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Assignment

Negotiations and Contracts

This assignment will assess your knowledge based on the following Outcome:

Discuss the mechanisms of creating and establishing formal relationships with vendors.

Instructions

A successful negotiation is a complicated process, which requires research about the other side, preparation on how key elements that may be negotiated rank in significance for the company and what sorts of risks exist. In this assignment, you will analyze these elements.

• Items negotiated in a sourcing negotiation are not limited to just price. Describe three non-price issues that may be negotiated. Explain how each may impact the discussion on price and how each may impact the buyer and the seller.

• What are some key pieces of information that a buyer should gather about a potential supplier before entering negotiations? List at least three, including where this information may be found.

• Describe the risks to suppliers associated with each of the different types of contracts (fixed- price, incentive, and cost-based contracts)?

Critical Elements:

• Write your original response in Standard English, paying special attention to grammar, style, and mechanics.

• Respond to the questions in a thorough manner, following the prescribed format and citing your sources using current APA guidelines. Include a title page and reference page in your paper. Review the APA formats found in the Writing Resources accessed through the Academic Success Center within the Academic Tools area of the course.

• Ensure that your viewpoint and purpose are clearly stated. • Demonstrate logical and appropriate transitions from one idea to another.

DB 9

Evaluating Transportation Providers

For a mail order company, such as Amazon® or Dell©, transportation performance is critical. These companies employ other companies to perform this service for them. There are various ways to characterize the performance element.

For this Discussion, select a company that relies on excellent transportation performance. Review the criteria listed in exhibit 17.4 and select the one that you think is the most critical for that company. Then suggest another criterion that is not in the list that you think this company can use to evaluate the performance of their transportation function.

READING

PURCHASING AND E-SERVICES Everyone cannot do everything. It is very important for companies to understand where to focus and which services they need to outsource. You will cover best practices used in the procurement of transportation and logistics services, indirect spending, and other professional services. In addition, supply managers must expand their use of information technology to increase both individual and functional performance.

JOURNAL Based on your readings in this unit, answer the following questions, with explanations (do not simply name concepts and move on):

1) Among the concepts you have learned, which do you think is most useful to you or your organization?

2) Which concept(s) caused the most confusion in this unit?

3) Which concept(s) did you wish went into further detail, either because you are interested or because it’s too complex for the coverage it received?

DB 10

The 2-Minute Pitch

Suppose you were at a lunch meeting with your organization’s executives, or you were interviewing with a large organization for a management position. How would you convince them, in about 200 words or so, that you would be able to make a positive contribution in their supply management efforts based on what you have learned regarding purchasing and vendor management? On which two topics would you concentrate your short speech and why?

READING

MEASURING SUPPLY PERFORMANCE

You will focus on purchasing and supply chain performance evaluation systems, which are systematic approaches to monitor and evaluate purchasing performance. Although this sounds easy, it is often difficult to develop measures that direct behavior or activity exactly as intended. It is important that you avoid measures that could be harmful, depending on performance objectives, rather than supporting long-term performance.

JOURNAL

Based on your readings in this unit, answer the following questions, with explanations (do not simply name concepts and move on):

1) Among the concepts you have learned, which do you think is most useful to you or your organization?

2) Which concept(s) caused the most confusion in this unit?

3) Which concept(s) did you wish went into further detail, either because you are interested or because it’s too complex for the coverage it received?

ASSIGNMENT

Evaluating Performance

In this assignment, you will develop a plan to evaluate the performance of your organization and its performance with respect to its supply chain.

This assignment will assess your knowledge based on the following Outcome:

: Evaluate supply chain connectivity and effectiveness.

Instructions

Suppose you were asked to develop a plan to evaluate the performance of your organization and its performance with respect to its supply chain. (If your organization is not suitable, you may use another well-known company for your analysis). You will follow the process shown in Exhibit 19.4.

1. Evaluate the 5th tier in Exhibit 19.1. Which of the ten categories are most critical for your organization? Select two and explain why these should receive the most attention when evaluating performance. How do these tie into the organization’s strategic goals?

2. For each category you selected, recommend three metrics that you think would best measure performance in that category with respect to your organization. Explain each one in detail.

3. For each of these metrics (six total), what would be the performance objectives? How would you arrive at these figures? Describe the methodology you would use to calculate the targets and explain where the information would come from.

Critical Elements:

• Write your original response in Standard English, paying special attention to grammar, style, and mechanics.

• Respond to the questions in a thorough manner, following the prescribed format and citing your sources using current APA guidelines. Include a title page and reference page in your paper. Review the APA formats found in the Writing Resources accessed through the Academic Success Center within the Academic Tools area of the course.

• Ensure that your viewpoint and purpose are clearly stated. • Demonstrate logical and appropriate transitions from one idea to another.