LEAD

LEAD practice questions, page 3 of 7, with answer review and explanations.

Question 11

CDE, Inc. is known for its short-term, opportunistic supplier relationships, with heavy emphasis on price. Suppliers are frequently dropped at the first signs of difficulty. CDE authorizes a new director of supply management to transform this image and craft a vision radically different from the existing perception. The director is concerned that the stakeholders might not accept this new vision. In this situation, the director’s GREATEST challenge will be to

  1. develop and implement a stakeholder engagement program
  2. rewrite supply management’s internal policies to focus on strategic sourcing and category management
  3. create a consistent message from supply management to the stakeholders
  4. build trust and credibility with the stakeholders

Question 12

A marketing director asks the firm’s supply manager to make a presentation on negotiation techniques at a sales conference. The marketing director is especially interested in hearing real world examples based on the supply manager’s experiences, to give sales representatives insights into how they can effectively deal with their own customers. The supply manager is concerned that sharing such details could violate ethics policies and even have legal ramifications. Given this situation, how should the supply manager respond to the marketing director’s request?

  1. Make the presentation but without giving any examples
  2. Have someone from outside the organization make the presentation
  3. Decline to participate in the conference
  4. Discuss the topic, but in general rather than specific terms

Question 13

When establishing data retention guidelines, the BEST way to classify documents is to

  1. work within business guidelines to differentiate data in accordance with their value and sensitivity
  2. categorize those which are to be segmented for public viewing or for internal use
  3. designate internal documents for government and legal review
  4. identify confidential, secret, and proprietary documents along with public or internal documents

Question 14

An organization’s senior management directs supply management to set more aggressive targets for cost savings. The supply manager believes that greater commodity expertise is needed in the contracting function and requests additional staff to monitor contracts with strategic suppliers. However, upper management is unwilling to hire more staff. Given this situation, which of the following is the BEST approach for the supply manager to take with senior management?

  1. Prepare a detailed cost analysis to determine commodity priorities
  2. Demonstrate how indirect costs are traced back to the costing of products in order to justify adding new personnel
  3. Request that human resources conduct a review of job descriptions of supply management personnel
  4. Discuss the benefits of hiring consultants and outsourcing indirect commodity functions

Question 15

Which of the following is the MOST important benefit of succession planning?

  1. Development of a strong talent pool for the future
  2. Ability to fill new positions quickly
  3. Increased morale
  4. Development of a group of individuals possessing core skills and values