CIPS L4M3 Chapter 2 (2.1) Flashcards
What are the Five Rights of Procurement?
- Quantity
- Quality
- Time
- Place
- Price
What is the scoping stage questions to ask about the specification?
- Who is responsible for producing the first draft?
- Is there an existing specification?
- If so, how well does it achieve what is needed?
- What are its identified shortcomings?
- If there is no existing specification, what are the broad objectives to be achieved?
- Is there an already defined minimum quality standard? What is it?
- Are there quality aspirations above that standard?
- Are there any technical constraints?
- Are there any environmental and/or social requirements?
- Who are the stakeholders that need to be consulted?
What are the Factors which influence the decision of who is responsible for producing the FIRST DRAFT of a specification?
- The structure of the organization
- The level of skill and knowledge within the relevant departments
- Whether this is a re-procurement or completely new
- Current workloads
- Timescales
Where is a good place to start when writing the first draft of a specification?
By assembling several comparable specifications that already exist from different sources
What is a Non-disclosure agreement?
A promise not to share information that could be useful to competitors and therefore harmful to the company that owns it.
What are the 10 key aspects of specification design?
- What are you trying to achieve?
- Any preference for conformance or performance specification
- Varying perspectives of different of different stakeholders
- Relevance and avoiding the inclusion of anything not actually needed
- The limits and constraints of the scope of the procurement
- Performance standards to be achieved
- Improvements sought
- Ensuring that there is no ambiguity
- Compliance with regulations and standards
- The expected operating environment
What are the Disadvantages of starting from a pre-written specification?
- Time wasted with irrelevant aspects
- Relevant aspects related to your company may be overlooked
- Combining aspects from different specs can create inconsistency
- The sample spec may be too high or too low quality
- References to legislation, international standards or codes of practice may be outdated
- Difference in lengths lead to unnecessary aspects
- Changing the spec to align to a different form may create inconsistencies
What are the Shortcuts that can be taken when drafting the specification?
- The use of brand names
- The use of recognized standards
- The use of samples
What should be clear before opening a dialogue with a supplier?
- What you wish to achieve
- What you are willing to divulge
- Any conflicts of interest, how you protect against them
- Any intellectual property issues, how you will protect it
- Whether the conversation is procurement-led or technical-led
What are the Advantages of general networking?
- Establishes a personal connection, useful as a starting point
- Can provide the basis for more-in-depth conversations
What are the Disadvantages of general networking?
- Unlikely to deliver specific information
- Risk of creating the perception of ‘too close’ a relationship which might raise suspicion of conflicts of interest
What are the Advantages of one-to-one meetings?
- Supplier-specific product development
- An insider’s view on risks to the supply chain
- Direct input into specification development
What are Disadvantages of one-to-one meetings?
- Supplier may favor own product
- Supplier may be silent on features where its behind its competitor
- Risk of only getting part of the story depending on who you are talking to.
- Tendency for outcomes not to be communicated across departments
What are the Advantages of meet-the-buyer events?
- Useful for ensuring suppliers understand the purchaser’s requirements
- If general event, could help to inform the supply market of the product development being sought after
What are the Disadvantages of meet-the-buyer events?
- Often held too late to influence spec development
What is the Advantage of formal negotiations or competitive dialogues on a contract-specific basis?
- Useful for refining a draft specification or schedule of requirements into a fully agreed and jointly developed contract spec
What are the Disadvantages of formal negotiations or competitive dialogues on a contract-specific basis?
- Time consuming and can be resource intensive
- Usually only permits a limited number of participants