Partnership sourcing

Question 1

What are the main objectives of partnership sourcing?

Answer 1

• To minimise the costs of doing business together
• To ensure ongoing supplies and quality
• To gain competitive advantage through, for example, innovation or erecting barriers to entry
• To delight the customer
• Better management information
• Reduced time to market for new products/services
• Reduced costs of bringing products to market
• Reduced inventory and waste

Question 2

What is partnership sourcing?

Answer 2

Partnership sourcing is based on customers and suppliers working together for mutual benefit. It has been adopted by many of the world’s leading companies, especially in the manufacturing sectors. Its supporters claim it can improve responsiveness, reduce costs and improve competitiveness.

Question 3

What are some examples of internal stakeholders?

Answer 3

Owners, directors, senior management, workforce, contractors, shareholders

Question 4

What are some examples of connected stakeholders?

Answer 4

Customers, suppliers, bankers, finance suppliers

Question 5

What are some examples of external stakeholders?

Answer 5

Local communities, trade associations, interest groups, Government, general public, competitors

Question 6

What tool can be used to find out how much attention to pay each stakeholder?

Answer 6

To gain a better perspective on the nature and influence of the many and various stakeholder groups, a useful tool is stakeholder mapping.
Stakeholders can be categorised on a classic 2-by-2 box diagram according to their level of interest in the organisation and their power to influence it (Mendelow, 1991). The four quadrants suggest a requirement
for different levels of support.

Question 7

A classic method for evaluation of an innovation is what…?

Answer 7

Suitability – deals with the overall rationale of the innovation. This is commonly completed by assessing the innovation’s strengths and weaknesses while assessing
what opportunities it could exploit and what other threats there may be to its success.
Feasibility – focuses on whether the organisation has the necessary resources required to develop and deploy the innovation and if it does not, can it somehow access or develop them.
Acceptability – is used to test out how well the innovation meets the short and long-term expectations of the organisation’s stakeholders which might include investors,
shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers and regulators

Question 8

What are some factors of risk with innovation?

Answer 8

• Management, strategic, operational and tactical
• Financial
• Reputational
• Competition

Question 9

What are some factors of reputational risk?

Answer 9

Financial performance
Quality
Innovation
Ethics & integrity
Crisis response
Safety
Security
Corporate social responsibility

Question 10

What 3 factors does the Shareholder salience model use to help managers identify and analyse project
stakeholder needs?

Answer 10

• Power – the ability a project stakeholder has to influence the outcome of an organisation, deliverables, or a project
• Legitimacy – the authority and level of involvement project stakeholders have
• Urgency – the time expected by project stakeholders for responses to their expectations