Examine the requirements for initiating and preparing the introduction of a category management process

Prepare a business report

Whilst the task asks you to prepare a business report, it is important to bear in mind that this is an academic assignment and not a business report. As such, make sure that you write your assignment in the 3^rd Person. Also, if your organisation does have a standard report template, do not use it as it is not appropriate for this academic assignment.

Refer to the Candidate Assignment Guidance document for details on how you should structure your assignment.

Also, remember that you are being asked to evaluate category and contract management in YOUR organisation, so it is really important that you always relate the content back to your organisation.

Evaluating category and contract management in your organisation.

Command Words:

Evaluate - Calculate or judge the value of something; include your personal opinion in your evaluation together with appropriate reasons for your opinion.

Consider including some definitions of category management and of contract management in the early part of your assignment. You could refer to tools such as the CIPS Category Management Cycle and the CIPS Contract Management Cycle.

Examine the requirements for initiating and preparing the introduction of a category management process

• This element is taken from Module 4, LO3.2; “Examine the requirements for initiating and preparing the introduction of a category management process”
• Consider the categories of spend in your organisation and apply some of the portfolio tools to map the categories of expenditure.
• You could also use the check lists from the CIPS Category Management Cycle for steps 1 and 2

Critically compare strategic and conventional sourcing processes and their role in category management

• This element is taken from Module 4, LO1.1; “Critically compare strategic and conventional sourcing processes and their role in category management”
• Consider what activities make up conventional sourcing and which elements are more strategic.
• The command verb is to “critically compare”, so consider the circumstances in which each sourcing approach is most appropriate or is inappropriate. How does this take place in your organisation? Are there any improvements/changes that could form part of your recommendations?

Compare and contrast the tools & techniques that can be applied to map categories of direct &

indirect expenditure

• This element is taken from Module 4, LO2.2; “Compare and contrast the tools & techniques that can be applied to map categories of direct & indirect expenditure”
• A brief explanation of the difference between direct and indirect categories of expenditure is appropriate, along with some examples from your own organisation.
• There are many ‘tools and techniques’ such as portfolio analysis, market growth models, supply chain mapping, STEEPLED, SWOT and many more. You cannot cover every tool in your assignment, so choose the tools and techniques that you think are most relevant to your organisation. Remember to “compare and contrast” the tools, don’t just describe what they are.

Based on your previous answers assess innovative measures to improve the supply chain (when thinking about categories and category management)

• This element is taken from Module 5, LO3.4; “Assess innovative measures to improve the supply chain”
• Whilst there are many innovative measures (or activities) for contract management and category management, the specific areas of the syllabus under LO3.4 are:
  • Dealing with complexity and volatility
  • Dynamic supply networks
  • Disruptive influences on supply chains
  • Implementation of automation
• The instruction is to base this part on your previous answers, so remember to link your chosen innovative measures to the first part of your assignment.

Differentiate between contract administration & contract management (in the context of category management)

• This element is taken from Module 5, LO2.2; “Differentiate between contract administration & contract management”
• There are many activities for both contract administration and contract management that you could choose to discuss, remembering to show how they are ‘different’ (command verb is ‘differentiate’.

Based on your previous answers assess risks & implementation of risk management techniques in contracts (in the context of category management)

• This element is taken from Module 5, LO1.3; “Assess risk management strategies in supply chains & implementation of risk management techniques in contracts”
• It is appropriate to mention some specific contract risks for the contracts in your organisation. You can then assess various techniques for managing those risks. For any areas of improvement, these would be suitable for your recommendations section.
• The instruction is to base this part on your previous answers, so remember to link your chosen innovative measures to the first part of your assignment.

Your report must include recommendations for improvement.

You MUST include recommendations in your assignment.

Think about the gaps/areas for improvement that you have identified in the sections above, and how you could use these areas for improvement to develop your assignment’s recommendations.