L5M1 Questions and Answers

Part A – What is needed for a group to be effective (15 points):

For a group to be effective, several conditions must be in place.

Firstly, the group must haveclear objectives and purpose. Without shared goals, members may pull in different directions, leading to inefficiency.

Secondly,strong leadershipis needed to guide the group, set direction, and balance concern for people with concern for tasks. Leadership provides motivation and resolves conflicts.

Thirdly,good communicationensures information is shared openly, problems are raised quickly, and collaboration is smooth. In procurement, this means buyers, finance, and operations align on sourcing decisions.

Fourthly, groups needdefined roles and responsibilities. Clarity prevents duplication of work and ensures accountability. For example, one person may manage supplier contracts while another handles negotiations.

Finally,trust and cooperationare essential. When group members respect and support each other, they are more willing to share knowledge, take risks, and commit to decisions. Psychological safety is key to team performance.

Part B – Importance of different roles in a group (10 points):

It is important that each person plays a different role within the group. According toBelbin’s Team Roles theory, groups are more effective when individuals contribute complementary strengths. Roles may include “Shapers” who drive action, “Plants” who bring creativity, “Implementers” who turn plans into reality, and “Monitor Evaluators” who provide critical analysis.

If everyone in the group plays the same role, important skills may be missing. For example, a procurement team made up entirely of “Shapers” may generate energy but lack careful analysis, leading to poor supplier selection. Conversely, a balanced team ensures creativity, organisation, and delivery are all present.

Conclusion:

For a group to be effective, it needs clear goals, leadership, communication, defined roles, and trust. It is also important that members bring different strengths and roles, as this diversity improves problem-solving and ensures the group performs to its full potential.

Stakeholders can exert influence over procurement decisions in different ways. French and Raven identifiedfive types of powerthat stakeholders may hold. Each has different implications for how procurement interacts with them.

1. Legitimate Power:

This comes from a stakeholder’s formal position or authority. For example, a Finance Director may require procurement to comply with budgetary controls. Procurement must respect legitimate authority but can also influence decisions by providing evidence and business cases.

2. Reward Power:

This is based on the ability to provide benefits or incentives. For example, senior management may reward the procurement team with recognition or bonuses for achieving savings. Procurement can use this positively by demonstrating performance and aligning with organisational goals.

3. Coercive Power:

This is the power to punish or impose sanctions. For instance, a project manager may pressure procurement to prioritise their project by threatening escalation if deadlines are missed. Procurement must manage this carefully, balancing demands with fairness and compliance.

4. Expert Power:

This arises from specialist knowledge or skills. For example, a procurement professional with strong knowledge of supplier markets holds expert power, which can influence strategic decisions. Conversely, technical departments may hold expert power in specifying product requirements, requiring procurement to collaborate closely.

5. Referent Power:

This is based on personal relationships, respect, or charisma. For example, a well-liked senior stakeholder may influence procurement decisions even without formal authority. Procurement must manage these situations by maintaining objectivity while leveraging strong relationships to gain support.

Comparison of Interaction with Procurement:

Legitimate poweroften requires compliance, while procurement may respond with process adherence and evidence-based justification.

Reward powercreates motivation for procurement, but risks short-term focus if overused.

Coercive powercan create conflict and stress; procurement must use negotiation and diplomacy to manage.

Expert powercan be collaborative, as procurement and stakeholders share knowledge to improve outcomes.

Referent powerrelies on trust and relationships, which procurement can use to build coalitions and support for initiatives.

Conclusion:

The five types of power – legitimate, reward, coercive, expert, and referent – shape how stakeholders interact with procurement. Understanding these power bases enables procurement professionals to adapt their approach, whether through compliance, persuasion, collaboration, or relationship-building. This ensures stakeholder management supports both procurement objectives and organisational goals.

The Taylorism school of thought, also known asScientific Management, was developed byFrederick Winslow Taylorin the early 20th century. It aimed to improve efficiency and productivity by applying systematic, scientific methods to the management of work. Its key principles can be summarised as follows.

The first principle is thescientific study of work. Taylor rejected traditional “rule of thumb” methods, instead advocating time-and-motion studies to identify the most efficient way of completing tasks. This broke jobs into smaller, measurable steps.

Secondly, Taylor emphasised thedivision of labour and specialisation. Workers should focus on narrowly defined tasks, allowing them to become faster and more efficient, similar to parts in a machine.

Thirdly, he argued forscientific selection and training of workers. Instead of leaving workers to train themselves, managers should select the right person for the job and provide formal training in the “one best way” to complete tasks.

Fourthly, Taylor stressedmanagerial control and supervision. He believed management should plan, organise and set methods, while workers should focus on carrying them out. This created a strong separation between planning and execution.

Finally, Taylor promotedfinancial incentives as motivators. He assumed that workers are primarily motivated by pay, so piece-rate systems and performance-based rewards were used to encourage higher output.

Taylorism brought many benefits, such as increased productivity, efficiency, and predictability in mass production industries. However, it also attracted criticism for treating workers like machines, reducing autonomy, and ignoring social and psychological needs. From a modern procurement perspective, its ideas are still visible in standardised processes such as purchase-to-pay systems, KPIs, and efficiency-driven shared services. However, organisations today often balance these principles with more human-centred approaches to motivation and teamwork.

In conclusion, the key principles of Taylorism were scientific analysis of work, specialisation, scientific selection and training, strict managerial control, and financial incentives. While its focus on efficiency shaped early management thinking, modern leaders must also consider motivation, empowerment, and adaptability to achieve sustainable success.

Understanding individuals is crucial for effective leadership. People bring unique qualities to the workplace, which influence how they behave, perform, and interact. Four important factors that make up the individual are as follows.

Firstly,personalityplays a major role. Traits such as extroversion, conscientiousness, or openness (from models like the Big Five) influence how individuals communicate, make decisions, and fit into teams. For example, an extrovert may thrive in negotiation roles, while an introvert may excel in analytical procurement tasks.

Secondly,attitudes and valuesshape how individuals respond to work situations. Values around ethics, sustainability, or fairness can influence motivation and alignment with organisational culture. In procurement, a professional with strong ethical values may be more resistant to corruption risks.

Thirdly,perception and motivationaffect behaviour. Individuals interpret situations differently, and motivation theories such as Maslow, Herzberg or McGregor’s Theory X/Y show how personal drivers impact performance. Some may be motivated by pay, others by recognition or career development.

Finally,abilities and skillsdefine what individuals can contribute. These include technical competencies, problem-solving skills, and interpersonal abilities. A skilled negotiator, for example, adds significant value to a procurement team.

Managers must also choose effective ways to lead teams. Three common approaches are:

Autocratic leadership– where the manager makes decisions without consulting the team. This can be effective in crises or routine, highly regulated tasks (e.g., compliance procurement), but risks low morale if overused.

Democratic or participative leadership– where managers involve team members in decision-making. This improves engagement, creativity, and buy-in. For example, involving procurement staff in category strategy development can generate stronger results.

Laissez-faire leadership– where the manager provides minimal direction, allowing the team high autonomy. This works well when teams are highly skilled and self-motivated, but may cause confusion if individuals lack experience.

In conclusion, individuals are shaped by their personality, values, perceptions/motivations, and skills, all of which affect their workplace performance. Managers can choose between autocratic, democratic, or laissez-faire leadership depending on the situation. Successful leaders adapt their style to the individuals and teams they manage, ensuring both high performance and motivation.

Part A – Three Ways a Procurement Professional Could Be Biased (15 marks):

Personal Relationships / Conflicts of Interest:A buyer may favour a supplier due to friendship, family connection, or long-standing personal ties. For example, awarding a contract to a supplier owned by a relative, even if another supplier offers better value. This undermines fairness and can damage organisational reputation.

Preference for Incumbent Suppliers (Status Quo Bias):Professionals may repeatedly select the same suppliers simply because they are familiar, ignoring new entrants who could provide better innovation, cost savings, or sustainability. This limits competition and supplier diversity.

Cultural or Geographical Bias:A procurement professional may favour local suppliers over international ones, or show unconscious bias against suppliers from certain regions. While local sourcing can have benefits, excluding other suppliers without objective evaluation reduces fairness and potentially increases costs.

(Other possible biases include brand preference, ignoring SMEs, or favouring suppliers who provide personal benefits – but only three are required for full marks.)

Part B – Benefits of Remaining Unbiased (10 marks):

Remaining unbiased means making supplier decisions based on objective, transparent, and fair criteria such as cost, quality, delivery performance, risk, and sustainability. The benefits include:

Fairness and Transparency:All suppliers have equal opportunity, protecting the organisation’s integrity and compliance with regulations.

Best Value for Money:Objective evaluation ensures the chosen supplier offers the best mix of cost, quality, and service.

Encouraging Innovation:By considering a wider pool of suppliers, procurement can benefit from new ideas and technologies.

Ethical Compliance:Avoids corruption, fraud, or bribery, maintaining alignment with the CIPS Code of Conduct.

Reputation and Trust:Stakeholders and the market see the organisation as professional and ethical, which strengthens long-term supplier relationships.

Conclusion:

Procurement professionals may show bias through personal relationships, favouring incumbents, or cultural preferences. Remaining unbiased ensures decisions are fair, transparent, and ethical, leading to better value, innovation, and stronger supplier trust. This supports both organisational objectives and the professional standards of procurement.

When entering negotiations with a new supplier, a procurement professional must use a variety of interpersonal and cognitive skills to achieve the best outcome. Three important qualities arecuriosity, creative thinking, and reflective analysis.

Curiosity (8–9 marks):

Curiosity means asking questions, exploring options, and seeking to understand the supplier’s position. In a negotiation, curiosity allows the buyer to uncover the supplier’s motivations, constraints, and priorities. For example, asking why a supplier has higher costs may reveal underlying logistics challenges, which could be solved collaboratively. Curiosity builds rapport, demonstrates interest, and helps procurement move beyond price to explore value-added benefits such as quality improvements or sustainability initiatives.

Creative Thinking (8–9 marks):

Creative thinking is about generating new solutions and finding alternatives to traditional approaches. In negotiation, this may involve looking for win-win outcomes rather than focusing only on cost. For example, instead of demanding lower prices, procurement could propose longer contracts, volume commitments, or joint innovation projects that benefit both parties. Creative thinking expands the scope of negotiation and helps develop more sustainable supplier relationships.

Reflective Analysis (8–9 marks):

Reflective analysis involves reviewing past experiences and learning from them to improve decision-making. Before negotiating, procurement professionals can reflect on what has worked or failed in previous negotiations. During the negotiation, reflective analysis helps assess whether strategies are effective and adapt accordingly. After the negotiation, reflection allows continuous improvement in approach. For example, a buyer may reflect on why a past supplier negotiation failed due to being too aggressive, and adjust by using more collaborative tactics with the new supplier.

Conclusion:

Curiosity helps procurement gather insights, creative thinking enables innovative solutions, and reflective analysis ensures continuous improvement. Together, these skills allow procurement professionals to build trust, secure better value, and establish strong long-term relationships with new suppliers.