(6) CIPS PD1 Examination for May14

8/10/2019 (6) CIPS PD1 Examination for May14

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PD1/May 2014

Professional diploma in procurement and supply

Leadership in procurement and supply

Date Friday 23 May 2014

Time Start 09.30 End 12.30 Duraon 3 hours

QUESTION PAPER

INSTRUCTIONS FOR CANDIDATES

This examinaon has FOURcompulsory quesons worth 25 marks each.

1. Do not open this queson paper unl instructed by the invigilator.

2. All answers must be wrien in the answer booklet provided.

3. All rough work and notes should be wrien in the answer booklet.

QP04


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3/8Page 3 of 8 PD1 Exam Quesons May 2014

You are advised to allow 20 minutes to read carefully and analyse the informaon in the case study

before aempng to answer the quesons.

CASE STUDY

Rula is the Chief Procurement Ocer (CPO) at Connecons, a railway infrastructure management company.

During her me in the organisaon, Rula has led a procurement transformaon programme and an

overhaul of its purchase-to-pay process. She also led a project to centralise all Connecons transaconal

procurement work in a service centre, and implemented a learning and development programme. She also

introduced a new online internal customer request process, supported by sophiscated query management

soware, so that for the rst me clear service level agreements on the sourcing and contract management

processes could be oered.

There were many stakeholders involved in these changes, which created conict, and Rula had to deploy a

range of inuencing taccs, using dierent approaches depending on the nature of the stakeholder. The

operaons director, who holds a tremendous amount of power in an engineering- and construcon-led

organisaon such as Connecons, was a parcular concern. There were also many cases of conict within

the cross-funconal teams. Rula realised that she could not achieve all of these changes on her own,therefore she recruited an experienced change manager from outside the organisaon to help her.

Rula has earned the respect of the whole organisaon. The nance director says that: Rula is a passionate

and compelling advocate of the benets of strategic procurement. She collaborates eecvely, challenges

herself, takes accountability, and has successfully delivered transformaon that realises millions of pounds

of hard nancial savings. The operaons director adds that: Rula has turned some of the ercest crics

of procurement into its strongest advocates. She has challenged established ways of working, overhauled

sourcing and contract management, and her success is evidenced by engaged sta, improved performance,

and happier internal customers. The Chief Execuve is equally complimentary about her strengths, passion

and achievements.

Rula adopts an open door policy with her sta, which enables everyone in procurement to have direct

contact with her. This might be through formal meengs or informal lunches. She places a high value on

teamwork and open communicaon. Everyone has the opportunity to contribute ideas to the decision-

making process. When selecng tasks for delegaon she selects smaller projects and uses experienced

sta. Rula delegates responsibility to the individuals and encourages them to make many decisions on their

own.

There are occasions when Rula has to adopt a dierent leadership approach however. A recent supply

failure of crical goods led to her taking a hands-on role unl the crisis was over. She also had to insist

that procurement managers adopt the organisaons equality and diversity programme when they

seemed reluctant to do so. She had to make it clear that the training programme was compulsory and

not an opon. Similarly, the Chief Execuve recently set up an environmental commiee with the aim of

inuencing the behaviour of the whole organisaon by reducing waste and improving its carbon footprint.

As this went to the core of Connecons business objecves, Rula did not delegate responsibility and was

asserve in driving the agenda forward in the procurement department.

PLEASE TURN OVER



QUESTIONS

These questions relate to the case study and should be answered in the context of the information

provided. You are advised to spend 40 minutes on each question.

Q1 Analyse, using a range of theories, the different leadership approaches adopted by Rula. (25 marks)

Q2 Within the case study Rula works with a range of internal and external stakeholders.

Suggest and apply a methodology for analysing and categorising the stakeholders identified in

the case. (25 marks)

Q3 Using appropriate theory, explain a range of proactive influencing tactics and how they might be

used by Rula to influence the range of stakeholders in the case study. (25 marks)

Q4 Explain a range of recognised approaches that Rula might apply to resolve the conflicts created by

her changes in the organisation. (25 marks)

END OF QUESTION PAPER



BLANK PAGE


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PLEASE RETURN THIS FORM TO:

CIPS ASSESSMENT MANAGEMENT CENTRE

ADAMSWAY, MANSFIELD

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE NG18 9DRTEL: +44(0) 845 880 1188

FAX: +44(0) 845 880 1187

www.cips.org

(6) CIPS PD1 Examination for May14

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