L3M5 Socially Responsible Procurement Questions and Answers

Explanation

Sea transport, although slow, because of the volumes and tonnage which can be included in a single shipment, comes out best in terms of pollution. Although, that is not to say sea transport is not pol-luting - quite the opposite. The second least polluting is rail - also primarily because of the load size.

Explanation

Externalities.

This appears to be an increasingly-important topic of news stories. For example, in the UK much has recently been made of allegations of water companies dumping untreated sewage into rivers. The reality of the extent to which this is happening is unclear to me.

See if you can think of other examples in your own area.

(L3M6)

Explanation

The Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply published this guide.

Explanation

ISO 14001 is the ISO standard for Environmental Management Systems.

Explanation

'Take, make and dispose' is the correct answer.

An uncomfortable yet accurate description of human behaviour in the developed world over the last century or more.

Explanation

Solar, tidal and wind are all renewables.

Nuclear although 'clean' is not renewable, and has significant end-of-life disposal challenges.

Explanation

The correct answer is 'The Earth'.

In other words, we should stop plundering the Earth's resources carelessly.

Explanation

95% plus level of certainty.

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The answer is 'CIPS'.

For a fee, CIPS will measure the extent of your organisation's commitment to the 3 P's.

Explanation

Peace, justice and strong institutions.

Industry, innovation and infrastructure.

The UN SDGs are well worth a read, and thinking about. They summarise much of the content of these courses.

Explanation

Local wage rates would not be relevant, but all of the other factors shown would be.

In fact, these factors would be fundamental to this type of decision-making.

(L3M6)

Explanation

The combination of environmental and social concerns, with business, immediately implies CSR.

Explanation

Pre-contracting a supplier, the term 'supplier appraisal' is favoured by CIPS; whereas once the sup-plier is in use, 'vendor rating' is the preferred term for monitoring actual performance.

Explanation

Global Reporting Initiative.

The GRI standards have been widely adopted for reporting on sustainability issues by many com-panies worldwide.

Explanation

The correct answer is that all of these shown create hazards, which along with exposure to chemi-cals, gases and some forms of dust, must be guarded against. In most countries there is legislation which should be observed to promote safe working.

Warehouses and factories are highly hazardous places, and managers should ensure that stringent safety procedures are followed to the letter, in some cases, upon pain of dismissal for employees. For examples, vehicles and humans should be physically separated wherever possible, and items at height should be handled with utmost care.

(Yesterday I witnessed a crane manoeuvre (outside the UK) where an operative was standing di-rectly under a very heavy item, which had it fallen, would have instantly killed the operative. Such practices need to be trained out of people, irrespective of the cost.)

(L3M6)

Explanation

2050 is the correct answer.

There is an issue with the dates for many organisational targets. They are far too pessimistic to be genuinely effective in dealing with sustainability issues. Even if you didn't know DHL's target date, you may know that many large companies and governments don't quite feel the urgency of the 'emergency'. There are many opinion-leaders who feel that a sense of urgency needs to be injected.

Explanation

The most appropriate answer is:

A socially responsible buying approach would require not only minimum wage, but in some circum-stances greater than minimum wage as this may not be sufficient to support an employee to live de-cently.

This question is inspired by a recent visit to a country where there is a statutory minimum wage, but it is so low that most people would be unable to provide shelter and food based on that income. The wage to which I refer is less than $1 per hour.

Explanation

People, planet, profit.

The notion here is that commerce is not just about profit, but about people and our effect on the planet as well. This is now a widely-accepted view. The 3 P's are a useful form of shorthand.

Explanation

Soft fruit: peaches, raspberries, strawberries, for example.

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N2O - nitrous oxide - a greenhouse gas.

Explanation

Polluter pays

Explanation

'Value for money is obtained through buying on the basis of lowest price' would not be a necessary part of the concept of ethical sourcing. The other answers shown are all factors included within eth-ical sourcing.

Explanation

Gravity.

(L3M6)

Explanation

Corporate Social Responsibility.

A very common concept nowadays.

The idea that organisations should accept some responsibility for what goes on around them, and not just focus on increasing profits.