Chapter 1(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11) PDF

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Answers for teacher suggested a practical question in each chapter...

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Week 1 Discussion Questions Chapters 1 – 4 Kenneth Grant James Harris Jason Johnson Shawnte Miles

Chapter 1 1. Why are more top managers recognizing the importance of purchasing/supply management? Because it increases value ad savings, helps build relationships and drives innovation, improves quality and reputation, reduces time to market, generates economic impact, and contributes to competitive advantage. 2. What is the difference between purchasing and supply management? Purchasing is a functional group that performs many activities to ensure it delivers maximum value to the organization. Supply management is a strategic approach to planning for and acquiring the organizational current and future needs through effectively managing the supply base, utilizing a process orientation in conjunction with cross-functional teams to achieve the organizational mission. What is the difference between a supply chain orientation and supply chain management? Supply chain orientation is a higherlevel recognition of the strategic value of managing operational activities and flows within and across a supply chain. Supply chain management endorses a supply chain orientation and involves proactively managing the two-way movement and coordination of goods, services, information, and funds from raw material through end user. 3. What is the difference between a supply chain and a value chain? A supply chain is a set of three or more organizations linked directly by one or more of the upstream or downstream flows of products, services, finances, and information from a source to a customer. Value chain is composed of primary and support activities that can lead to competitive advantage when configured properly. 4. Do you think organizational purchasers should behave like entrepreneurs? No, organizational purchasers should not behave like entrepreneurs. Why or why not? The volume of an organization’s purchases would be on a much higher scale than that of an entrepreneur. 5. What are some of the factors that might influence how important purchasing is to the success of an organization? Suppliers can have a huge impact on the success of an organization. The supply base is an important part of the supply chain. Supplier capabilities can help differentiate a producer’s final good or service impacting its value to the final customer. 6. What knowledge and skills do you feel are required for a purchasing professional? A purchasing professional should have the following skills detail orientated, time management, judgment and decision making, persistence, flexibility and adaptability, brelationship building, communication and active listening, and negotiation.

7. Why does the collective behavior of supply managers have such an impact on economic trends? Supply managers impact the economic trends in that supply and purchasing management is all related to cost. When a manager can find a cheaper supplier for raw materials to make a product, this is a lower cost to the consumer and therefor consumers have more money to spend on other things in the economy. However, in the reverse nature if a manager finds that a product is not satisfactory in quality they may search for a higher quality raw material for the product. Generally, higher quality requires a higher price. These prices are all transferred to the consumers. 8. Why are supply base innovation and risk management two future areas that will consume more of the supply manager’s day? Selecting the optimal supplier, working with them and growing the supply base is important. For example, it is a way to properly find the original source, to trace every item in the supply chain. This allows for fast and safe recall or to prevent the finished product defect by quickly establishing the location and type of element that needs to be altered. Knowing your supply base as a supply chain manager, you can quickly identify the components and the sources your supply base uses, for the product you need. It is crucial in today’s world to stand by your product, and not knowing the risks and sources it is impossible to do so. Awareness of what goes in the product and every supply link, allows the supply manager to measure the risk and plan accordingly. 9. Discuss the four enablers of purchasing and supply chain excellence. 1) Human Resources: The key to the success of any company is the quality of its employees and gaining access to the right skills. 2) Organization Design: is the process of assessing and selecting the structure and formal system of communication, division of labor, coordination, control, authority, and responsibility required to achieve organizational goals and objectives, including supply chain objectives. 3) Information Technology: deal with software and platforms that support an end-toend supply chains 4) Measurement: objective measurement supports fact-based rather than subjective decision making; it is also an ideal way to communicate requirements to other supply chain members and to promote continuous improvement and change. 10. Would you agree that the importance of the individual supply chain management activities vary with the type of business (e.g. purchasing vs. inbound transportation) and provide examples? Yes, I feel that the importance of the individual supply chain management activities varies with the type of businesses. Supply chain management deals with the flow of goods and services which differ from one business to the others. For example, the cereal manufacture features an extensive distribution

network that involves getting the package cereal to the final customer. Logistics managers are responsible for the actual movement of materials between locations, which involves the selection and management of external carriers or the management of internal private fleets of carriers. 11. Briefly discuss each of the seven periods in the evolution of purchasing and supply

management. What do you forecast for the future? There are the seven periods of the growth of purchasing and supply management. First period was started from 1850s to 1900s, in which purchasing was the essential function of the company due to mass the movement of goods via the railroads. Second period was the purchasing procedure refining year from 1900 to 1939, where purchasing procedure and thoughts were refined. Engineering magazines in particular focused attention on the need for qualified purchasing personnel and the development of materials specifications. Third period from 1940 to 1946, introduced the emphasis on obtaining materials during the war influenced a growth in purchasing interest. Fourth period from 1947 to the mid-1960s, articles were introduced describing the practices of various companies using staff members to collect, analyze and present data for purchasing decisions. The emphasis during the later part of this period emphasized on satisfying consumer demand and the needs of a growing industrial market. Fifth period from the mid-1960s to late 1970s witnessed a dramatic growth of the materials management concept. The overall objective of materials management was to solve martials problems from a total system viewpoint rather than the viewpoint of individual functions or activities. Sixth period form late-1970s to 1999 is referred to as the global era. America had lost its quality edge and researchers and experts proposed methods such as “statistical process control” and “total quality management” as remedies. Lastly, the seventh period or the twenty first century. The purchasing and supply chain management today focuses on the importance of suppliers. Supplier relationships are shifting from an adversarial approach to a more cooperative approach with selected suppliers....