Explanation

Damian works in the Public Sector- it is against the law for the public sector to conduct 'post tender negotiation' after a contract has been awarded. This is because it's not transparent and equal opportunities, which are founding principles of public sector procurement.

Private sector can do whatever they want. They can do post-tender negotiations.

NOTE: this is currently the rules as per Public Contract Regulations 2015. These are being superseded in October by new legislation. The study guide doesn't mention this, but it's happening. At the time of writing (January 2023) we don't have the full details about what the new rules are but I doubt they will change on this particular topic. You can find out more about the changes to Public Sector Procurement here: Transforming Public Procurement - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk )

Explanation

Futures exchanges are used to trade commodities. It's when a buyer and supplier agree a price and deal for something in the future. For example a carrot farmer may agree to sell his carrots to Gary in 3 months time when they're finished growing. It's used when the product / commodity isn't ready yet.

It's also used for hedging and other complex financial stuff- but you don't need to know that yet. Commodities and Future contracts are a big part of L5M4 to warn you though. Futures Contract Definition: Types, Mechanics, and Uses in Trading (investopedia.com)

Explanation

Raja should send out a RFI- request for information; this will allow him to gain feedback from the marketplace prior to tender.

Speaking only with current suppliers will not provide all the information Raja requires.

He should not send out a request for quotation since he is still conducting market research

An open competition would be how he can procure, after he's completed his research

Explanation

gross profit = total revenue - cost of sales.

Learn all you can about financial ratios and financial statements for the exam- it's a very common topic

Explanation

ABC should do a 'root cause analysis' to find out where the issue has come about, and why. From there, once they know what the breach is and how serious it is, they can suggest corrective action.

They can't jump straight to terminating the contract or seeking damages as it's not the supplier itself but rather the subcontractor. Also that would be really hasty considering we don't know what the issue is and what the market conditions are like. That supplier may be the only one who can provide the product. We also don't know if the supplier knows about the issue themselves.

Explanation

The correct answers are; suspiciously low labour costs, workers living on site and poor quality products (as this signals that the workforce may be unskilled).

A low score on the CPI is a good thing (high scores are more likely to signify slavery concerns) and just because someone speaks English as a second language doesn't mean you automatically need to be suspicious. That would be prejudice.

Explanation

The correct answer is 'yes- because a low credit rating would indicate the supplier is financially un-stable'.

The two options beginning with no should automatically be discounted. The other option is incor-rect because credit ratings are private and would therefore not affect reputation.

Explanation

The buyer should seek a 'collaborative' relationship. Transactional and arms-length relationships are more suited to tactical sourcing. Partnerships are reserved for joint-ventures.

Explanation

security, consultancy and cleaning are services which are often tendered as they tend to be high value and complex opportunities.

Office supplies and raw materials have less variables so you could use a RFQ for these instead.

A hint for this is also the word services. Security, consultancy and cleaning are services. Raw Materials and Office Supplies are goods.

Explanation

Greg needs to use a gearing ratio. Gearing is a measure of how the business is being funded and is based on the ratio of debt to equity Gearing comes up a lot in the exam. Also make sure you know what Return on Investment, Acid Test and EBITDA are.

Return on Investment (ROI): How to Calculate It and What It Means (investopedia.com)

EBITDA: Definition, Calculation Formulas, History, and Criticisms (investopedia.com)

Acid-Test Ratio: Definition, Formula, and Example (investopedia.com)

Explanation

New organisations or those with no loans/ credit cards may have low credit scores. This is simply because they do not have enough financial history to make their scores good. That means banks au-tomatically class them as higher risk, because they simply don't know that they're trustworthy yet.

Explanation

Primary data includes trade fairs and exhibits, and phone calls to current suppliers. The others are examples of secondary data.

Remember primary= you do it yourself, Secondary = someone else did it.

Explanation

Phishing is a type of fraud where IT users are sent a link (usually by email) which exposes them to activities of expert cybercriminals.

Explanation

"yes- ethics and sustainability form part of 'value for money' " is the correct answer.

There are several factors that represent value for money and these are listed on p.3. These include; price, delivery, quality, ethics, sustainability and availability.

Explanation

A Bill of Exchange is a payment instruction - it says who will pay whom and when.

Bill of Exchange Definition: Examples and How It Works (investopedia.com)

Explanation

96 is the correct answer- weighted point systems should add up to 100 (as in 100%)

Explanation

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 is about product safety and making sure products sold on the market are fit for purpose. It gives buyers rights and protections. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 - Citizens Advice

There's a long list of legislation on p.105. I wouldn't worry about memorizing them all but just have an idea of what legislation relates to what area. E.g. GDPR is about Data Protection and the Com-petitions Act is about Marketplace competition. Most of them are quite obvious from the name.

Explanation

The correct answer is the CIPS Code of Conduct. This is a voluntary document about doing 'good procurement' i.e. treating suppliers with respect.

EU Procurement Directive is legislation, so isn't voluntary

ISO9001 is about quality management

ILO is an organisation rather than a document

Explanation

This is a facilitation payment. It's when a sum of money is given for 'helping to facilitate' a contract. E.g. a procurement manager may accept a facilitation payment from a supplier for selecting him to be a new supplier for a big contract.

In the UK this is definitely considered a bribe. It's also against the CIPS Code of Conflict

Explanation

The correct answer is 'yes- the public sector should advertise as a call for competition'. They do this in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). Public Sector has to be transparent about everything and treat all suppliers equally. So they can't just approach the ones they like.

In the study guide it says OIEU and this is a typo. It's OJEU.

What is The OJEU in 2 minutes or less (trackerintelligence.com)

Explanation

Robert should look at the supplier's ESG policy. This stands for Environmental Social Governance. So covers both his requirements for community (social) and environmental factors.

ISO 9001 is about Quality Management and ISO27000 about Information Security so these are in-correct answers. An Anti-Slavery Policy would not discuss the environment.

Explanation

the correct answer is 'Yes- a low gearing ratio means the company's finances are made up of equity rather than debt'.

Remember low gearing = good (based on equity), high gearing = bad (based on debt). Anything over 50% is considered high.

The two no answers are therefore incorrect and you can discount these straight away. The other yes answer is one of those answers which COULD be true, but isn't always true, and we'd need more information to know for sure. When you get options like this there will be one that is always right and one which is sometimes right - so always pick the always right one.

Dealing with supply chain disruptions is complex, and depending what the disruption is, how big it is, what the industry is etc determines whether a supplier can handle it or not. Because there's more factors to consider than just gearing, this isn't the right answer.

Explanation

This is an Invitation to Tender.

The only other real document listed in Request for Quotation. This is incorrect because the document asks questions relating to how they will deliver the service. This means price isn't the only factor, which is the case for a RfQ.

Request for Tender and Invitation to Quote are not real things.

Explanation

Ex-Works has the lowest risk to the supplier- in Exworks the buyer collects the items directly from the supplier - so they have all the issues and risks of transporting it back home.

There are many question on Incoterms CIPS can ask. But as there's such a huge bank of questions it's really hit or miss if you'll get one of those question. Two students sitting the exam at the same time in the same study centre can get different question sets. One person can get 3 Incoterm questions and the other gets 0.

I would learn the major ones- the ones at the ends of the table in particular because these are the ones question are likely to be about. Ex works / Free carrier and Delivered at Place Unloaded/ De-livered Duty Paid in particular.

I like this graph as I'm a visual person. I think it makes it easier to understand than the study guide:

Shipping Incoterms: the Complete Guide - Guided Imports

Explanation

A Category spend is high value and strategic suppliers. C category is low value, high volume of spend aka tail spend. The bits in the middle are B category.

For example when you have a baby you have to buy lots of stuff for it. Your A spend is the big, important and expensive purchases like the pram, cot, carseat. You spend a lot of time in this category because they're important purchases you want to get right. The Tail Spend / C are all the little bits like nappies, baby shampoo, sippy cups. The B category are the bits in between - the purchases are kinda important but aren't as strategic or important as A category. Toys may fall into this category.

Explanation

a factory ordering a new machine is the correct answer.

Strategic sourcing is for high value, high risk items. The other options given are tactical sourcing as they are low value (eggs, paper and plastic cups).

See p.3 for the differences between tactical and strategic sourcing

Explanation

Reasons to outsource include; 'overheads can be kept as effective as possible' and 'the reduction in the need to continually invest in new machinery'.

When you outsource, you transfer the costs of overheads to the supplier and it is their responsibility to buy new machinery as and when is required. For example if you outsource cleaning, the cleaning company is responsible for replacing the hoovers and floor cleaner

The other two options would be reasons to keep something 'in-house'.

Explanation

Gearing measures how much of an organisation's long-term funding is made up of long term debt and loans. Therefore the correct answers are 'shareholder equity' and 'long term debt'.

There are many question about financial ratios that can come up on the exam. If you're unsure on them I suggest doing further reading outside of the study guide as this will help. I like this youtube video (I'm not associated with the makers of this video but think they're really good at explaining things to beginners) Gearing Ratio explained (youtube.com)

Explanation

The correct answers are 'it is easy to drive down costs' (as you can pit the suppliers against each other) and 'low risk of failure to supply' (if one supplier can't provide what you need, the other supplier might be able to).

Economies of scale and supplier loyalty are advantages of single-sourcing.

There is a risk of failure to supply is a risk associated with single sourcing.

There's a useful table of advantages and disadvantages of single / multi sourcing on p.22. Types of sourcing is a key topic for the exam.

Explanation

The correct answer is 'the supplier is able to work at the same technical level as the buyer'. It's aboutbeing able to integrate the businesses together in terms of IT systems and such like.

Explanation

ILO = the International Labour Organisation.

ISO is the International Standardisation Organisation- they also come up in this exam.

Fair Trade is about paying suppliers properly.

WWF is the World Wildlife Foundation, or if you watched wrestling in the 90s, the original WWE. You do not need to know about wildlife or wrestling for this exam.

Explanation

"Meet current liabilities" is a posh way of saying "can you pay your bills". You're therefore looking for a liquidity ratio- a ratio that looks at assets vs liabilities (i.e. money in the bank vs money owed out). The Acid Test is a liquidity ratio. It's sometimes called the 'quick ratio'. Both terms come up on the exam. The other options are financial ratios but aren't for liquidity.