L3M5 Socially Responsible Procurement Question and Answers

Explanation

Kyoto, 1997.

Most recent global conference on this issue was in Glasgow, Scotland in 2022.

The other answers have no connection: 'The Fourth Protocol' is a novel by Frederick Forsyth.

Explanation

Ethical Trading Initiative - an alliance of companies, NGOs and trade unions to promote respect for worker's rights worldwide. CIPS has published guidance in an 'ethical business practices..' paper to assist with organisations selecting and using ethical suppliers. The paper is downloadable from the CIPS website's Knowledge Summary series.

Explanation

People, planet, profit.

The notion here is that commerce is not just about profit, but about people and our effect on the planet as well. This is now a widely-accepted view. The 3 P's are a useful form of shorthand.

Explanation

Transport.

Think about it: vehicle engine noise, sirens, rail, overhead aircraft. With engine noise often being a constant buzz.

Explanation

Soft fruit: peaches, raspberries, strawberries, for example.

Explanation

GHG is an abbreviation for 'greenhouse gas'.

Greenhouse gases create a 'greenhouse effect' on the planet- ie warming it.

Other question on the subject of GHG appear in these tests.

Explanation

The answer is palm oil.

Much has been written and broadcast about the environmental and social damage caused by the growing and harvesting of palm oil.

Explanation

This is a definition of sustainable procurement, from the Sustainable Procurement Task Force, quot-ed by Profex Publishing, L3M5, Ch 6.

The inclusion of terms like 'meet their needs' and 'value for money' point us in the direction of pro-curement, not just sustainability.

Explanation

The correct answer is 'snowflake'.

All of the others shown are possible warehouse designs taking account of flow.

(L3M6)

Explanation

Sustainability fits the bill: the other answers are related, but don't quite nail it.

Explanation

Innovation - diversity is seen to be a good thing encouraging ideas, creativity, etc

Explanation

The order of responsibilities is as follows: economic (be profitable - keep the business going); legal (comply with the law); ethical (act in an ethical way); discretionary (be a good citizen - do things above and beyond eg for the local community, supporting small suppliers, overseas suppliers, etc).

Frankly, any organisation not being economic, legal and ethical needs to take a serious look at itself. Don't you think?

Explanation

Petrol / gasoline and diesel are definitely not green.

Hydrogen and electricity are widely regarded as being green, although a case can be made, on closer inspection, for these fuels to be not quite as green as they are painted.

Explanation

Cube.

Indicating that people, unless made consciously aware, tend to under-use the dimension of height, using depth and breadth readily. For illustrations, check aerial photographs of many US cities (sprawl), or check the inside of your fridge. In warehousing and storage, such an approach can be a very costly error - so 'maximise use of the cube'.

Explanation

'Value for money is obtained through buying on the basis of lowest price' would not be a necessary part of the concept of ethical sourcing. The other answers shown are all factors included within eth-ical sourcing.

Explanation

The correct answer is 'socially', because this includes elements of culture and economics / finance.

Essentially as broad an interpretation of 'diversity' should be used to deliver maximum benefit to the organisation.

Explanation

Almost unbelievably, it is 20,000 (twenty thousand) litres.

Water is a scarce resource in many parts of the world, so sustainable thinking might ask: 'Is this the best use of resources?'. Are people in the developed world entitled to 'fast fashion' t-shirts?

Explanation

Multi-screen cinema complex.

Explanation

'Hydro' means 'water'.

As a child in Scotland, I remember visiting a hydro-electric power station, where a dam had been built across a river, with the dammed water used to generate electric power.

As a slightly older child, I used to routinely watch a BBC2 test television broadcast which was all about the building of the Kariba dam for a similar purpose, with huge environmental and social con-sequences. Many other such dams have been build since, including, for example, the Aswan dam. Often such projects attract criticism because of the effects on the environment as well as on people.

Explanation

2050 is the correct answer.

There is an issue with the dates for many organisational targets. They are far too pessimistic to be genuinely effective in dealing with sustainability issues. Even if you didn't know DHL's target date, you may know that many large companies and governments don't quite feel the urgency of the 'emergency'. There are many opinion-leaders who feel that a sense of urgency needs to be injected.

Explanation

Rail / road access, customer / supplier proximity, local wage rates would all be factors in the deci-sion regarding location of a new storage facility / distribution centre. Interest rates would be set at a national level, at least, so would be unlikely to feature as an important decision-making criterion.

(L3M6)

Explanation

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development published this much-needed docu-ment.

You probably know what ISO is and what it's role is in relation to procurement. (?) Same for CIPS.

ECB is a facetious answer: English Cricket Board.

Explanation

Global Reporting Initiative.

The GRI standards have been widely adopted for reporting on sustainability issues by many com-panies worldwide.

Explanation

The correct answer is roughly one-third, or 33%.

This means that fuel costs are very important to road haulage firms, and alternative means of either transportation or power for trucks would be desirable, both to reduce costs and to aid the environ-ment.

Using your learning and your experience, what do you think the other main costs are of running a heavy goods vehicle fleet? I'll leave you to come up with some of the key areas yourself.

(L3M6)