Purchasing & Supply Chain Management 7th Edition by Robert M. Monczka Solution manual
Purchasing & Supply Chain Management, 7e
Monczka, Handfield, Giunipero, & Patterson
END-OF-CHAPTER DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Chapter 1 – “Introduction to Purchasing and Supply Chain Management”
1. Why are more top managers recognizing the importance of purchasing/supply management?
2. What is the difference between purchasing and supply management? What is the difference between a supply chain orientation and supply chain management?
3. What is the difference between a supply chain and a value chain?
4. Do you think organizational purchasers should behave like entrepreneurs? Why or why not?
5. What are some of the factors that might influence how important purchasing is to the success of an organization?
6. With the expected increase in AI, robotics, and automation, what knowledge and skills do you feel are required for a purchasing professional?
7. Why does the collective behavior of supply managers have such an impact on economic trends?
8. What impacts will technology have on supply base innovation and risk management, and will technology allow supply managers to spend more time on these two areas?
Monczka, Handfield, Giunipero, & Patterson
END-OF-CHAPTER DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Chapter 1 – “Introduction to Purchasing and Supply Chain Management”
1. Why are more top managers recognizing the importance of purchasing/supply management?
- Presence of world-class competitors, domestically and internationally forcing organizations to improve their internal processes
- Unprecedented shifts toward outsourcing and offshoring vs. economics of re-shoring and nearshoring
2. What is the difference between purchasing and supply management? What is the difference between a supply chain orientation and supply chain management?
- Purchasing – a functional group as well as a functional activity
- Supply management – strategic approach to planning for and acquiring the organization’s current and future needs
- Supply chain orientation – a higher-level recognition of the strategic value of managing operational activities and flows within and across a supply chain
- Supply chain management – endorses a supply chain orientation and involves proactively managing the two-way movement and coordination of goods, services, information, and funds from raw material through end user
3. What is the difference between a supply chain and a value chain?
- Supply chain – set of three or more organizations linked directly by one of more of the upstream or downstream flows of products, services, finances, and information from a source to a customer; a subset of the value chain
- Value chain – composed of primary and support activities that can lead to competitive advantage when configured properly; the accumulation of these activities results in the total value provided by a firm
4. Do you think organizational purchasers should behave like entrepreneurs? Why or why not?
- Answers will vary by student
5. What are some of the factors that might influence how important purchasing is to the success of an organization?
- Increasing value and savings
- Building relationships and driving innovation
- Improved quality and reputation
- Reduced time to market
- Managing supplier risk
- Generating economic impact
- Contributing to competitive advantage
6. With the expected increase in AI, robotics, and automation, what knowledge and skills do you feel are required for a purchasing professional?
- Education
- Certifications
- Strategic thinking
- Leadership
- Managing cross-functional teams
- Ability to see the “big picture” and use a process approach
- “Soft” skills
- Data and analytics
- Total cost analysis
- Market analysis
- Fact-based decision making
7. Why does the collective behavior of supply managers have such an impact on economic trends?
- Power to move financial markets
- ISM Report on Business is a major financial indicator
8. What impacts will technology have on supply base innovation and risk management, and will technology allow supply managers to spend more time on these two areas?