Assignment #2

OPER8340

Time Limit: 60 minutes

Name & initial: ID #Abhishek Saurav/8750177

Name & initial: ID #Tirth Raval/8722695
Name & initial: ID #Foram Patel/8744283
Name & initial: ID # Yash Gadhiya/8745883
Name & initial: ID #Shilpa Shukla/8749273

Assignment #2
(Drawn from Module 2; Units 1 - 5)
This assignment is marked out of 20 points and is worth 4% of your course grade.

1. For a large big box retailer, such as Home Depot or Walmart, describe four selection
criteria that the buyer will use to assess potential suppliers. (4 points)
• Reliability, e.g., history of delivery performance, warranty and replacement Policies.
• Quality of goods: e.g. consistency of specification, durability
• Capacity, e.g., consistency of supply quantities, order system and cycle times,
flexibility of supply, management style, labor supply, labor conditions and relations, use
of sub-contractors.
• Relationship building, e.g., supplier attitude, ease of communications and
understanding, ability to develop trust and collaborative relationship, willingness to
share technologies and information, cultural compatibility

2. A grocery chain produce purchaser finds out that some of the banana plantations
that supply his distributor use child labor. (4 points)

 What risk does this pose for the grocery chain? Answer:
The distributor by committing a crime of employing child labor is not honoring the
fair trade and due to which the business and the reputation of the grocery chain
can be in jeopardy and can also lead to consumer protest and boycott.
 What recommendation should the purchaser make to grocery chain management
to mitigate this risk? Answer:
To mitigate the risk the purchaser should advice the grocery chain management
to visit the work place of the supplier and ask them about their work culture as
part of due diligence. Secondly, Also requiring agreement to social responsibility
provisions in contracts such as code of conduct, no child labor etc

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Assignment #2

3. A U.K. company has a Romanian manufacturing contractor who makes a specially

designed angle grinder. The company finds out that versions of its product are being
sold at flea markets in several of Romania’s neighboring countries. (4 points)

a. What does this indicate?

Answer:

 This clearly indicates that the manufacturing contractor is breaking the

terms and conditions of the contract made with the primary company for a
probable better benefit.
 The intellectual and Trademarked property of the company is at stake and
could be exposed.
 At this point the contract manufacturer reliability becomes zero.
 The manufacturers’ legal record and reputation was not inspected
thoroughly.

b. What action should the company take?

Answer:

 A legal action can be taken against the contractor on the basis of laws and
regulations of the country where the contractor is set up.
 A criminal infringement case can also be filed basing the stolen intellectual
property of the primary company.

4. A pharmaceutical firm is considering outsourcing HR benefits services for its

employees. It is also considering outsourcing its customer service call centre
management. (4 points)

List two risks for each service being considered for outsourcing.

 HR benefits services outsourcing:

o Safety & Security: When it comes to payroll services or HR benefit outsourcing services, breaches
in security are a significant risk to the organization’s reputation and may have legal repercussions.
Offshore, outsourced services that involve confidential information, either personal or proprietary,
need to be protected. Organizations must ensure the selection criteria include an examination of
security practices.

o Intellectual property: In order to provide the contracted services effectively, the organisation must
provide propriety information as well and technology to the service provider which would make the
organisation vulnerable and the protection of intellectual property would have to be done therefore.

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 Customer service outsourcing:

o Ethics, culture and social risk: In case of customer service outsourcing, there is a high risk of
cultural differences which in-turn would complicate business communications causing service delays,
errors and inconsistencies and eventually would lead to a negative experience for the parties involved.
o Quality: For services, quality is a must and it cannot be ignored, while outsourcing customer service
the organisation should pay attention to the consistency and reliability and accuracy of the information
.

5. List four qualities that the buyer and the supplier must have in order to have a
successful supplier relationship. (4 points)

Answer:

 mindful of cultural differences will help to build a good supplier relationship

 Ensuring everyone in the business is on the same page
 setting clear expectations for reporting; this reflects expectations and a
supplier's current status.
 conducting regular meetings so that supplier so that they, knows what
expectation regarding the information is required.

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