Free Leadership and Transformation in Supply Management Exam LEAD Exam Practice Test

A vice president of sourcing is concerned that sourcing managers are not consistently including diverse suppliers in competitive bidding events, even though the organization has a formal supplier diversity program in place. Which of the following is the BEST action for the VP to take to increase inclusion of diverse suppliers?

• Work with a third-party provider to access a network of qualified diverse suppliers
• Establish a goal to source a certain percentage of spend from diverse suppliers
• Re-communicate the objectives of the supplier diversity program to the sourcing managers
• Encourage inclusion of a minimum of one diverse supplier in every sourcing event

Members of a cross-functional team have each had a chance to present their ideas. Afterwards, the members discuss these ideas in detail, on occasion arguing and testing one another. After this process is complete, the team can move on to which phase of team formation?

• Forming
• Norming
• Storming
• Performing

A manufacturing company has been experiencing a number of human resource problems. Manyemployees feel they are underutilized given their skill sets. The firmis concerned that if it loses some key leaders, it will be at risk. The company is looking to attract and retain more employees that embody the company's values. Given all these factors, which of the following is the BEST course of action for the firm to take?

• Create a corporation-wide succession plan
• Establish a mentor program
• Employ an outside recruitment firm
• Conduct a gap analysis of all job functions

A supply department is transitioning from a traditional procurement structure to a more strategic sourcing model. This change is expected to provide new opportunities for skilled supply chain professionals. Which of the following would be the BEST approach in preparing for leadership in such an organization?

• Attaining Six Sigma and quality competencies as strategic value enhancers
• Transferring to another division to gain organization-wide perspective
• Gaining financial competency to better communicate with senior management
• Acquiring technological skills to streamline supply management operations

A manufacturing company wants to do a better job of tracking prices and evaluating trends. It wishes to employ an index within contracts to determine yearly increases or decreases. In this situation, thecompany would be BEST served by consulting which of the following?

• CAPS research
• Automotive News
• Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Chicago's Business Barometer

A highly-customized computer part needed to complete the assembly of a product would be classified as which of the following?

• Fixed cost
• Target cost
• Direct cost
• Variable cost

A category manager for an electronics firm is tasked with building a strategy for wiring harnesses for the coming year. Which of the following is the BEST course of action for the category manager to take?

• Engage relevant stakeholders in order to craft a plan that includes multiple viewpoints
• Engage senior management to determine what they want from the category in question
• Ask suppliers to provide sealed bids to determine which one will be the most aggressive in reducing price
• Focus on suppliers with which the firm spends the most money

JKL, Inc. is considering a plan to divest one of its business units. As part of the due diligence process,JKL’s supply manager is asked to determine what will have the most immediate impact on supply management when the business unit is divested. Given this situation, which of the following should the supply manager review FIRST?

• Take-or-pay agreements
• Blanket purchase orders
• Contracts containing tiered discount schedules
• Strategic contracts with assignability provisions

A buyer for TUV, Inc. transfers to headquarters from one of the company's subsidiaries. The buyer creates performance concerns for the department by ignoring policies regarding attendance, failing to document transactions properly and lacking focus. The department manager learns that the buyer did not receive training following the transfer because TUV's policies and procedures at headquarters differ only slightly from those within the divisions. Given this situation, which of the following is the BEST course of action for the department manager to take?

• Admonish the employee for not meeting expectations
• Request that human resources (HR) conduct a gap analysis
• Provide the buyer with additional training
• Revise performance evaluation criteria for transferred employees

A company establishes a standard cost of $2.50 for aluminum widgets used in various production processes. The firm experiences a purchase price variance of §30,000 on 200,000 units purchased during the quarter. What was the average price paid for each widget?

• $2.62
• $2.35
• §1.90
• $3.10