Question 1

For the past ten years, your company has been supplied with key components from three strategic suppliers. Their supply contracts will be expiring soon and your management is deliberating whether is it necessary to review the suppliers’ performance before issuing them another 5 years’ contract.

• You are the Procurement Manager of your company and have been tasked to submit a recommendation report on this issue to the management. Examine with an example, the purpose of reviewing supplier performance and elaborate on the agenda for the coming supplier’s meeting.
• Your supplier performance review fact-finding has shown that the existing supply chain network has not met the company’s growth over the last contract period.
  Debate among the team to appraise the different types of supply chains available. Distinguish the one which is the most suitable type of supply chain for your company to share outcomes between your company and suppliers from the co-developed market capabilities.

Question 2

This question is based on the contents of the case study, “Supplier Relationship Strategies in the Automotive Industry: An International Comparative Analysis” by Review of International Comparative Management.

• “The philosophy, strategy, and principles concerning the supplier relationship may be similar but the implementation is not always the same and really depends on the cultural specificities”. Compare and criticize the cultural differences in managing supplier relationships among the three mentioned automotive companies. Through the effective implementation of their supplier relationship program, indicate their respective achievements in the areas of market share, sales volume, manufacturing plants worldwide, and supplier’s survey.
• From the article, appraise the three automotive companies’ unique principles/goals in the supplier relationship management with their suppliers, and the effectiveness of their respective SRM programs.