Yoko is the director of the procurement team in a local authority. There are eight

people in her team who manage the procurement of all services for the authority.

Yoko met with the directors of the various functions within the authority to

discuss their needs and find out how well the current procurement

arrangements meet their needs. She then met with directors of other

neighbouring authorities to discuss the types of structures they have in place.

They have discussed how they could all make savings in order to meet their

budgets. Answer the following four questions:

a. Why was it important for Yoko to meet with the Directors of the other

functions before making any decisions?

b. What types of structures could Yoko implement within her team in order to

make cost savings? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each one?

c. If Yoko and the Procurement Directors of the neighboring authorities decide to

work together, what type of structure could they implement? What advantages

could this bring?

d. One of the members of Yoko's team mentioned that their partner worked at a

private procurement organisation that could be used to outsource work to.

Would this present a conflict of interest for Yoko or the staff member who

suggested it?