"A firm's relative position within its industry determines whether a firm's profitability is above or below the industry average. The fundamental basis of above average profitability in the long run is sustainable competitive advantage. There are two basic types of competitive advantage a firm can possess: low cost or differentiation. The two basic types of competitive advantage combined with the scope of activities for which a firm seeks to achieve them, lead to three generic strategies for achieving above average performance in an industry: cost leadership, differentiation, and focus." (Reference: Porter, Michael E., "Competitive Advantage". 1985, Ch. 1, pp 11-15. The Free Press. New York.) Creating stand-out products and brands is considered as Differentiation. An organisation that is not clear about which of these three strategies to use is described as 'stuck in the middle' LO 2, AC 2.1

The difference between the actual spend and budgeted spend is known as variance. The formula for variance is:
Variance = Actual spend - Budgeted spend
Variances can be adverse/unfavourable or favourable ie they can be positive or negative.
Be very careful with these terms. A positive or a negative variance may be favourable or it may be adverse/ unfavourable.
Adverse variances
Adverse variances are those variances that are unfavourable to the firm. Examples would be sales below plan; costs above budget, cash receipts lower than expected, and overtime payment more than forecast.
Favourable variances
Favourable variances are those variances that are beneficial to the business. Examples would be sales ahead of plan, costs below budget, and wages below forecast.
Positive variance
A positive variance occurs where 'actual' exceeds 'planned' or 'budgeted' value. Examples might be actual sales are ahead of the budget.
Negative variance
A negative variance occurs where 'actual' is less than 'planned' or 'budgeted' value. Examples would be when the raw materials cost less than expected, sales were less than predicted, and labour costs were below the budgeted figure.
When the operators create saving, it means that the Actual spend is less than Budgeted spend. Therefore the variance is negative.
Reference:
- Variance analysis
- CIPS study guide page 57-59
LO 1, AC 1.4

Statement of Work (SoW) is the document that captures and defines all aspects of your project. You'll note the activities, deliverables and the timetable for the project. It's an extremely detailed document as it will lay the groundwork for the project plan.
Project Initial Document is an important document and should precede any specification writing project. It sets out the scope of the project and it is the team's mandate from senior management Work instructions are also called work guides, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), job aids or user manuals, depending on the situation. In any case, the purpose of work instructions is to clearly explain how a particular work task is performed.
Framework agreements are arrangements between one or more buyers and one or more suppliers that provide the terms governing contracts to be established for a certain period of time, in particular with regard to price and, where necessary, the quantity envisaged.

A monopoly is a market with a single seller (called the monopolist) but with many buyers. In this market, the bargaining power of supplier is higher than of buyer since the supplier is the only seller.

The difference between the standard cost of direct materials specified for production and the actual cost of direct materials used in production is known as Direct Material Cost Variance. Material Cost Variance gives an idea of how much more or less cost has been incurred when compared with the standard cost. Thus, Variance Analysis is an important tool to keep a tab on the deviations from the standard set by a company.
Material Cost Variance can be due to less purchase price being paid than the standard or because of change in the quantity of material used. Thus, Material Cost Variance is made up of two components namely; Material Price Variance and Material Usage Variance.
Among the 4 options:
- 'The buyer updates purchase-to-pay system to track payment and delivery': The use of e-procurement system can increase the productivity and create labour cost variance, not material cost variance.
- 'An unprocessed goods received note is missing': If a goods received note is missing, the buyer won't pay for that batch, which create quantity variance.
- 'The employees must work overtime to catch up with the customers' orders': Overtime salary can cause labour variance, not material cost variance.
- 'The purchase is made in emergency': Normally, the price in emergency situation is higher than usual. This can cause price variance.
Reference:
- CIPS study guide page 57-59
- Material Variance | Cost, Price, Usage Variance Formula, Example - eFM (efinancemanage-ment.com) LO 1, AC 1.4