5] Instructions for answering the multiple-choice questions in section A: S - The Marketplace to Buy and Sell your Study Material Downloaded by: nurse01 | Distribution of this document is illegal S - The Marketplace to Buy and Sell your Study Material CONFIDENTIAL Page 5 of 15 MNP3701 JULY 2020 In your portfolio, (a) write down the number of the question, (b) the option representing your answer, and (c) reasons for choosing that option. Example: Question 8.1 Under which market structure is there only one supplier that can provide a product or service? [a] oligopoly [b] perfect competition [c] monopoly [d] recession Question 8.1 Option [c] monopoly is correct, as this market structure is characterised by a single seller selling unique products in the market. In a monopoly market, the seller faces no competition, as they are the sole seller of goods, with no substitutes. They enjoy the power of setting the price of their goods. Please note – no marks will be given for the theory or explanation if it is copied and pasted out of the prescribed book. Your answers in section A should not exceed two pages in total. QUESTION 1.1 Observe the following depiction of the portfolio analysis and then answer the question that follows. Business risk 4. Routine 3. Bottleneck Category value Low Low High High 1. Leverage 2. Strategic S - The Marketplace to Buy and Sell your Study Material Downloaded by: nurse01 | Distribution of this document is illegal S - The Marketplace to Buy and Sell your Study Material CONFIDENTIAL Page 6 of 15 MNP3701 JULY 2020 In which quadrant does the supplier have more power than the buyer? [1] [a] leverage [b] strategic [c] bottleneck [d] routine QUESTION 1.2 Under which circumstance will organisations use the learning curve? [1] [a] When a supplier produces a new part for an aircraft [b] When downturns in market demand occur [c] For individual products and services that are set to enhance the sales of the overall product line QUESTION 1.3 Barriers to supplier development may originate in the interface between the buyer and supplier. Solutions have to be found. Organisations should create a supplier ombudsman if _______. [1] [a] confidentiality inhibits information sharing [b] the supplier does not trust the buying organisation [c] the supplier is reluctant to share information on costs or processes QUESTION 1.4 Under which conditions will an organisation go for bidding, rather than negotiations? [1] [a] When the buyer required early supplier involvement [b] When the specification or requirements are clear to the seller [c] When the buyer cannot determine the risks and costs S - The Marketplace to Buy and Sell your Study Material Downloaded by: nurse01 | Distribution of this document is illegal S - The Marketplace to Buy and Sell your Study Material CONFIDENTIAL Page 7 of 15 MNP3701 JULY 2020 QUESTION 1.5 Organisations will typically do a price analysis using market forces as strategic cost-management approach for _______. [1] [a] commodities [b] unique products [c] generic products ____________________________________________________________________________ END OF SECTION A 6 SECTION B: ESSAY-TYPE QUESTIONS All the questions in section B are compulsory. You need to read the case study to be able to answer the questions asked in section B of this assessment. Guidelines for answering the questions in section B: Pay attention to the marks allocated to a particular question, as this will guide you in terms of how much time you should spend on the question and the amount of detail that is required. Structure your answer by using headings and bullets, and by underlining (or highlighting) the important elements. In discussing the case-study questions, you can use the theory as a basis to explain the appropriate citation from the case. Please note: All the questions are based on the case study. You must justify your answers based on the case study or make relevant assumptions. You will be penalised if you copy and paste the theory out of your prescribed book – no marks will be given for the theory or explanation if it is copied and pasted out of the prescribed book. Your answers must include the question number, followed by your answer. Please note that there is no need for an introduction and conclusion in section B. Your answers to section B should not exceed two (2) pages in total. Read the following case study before answering the questions that follow. Department of Health – Supplier concern Bongani Dlamini and Precious Baloyi, procurement managers at the Department of Health in Pretoria, sat across from each other and reviewed a troubling performance report concerning a key supplier, Medi-Z Equipment. The report detailed the deteriorating performance of Medi-Z S - The Marketplace to Buy and Sell your Study Material Downloaded by: nurse01 | Distribution of this document is illegal S - The Marketplace to Buy and Sell your Study Material CONFIDENTIAL Page 8 of 15 MNP3701 JULY 2020 Equipment in the areas of material quality and on-time delivery. Read the following fictitious conversation: Precious: I don’t believe what I am seeing. We visited this supplier before awarding any contracts and the supplier was a star. They were awarded the contract based on National Treasury’s criteria, including a level 1 B-BBEE score. Bongani: I’m not pleased and feel we have been misled by the supplier. I was on the team that performed the audit and site visit. Medi-Z Equipment’s management indicated that they could meet all our requirements. Precious: Didn’t you look at their processes and quality system? Bongani: Sure, we did. Everything checked out fine. But as the report shows, every other shipment over the last six months had some quality problems and late deliveries, which caused delays. These delays are hurting our ability to get the products to the various hospitals, clinics and so on. We were impressed with this supplier, as they had innovative ideas, despite their size – they are a small-medium enterprise (SME). Precious: We need to address these problems as soon as possible. Bongani: I agree. I feel we need to replace them with another supplier, immediately! I was never a fan of these SME single-source contracts. They increase our vulnerability to supply risk. Precious: But, to find new suppliers … this will be time-consuming. Bongani: Sure. We’ll have to perform another supplier search and do team visits, which will be costly and could take months, and we will need to publish the tender. Precious: Has anyone visited the supplier or talked with them about these problems? Bongani: Not to my knowledge. I have to admit, nobody contacted or visited them before today. Jonathan went over to do a site visit and to talk to the operations manager. I spoke to Jonathan a few minutes ago, but he sounds unhappy. He mentioned that Medi-Z Equipment’s operations manager feels that part of the quality problems and late deliveries is due to our inadequate communication systems and we should accept responsibility. Precious: Why should we accept responsibility for their poor performance? I think they are just trying to shift the blame for their poor performance … trying to pass the buck. At this point, Jonathan de Beer entered the room. He had overheard the last part of the conversation. S - The Marketplace to Buy and Sell your Study Material Downloaded by: nurse01 | Distribution of this document is illegal S - The Marketplace to Buy and Sell your Study Material CONFIDENTIAL Page 9 of 15 MNP3701 JULY 2020 Bongani: Jonathan, glad you’re here. We were discussing how Medi-Z Equipment is trying to pass the buck for their poor performance. We need to replace them, with immediate effect, even though there are four years left on the contract! Jonathan: Yeah, well, I will think twice before ending the contract or replacing them. I think Medi-Z Equipment’s operation manager has a point and we should accept responsibility for some of the late deliveries and problems that are occurring. Can one of you remember what we told Medi-Z Equipment the monthly volume requirements would be? Bongani: I do. Our projected volumes per month were 3000 and the operations manager confirmed that this would be no problem, as their production system can handle 3500 units a month, as long as we give them a week lead time for orders. Jonathan: The problem is, our monthly units are now 4500 and we have also been changing the quantities, at the last minute, before delivery! Our purchasing department expects delivery within 24 hours of submitting a request from the logistics manager, to keep storage costs as low as possible.