1.The external environment can be volatile, uncertain, complex and/or ambiguous. As a result, organisations are under pressure to continuously adapt their products and services and their internal value chain activities to support their business strategies. (a) In the context of the above statements, identify and analyse four (4) most important objectives of procurement. Support your analysis with examples from one or more real-life organisations. (b) Appraise how three (3) key factors in PESTEL (political, economic, socio-cultural, technology, ecological and legal) related to recent events in the external environment have affected suppliers as well as the buying organisations and their global sourcing strategies. Your analysis should reflect your understanding of the purpose of the PESTEL framework and be supported by examples from one or more real-life organisations.

2.Buying organisations increasingly focus on their core competencies and outsource non-core products and services to external suppliers. As a result, suppliers can be a source of a sustainable competitive advantage. In such a context, supplier development efforts are viewed as critical to managing suppliers performance to meet the strategic goals and needs of the buying organization. (a) Analyse the top three (3) specific criteria which can be used to identify suppliers which have a high probability of success in strategic supplier development. Support your analysis with one or more real-life examples.

(b) Appraise whether the presence of a cross-functional team within the buying organisation and the supplier is a necessary ingredient for supplier development success. Support your analysis by providing real-life examples.