Read the case study below and answer ALL the questions that follow. How to Trace a Path to Resilient, Sustainable Supply Chains Long before Covid-19, supply chains had been under increasing pressure from customers demanding customized, personalized products and immediate, inexpensive delivery. But most supply chainsbuilt to deliver dependable supply at the lowest costweren't up to those tasks. Many were stretched tautly across the globe even as rising trade tensions, market shocks, disruptive technologies, and the increasingly severe effects of climate change exposed them as brittle and opaque. The pandemic, which ruptured so many of those chains, was merely a final blow. To executives, it already was clear that resiliencethat is, a supply chain's ability to heal, reroute or substitute inputshad become as important as reliability and efficiency. To make resilience a reality, however, executives need visibility into how materials and goods enter and move through the chain. They must be able to see what is happening everywhere in their supply chain and trace any item within itfrom field to factory to customer and beyond. Today, the technology exists to turn that need into an operational reality. Visibility and traceability also can help companies meet stakeholders' growing demands for sustainable supply chains by making sure that sourcing raw materials, converting them into products and delivering them to market does no environmental, social or economic damage. Both resilience and sustainability are priorities that executives can't ignore. The pandemic highlighted the obvious dangers to any business with a supply chain that cannot operate in a crisis. But resilience also comes with huge benefits for companies that are able to continue serving their customers and to meet their increasingly changeable demands. Similarly, companies that lack sustainability can find their products penalized by regulators and scorned by customers, while companies that can point to sustainable practices and products are rewarded. Balancing supply chain priorities Of course, reliability and efficiency remain important priorities. But our recent survey of supply chain executives, conducted in collaboration with the World Economic Forum, shows that a new balance of priorities is emerging across industries: Both resilience and sustainability grew in importance, with sustainability boasting the highest percentage growth across industries over the past three years. For years, supply chain executives tended to assume that resilience or sustainability require trade-offs on cost or dependability. And this is sometimes true. For example, a company that aims to increase resilience and reduce dependence on a single supplier by maintaining dual or multiple suppliers might need to pay a higher cost per unit. But trade-offs are not a given, and often these priorities are complementary. Here, again, visibility and transparency play a key role, providing insights that can help executives make the best long- and short-term decisions. To do so, they need the right information at their fingertips from as far up and down the value chain as possible. For example, buying certified and sustainable inputs might be more expensive than noncertified ones, but companies often deliver premium economics through increased volume, market share gains and better pricing. Although many companies have been forced to seek greater visibility into their supply chains to increase resilience, those investments now can also reveal near-term opportunities to increase efficiency, reliability and sustainability. Across sectors, the companies that have the best visibility and traceability will have the most competitive supply chains. Extracted from: https://www.bain.com/insights/resilient-sustainable-supply-chains/ Answer ALL the questions in this section.

QUESTION 1 With reference to the case study provided, critically discuss the challenges that procurement executives have been exposed to and provide recommendations on how they can effectively address the identified challenges. 1.1 (20 marks) As mentioned in the case study, both resilience and sustainability are priorities that executives can't afford to ignore. Do you agree with this statement? Justify your answer with relevant examples. 1.2 (20 marks)