Explanation

The Commonwealth of Australia.

Why is this relevant? The production of cotton consume vast quantities of water, and is traditionally a significant topic in the area of limits on free trade, as well as being steeped in ethical issues, both historically and currently.

Explanation

Packaging.

Your syllabus includes 'packing and packaging' under L3M6 LO 3.2.

Explanation

Sponsored by The United Nations.

The Brundtland Commission defined sustainable development as 'development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs'. (Source: Profex Publishing Ltd)

Explanation

The correct answer is that all of these shown create hazards, which along with exposure to chemi-cals, gases and some forms of dust, must be guarded against. In most countries there is legislation which should be observed to promote safe working.

Warehouses and factories are highly hazardous places, and managers should ensure that stringent safety procedures are followed to the letter, in some cases, upon pain of dismissal for employees. For examples, vehicles and humans should be physically separated wherever possible, and items at height should be handled with utmost care.

(Yesterday I witnessed a crane manoeuvre (outside the UK) where an operative was standing di-rectly under a very heavy item, which had it fallen, would have instantly killed the operative. Such practices need to be trained out of people, irrespective of the cost.)

(L3M6)

Explanation

CO2 - an example of a greenhouse gas.

This is very common knowledge.

Explanation

Disadvantaged / minority.

It is possible to deliver value for money in a socially responsible way - indeed some advocates sug-gest that business performance can be radically improved by implementing measures such as em-ploying disadvantaged people, as diversity, motivation, retention, etc factors come into play.

Explanation

GHG is an abbreviation for 'greenhouse gas'.

Greenhouse gases create a 'greenhouse effect' on the planet- ie warming it.

Other question on the subject of GHG appear in these tests.

Explanation

Corporate Social Responsibility.

A very common concept nowadays.

The idea that organisations should accept some responsibility for what goes on around them, and not just focus on increasing profits.

Explanation

Reverse logistics.

The 'returns' sector represents an industry in itself, and creates large volumes of traffic on the roads.

In a LinkedIn post some time ago, I suggested that 'last mile' distribution and returns could be un-dertaken more efficiently and in a more environmentally-friendly manner by a single state-run en-terprise, perhaps with red vehicles and red collection boxes. This was a 'witty' idea, as historically in the UK we had Post Office / Royal Mail doing exactly that, prior to privatisation of the market and the very significant growth of companies like DHL, TNT, etc - the 'success' of this competitive mar-ket has resulted in vast numbers of 'white vans' crowding the roads and pavements, resulting in noise, air pollution, and I'm sure an increased number of road accidents. A PhD awaits someone who wishes to monitor the change in injuries and deaths as delivery / reverse logisitcs vehicle num-ber have increased in the UK.

(L3M6)

Explanation

Recriminations continue to fly regarding the annual fires in California, which often result in destruc-tion of woodland, homes and often with loss of life. These seasonal fires have become significantly larger, although less numerous, in the past few decades, with dramatic and devastating effect.

Explanation

Backloading (ie return loads) and dynamic routing (computer-controlled variable route scheduling) can help increase truck utilisation figures.

The technology already exists to radically improve performance in this area. 'Uber'-type technology - something with which many people will be familiar - can aid both these concepts.

(L3M6)

Explanation

'Hydro' means 'water'.

As a child in Scotland, I remember visiting a hydro-electric power station, where a dam had been built across a river, with the dammed water used to generate electric power.

As a slightly older child, I used to routinely watch a BBC2 test television broadcast which was all about the building of the Kariba dam for a similar purpose, with huge environmental and social con-sequences. Many other such dams have been build since, including, for example, the Aswan dam. Often such projects attract criticism because of the effects on the environment as well as on people.

Explanation

Almost unbelievably, it is 20,000 (twenty thousand) litres.

Water is a scarce resource in many parts of the world, so sustainable thinking might ask: 'Is this the best use of resources?'. Are people in the developed world entitled to 'fast fashion' t-shirts?

Explanation

Pre-contracting a supplier, the term 'supplier appraisal' is favoured by CIPS; whereas once the sup-plier is in use, 'vendor rating' is the preferred term for monitoring actual performance.

Explanation

The order of responsibilities is as follows: economic (be profitable - keep the business going); legal (comply with the law); ethical (act in an ethical way); discretionary (be a good citizen - do things above and beyond eg for the local community, supporting small suppliers, overseas suppliers, etc).

Frankly, any organisation not being economic, legal and ethical needs to take a serious look at itself. Don't you think?

Explanation

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development published this much-needed docu-ment.

You probably know what ISO is and what it's role is in relation to procurement. (?) Same for CIPS.

ECB is a facetious answer: English Cricket Board.

Explanation

Height - a reference to the necessity to fully use the cube of a space.

(L3M6)

Explanation

Stock picking. (The largest supermarket chain in South Africa is called 'Pick n Pay')

Shrinkage means 'theft'; stock rotation means ensuring that stock is used in appropriate (date) order; manual handling is moving items without mechanical or technological aids.

(L3M6)

Explanation

Sea transport, although slow, because of the volumes and tonnage which can be included in a single shipment, comes out best in terms of pollution. Although, that is not to say sea transport is not pol-luting - quite the opposite. The second least polluting is rail - also primarily because of the load size.

Explanation

Transport.

Think about it: vehicle engine noise, sirens, rail, overhead aircraft. With engine noise often being a constant buzz.

Explanation

The triple bottom line is the correct answer.

Three bottom lines instead of the traditional single 'bottom line' - profit.

Explanation

Freight distribution gives us the clue that the correct answer is 'green logistics'.

Explanation

This is 'random location' storage, normally heavily monitored by a sophisticated computer system to help re-locate and potentially retrieve the items quickly.

The other answers offered are mostly 'random nonsense'.

(L3M6)

Explanation

95% plus level of certainty.