Supply Management Examination Paper

THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG M. SC. (ENG. ) EXAMINATIONS SUPPLY MANAGEMENT (1ELM6046) December 20, 2011 6:30 p. m. – 8:30 p. m. Answer THREE questions ONLY. Question ONE is Compulsory. Total Marks: 100 Use of Electronic Calculators: â€Å"Only approved calculators as announced by the Examinations Secretary can be used in this examination. It is candidates' responsibility to ensure that their calculator operates satisfactorily, and candidates must record the name and type of the calculator used on the front page of the examination script. Question 1 (Compulsory) (40 marks) Lily Pun, supply manager for King's Way College (KWC), issued an Invitation to Bid covering furnishing and installing metal lockers in the men's gym. Three responsive bids were received from reputable suppliers, ranging from $82,000 to $95,000. There was no public bid opening. Lily was concerned that Lock Manufacturing Company, which had done most of the other locker jobs for KWC, failed to bid. Expecting tha t Lock would have been the low bidder, Lily decided to find out what happened.Upon talking to Lock's sales manager, she learned that the bid request had been assigned to a new employee who had misplaced it and missed the closing date. Since Lily felt that Lock would have provided the winning bid—and certainly, any savings would help KWC's current tight budget situation—she decided to declare all the bid prices unreasonable, cancel all bids, and re-bid the job. On the second round of bidding, a low bid of $77,000 was submitted by Lock. Lily was delighted that she had made the right decision, and proceeded to make the award to Lock. (a)Did Lily do the right thing? Was it ethical? Should she be commended for saving (10 marks) $5,000? (b) Would it have made any difference if the original bid opening had been public? (10 marks) (c) How might this look to the original bidders? Give examples to support your answer. (10 marks) (d) Discuss any similar cases happened that you kn ow and share your opinion. (10 marks) (1ELM6046 – page 1 of 2) Question 2 Burt, Dobler and Starling (2004) in their book â€Å"World Class Supply Management† suggested twelve principles leading to World Class Supply Management.In the role of a professional buyer of an organization, select FIVE principles which you think are most important and (30 marks) suggest how you may turn them into practice. Explain why. Question 3 (a) Discuss: sourcing, in-sourcing, outsourcing and strategic outsourcing. Give examples for each of them to support your answers. (15 marks) (b) What are the differences between local sourcing and global sourcing? What are the issues and challenges associated with China sourcing? (15 marks) Question 4 When should supplier appraisal be necessary? Explain why.And, propose and elaborate a (30 marks) checklist for supplier visit. Question 5 It is frequently said that supply base optimisation seems to be an effective strategy in sourcing. (10 marks) (a) Di scuss the term â€Å"supply base optimisation†. (b) Analyse the advantages and disadvantages of an optimised supply base. How might a (10 marks) purchaser overcome the disadvantages? (c) Comment on the criticality of having a smaller supply base before committing to a (10 marks) supplier management and development program. – End of Paper (1ELM6046 – page 2 of 2)