Procurement & Supply Chain
Supplier Performance and Supply Chain Risk
A three-day programme addressing the period after award, where most commercial value is lost. It covers proportionate supplier governance, performance frameworks with measures that are actually collectable, service reviews that produce improvement, and supply-chain risk identified before it becomes a continuity event.
The business challenge
Why organisations commission this programme
Value agreed at award commonly leaks away afterwards: performance measures prove uncollectable, service reviews become attendance, improvement actions are not tracked, and dependency on a small number of suppliers is understood only when one of them fails. The organisation then renegotiates from a weak position.
Value agreed at contract award leaks away afterwards, because supplier performance is managed by exception and supply-chain dependency is not understood until it fails.
Who it is for
Participants
- Audience
- Supplier and contract managers, category managers, operations and supply-chain staff
- Recommended cohort
- 12 to 20 participants
- Prerequisites
- Responsibility for supplier relationships, contract performance or supply continuity.
Outcomes
What participants will be able to do
- Segment suppliers and apply proportionate governance to each segment.
- Design performance frameworks with measures that are collectable and consequential.
- Run service reviews that produce improvement rather than attendance.
- Identify concentration, continuity and geopolitical exposure in the supply base.
- Build and own a supply-chain risk mitigation plan with defined triggers.
Learning objectives
- Apply proportionate governance to suppliers according to value, risk and criticality.
- Design performance frameworks whose measures can be collected and have consequences.
- Improve the conduct and output of service reviews.
- Identify and mitigate concentration, continuity and geopolitical exposure in the supply base.
Indicative content
Programme structure
Content is confirmed during design and adapted to your context.
Day 1
Segmentation, governance models, relationship management and the cost of poor supplier management; baseline assessment.
- Segmentation and governance models
- Relationship management
- The cost of poor supplier management
- Baseline assessment
Day 2
Performance frameworks, measures, data, service reviews, improvement planning and escalation.
- Performance frameworks and measures
- Data collection and verification
- Service review conduct
- Improvement planning and escalation
Day 3
Supply-chain risk: dependency, concentration, continuity, mitigation and an applied risk workshop with assessment.
- Supply chain risk and dependency
- Concentration and continuity
- Mitigation planning and triggers
- Applied workshop and assessment
Delivery and customisation
Configured around your organisation
- Typical duration
- Three days (five-day variant with analytics stream)
- Formats
- Classroom, virtual or blended
- Language
- English by default. Other languages subject to facilitator availability and materials translation, agreed during design.
How it can be tailored
- Client supplier base, contract portfolio and current performance data.
- Real underperformance situations, anonymised, as simulation material.
- Sector-specific supply risk, including logistics, regulatory and geopolitical exposure.
- A five-day variant adding a procurement analytics stream.
- Alignment to the client's supplier relationship management framework where one exists.
Methods
- Work on the client's own supplier base, contracts and performance data.
- Service review simulation with a supplier role played under realistic pressure.
- Risk workshop producing a mitigation plan with defined triggers and owners.
- Measure design tested explicitly for collectability before acceptance.
Materials, assessment and completion
Materials
- Participant workbook containing session content, frameworks, exercises and space for applied work.
- Client-contextualised case material and scenario packs used during the programme.
- Job aids, checklists and templates designed for use in the role after the programme.
- Assessment instruments and the marking criteria applied to them.
- Individual action plan template and a manager briefing note.
- Segmentation model, performance framework template and a supply chain risk assessment tool.
Reinforcement
- Individual action plans agreed during the programme and shared with line managers where the client permits.
- Manager briefing material setting out what was taught and what should be reinforced in the role.
- Toolkits and templates issued in editable form for continued use.
- Follow-up session at 30, 60 or 90 days where commissioned, reviewing action-plan progress and obstacles.
- Review of implemented frameworks and mitigation plans at 90 days, where commissioned.
Completion
- Attendance at no less than 80 per cent of scheduled contact time, recorded daily and reconciled against the registered cohort.
- Participation in the assessed practical components of the programme.
- Submission of the assessed work product and the individual action plan.
- Achievement of the assessment threshold where the client sets one; where no threshold is set, results are reported without a pass or fail determination.
Participants who meet the completion criteria receive a Knull certificate of completion recording the programme, dates, duration, content covered and, where assessed, the assessment outcome. Knull does not award accredited or regulated qualifications and does not hold third-party training accreditation. Attendance and assessment records are retained under the engagement terms and provided to the client with the completion report.
| Component | Weighting | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Baseline and post assessment | 30% | Knowledge instrument administered before and after, reported as learning gain. |
| Performance framework | 30% | Proportionality, collectability of measures, consequence design and review cadence, marked against a rubric. |
| Service review simulation | 20% | Preparation, use of evidence, handling of defensiveness and quality of agreed actions. |
| Risk mitigation plan | 20% | Rigour of exposure identification, realism of mitigations and clarity of triggers and ownership. |
Next step
Make it fit your organisation
Dates, cohort, format and fees are agreed in a proposal once scope is defined. To register interest in a closed cohort, use a corporate booking request — Knull reviews every request; it is not a confirmed reservation.
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Discuss this programme for your organisation
Tell us about your priorities, capability gaps or business challenges. We'll help identify an appropriate next step.