Question

please don't copy from previous post and answer all

Chapter 4 - Discussion Question (DQ) # 2, 7, 11, 13, 21, 25, 30, 34

1. (DQ2) What is the difference between purchasing and strategic sourcing?
2. (DQ7) In what ways is corporate social responsibility different from business ethics?
3. (DQ11) What are the benefits of sustainable sourcing? Can firms actually make money from sustainable sourcing? Do you think it is a good practice? Why ?
4. (DQ13) How could you apply sustainability to a supply chain?
5. (DQ21) What is outsourcing? How is it different from purchasing? Would a firm ever want to outsource a core product or process? Why or why not?
6. (DQ25) Why is early supplier involvement a good way to integrate the supply chain?
7. (DQ30) What makes supplier alliances fail? How can firms reduce the failure rate?
8. (DQ34) If your firm had 500 suppliers and they each had 100 suppliers, how many second-tier suppliers would your firm have? What if your firm reduced its supply base to twenty?

Answer 1

(DQ2) difference between purchasing and strategic sourcing

(DQ7) In what ways is corporate social responsibility different from business ethics?

(DQ11) What are the benefits of sustainable sourcing? Can firms actually make money from sustainable sourcing? Do you think it is a good practice? Why ?

Sustainable Sourcing is the integration of social, ethical and environmental performance factors into the process of selecting suppliers. ... The ultimate goal of Sustainable Sourcing is to build strong, long-term relationships with suppliers.

1) Assuring sustainable performance

reliability is something that corporation have to spend years building and a single disruption in the supply chain can erase all that hard work in an instant. one of the major sustainable sourcing is the assurance of performance in the long run. this in turn serves to drive success by helping to leverage sourcing and procurement functions.

2)Notable cost Reduction

cost reduction using business intelligence , spend analysis data ,and another metrics including transportation ,storage and packaging scores.

3)Improved Risk management

By helping improve and build upon supplier relationships, sustainable sourcing can contribute towards reducing the liability for companies.

4)Creating Value

5)contractual compliance

Sustainable Sourcing is the integration of social, ethical and environmental performance factors into the process of selecting suppliers.

Sustainable sourcing is needed as supply chains continue to expand globally into developing countries seeking lower costs and greater production capacity they expose companies to an ever wider array of risks. These risks include not only include risk of supply disruption, cost volatility and compliance with local laws and regulations, but also in brand reputation: Companies must meet the growing expectations of stakeholders (including customers, shareholders, employees, NGOs, trade associations, labor unions, government observers, etc.) to take responsibility for their supplier’s environmental, social and ethical practices.Thus, companies increasingly making responsible sourcing an integral part of their procurement and supply chain management processes to understand and manage these risks in the supply chain.

The ultimate goal of Sustainable Sourcing is to build strong, long-term relationships with suppliers. Improving performance in environmental, social and ethical issues is becoming a major part of the overall process. Working toward this has become an extension of the company’s commitment to corporate responsibility and as such becomes a part of the overall business structure and model. Effective supply chain management can foster and build competitive advantage for companies especially in sectors where production is mainly outsourced such as food and clothing.

(DQ13) How could you apply sustainability to a supply chain?

1. Cultivate commitment. Quality, price and on-time delivery are typical topics for day-to-day conversations with suppliers, and sustainability may be a new topic for your procurement team to handle. As they initiate potentially challenging conversations with their suppliers about their sourcing practices, it will be helpful for them to have the confidence that responsible sourcing is a corporate priority.

2. Identify priorities. Your company may already have articulated sustainability priorities, but it's worthwhile to identify other high-profile social and environmental issues to monitor. Consult with internal teams like consumer affairs, compliance, marketing, and packaging about the issues that have come across their radar. External advisors like NGOs and sustainability consultants can also help you to understand environmental and social hotspots within your industry.

3. Get up to speed. Take a look at industry activities and certification schemes in your priority areas. Do mechanisms exist that could help you to verify the sustainability of your sources? What alternative sources may be available and at what costs?

4. Decide on your performance standards. You will need to identify the minimum standards that suppliers must meet. But it can also be of benefit to identify best practices within these areas. What can suppliers do to exceed your expectations?

5. Ensure internal alignment. Good supplier sustainability programs include repercussions for failure to meet standards, as well as incentives for good practices. No matter what type of incentive structure you set up, it is important to make sure all of your internal stakeholders are aligned. So, if suppliers are dealing with your marketing team on branding issues, and your procurement team on sourcing issues, both departments should be towing the same line on the importance of sustainability.

6. Start with a warm-up. Initiate the dialogue on corporate responsibility through an introductory conversation or short survey. Let your suppliers know which sustainability objectives you're working toward, and what information you're going need from them. This will be a lot easier than launching an extensive query or audit program out of the blue.

7. Be consistent. Once you start reaching out to suppliers, you may hear different reasons why they can't get you the information you need, or implement the policies you need them to. Some suppliers may themselves have complex networks of suppliers behind them, and be concerned about the burden of managing new processes. Others may be small businesses, and feel that the rules shouldn't apply to them. To truly stand behind your supply chain, however, you must be able to know that all suppliers are participating in meeting your performance standards.

8. Monitor progress. Promoting sustainability in your supply chain requires continued attention, and possibly some difficult business decisions for uncooperative suppliers. An audit schedule will help you to verify supplier compliance, and reward those suppliers who demonstrate improvement over time.

9. Set your ambitions for public transparency. Once you know and can stand behind the environmental and social practices of your suppliers, you are faced with the decision of how transparent to be. It's our feeling that transparency is the way of the future, and that a high degree of transparency is likely to bring positive reputational benefits and enhanced consumer confidence.

(DQ21) What is outsourcing? How is it different from purchasing? Would a firm ever want to outsource a core product or process? Why or why not?

Outsourcing occurs when a company purchases products or services from an outside supplier, rather than performing the same work within its own facilities, in order to cut costs. The decision to outsource is a major strategic one for most companies, since it involves weighing the potential cost savings against the consequences of a loss in control over the product or service. Some common examples of outsourcing include manufacturing of components, computer programming services, tax compliance and other accounting functions, training administration, customer service, transportation of products, benefits and compensation planning, payroll, and other human resource functions.

Outsourcing can be undertaken to varying degrees, ranging from total outsourcing to selective outsourcing. Total outsourcing may involve dismantling entire departments or divisions and transferring the employees, facilities, equipment, and complete responsibility for a product or function to an outside vendor. In contrast, selective outsourcing may target a single, time-consuming task within a department, such as preparing the payroll or manufacturing a minor component, that can be handled more efficiently by an outside specialist.

Vendors providing outsourcing services are generally grouped into two models: Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Application Service Provider (ASP). In the BPO model, major resources and assets are transferred from the company to the vendor.

The consideration between competitive advantage and internal capabilities seems to be an optimal lens through which to determine potential outsourcing activities. This approach avoids the pitfalls of core/non-core divide since all tasks are considered essential to the company. Nevertheless, caution should be employed (as a Russian saying goes: “Better is the enemy of Good”). When using this approach, companies should be aware of potential interconnectedness of some of the tasks. Outsourcing should also not be a substitute for internal capabilities – companies shouldn’t “forget” their own capabilities as a result of outsourcing. That can potentially lower value, rather than raise it. Decision makers need to stay in touch not only with the latest developments within their business, but they also need to understand the marketplace and how it affects their business processes – for example, latest technologies might not be readily accepted by the market.

(DQ25) Why is early supplier involvement a good way to integrate the supply chain?

The concept of ESI spans many industries and is often used to describe manufacturers working closely with material suppliers during the product development process. It involves creating cross-functional teams during the early stages of product design to create a better end product and a better executed project.

By harnessing the knowledge of everyone involved in the supply chain, designers have better knowledge of what’s possible come production time.

ESI encourages collaboration and forming long-term partnerships, fostering innovation because everyone is working towards a common goal. While ESI may apply across industries, we’ll look at how it applies to the construction industry and can benefit everyone.

Early Supplier Involvement (ESI) is a form of vertical collaboration between supply chain partners in which the manufacturer involves the supplier at an early stage of the product development process

(DQ30) What makes supplier alliances fail? How can firms reduce the failure rate?

When one organization depends solely on the partners of other alliances for skills, it is a drawback for the organization that depends on others. Conflicts between the partners to decide the objectives and plans can cause a change in the viability and relation of a particular alliance. When the strategic alliances lose control on basic strategy and they depend on the alliance for growth of its overall business, and fail to concentrate on alliance goals and their organization’s goals separately then conflicts arise and partners may become competitors. Communication, information sharing, win-win strategy discussion and compromises are all effective ways to reduce alliance failure rates.

(DQ34) If your firm had 500 suppliers and they each had 100 suppliers, how many second-tier suppliers would your firm have? What if your firm reduced its supply base to twenty?

Second tier suppliers = Total number of suppliers * Total suppliers in two tier = 500 * 100 = 50000 Suppliers If the firm...