Applying the Kraljic Matrix: A Practical Example for Your CIPS Assignments
Fun Fact: The Kraljic Matrix was first published in the Harvard Business Review eleven years before CIPS got their Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth II in 1992.
Peter Kraljic developed a procurement strategy matrix for procurement professionals to formulate sourcing strategies based on supply risk and profit impacts. Since 1983, the Kraljic Matrix has provided businesses with a framework to segment the supplier base into 4 quadrants. With this tool, CIPS students can classify the importance of suppliers’ products and services from any assignment brief.
After reading this article, you’ll pinpoint supply chain weaknesses, develop better sourcing strategies, and make evidence-informed recommendations to reduce supply disruptions for your organisation. There’s a practical example after guiding you on how to apply the Kraljic Matrix in your CIPS assignments as a bonus.
Kraljic Marix is a key procurement framework that is widely applied in CIPS assignment especially when discussing sourcing, negotiations and contracting modules. Being cornerstone of CIPS practitioner and advanced practitioner assessments it is advisable to hire our expert CIPS assignment writers for assistance in completing this modules. Since we have hands on experience in application of different procurement frameworks.
- Defining Business Need (Level 4, Module L4M2)
- Commercial Negotiation (CIPS Level 4, Module L4M5 and Level 5 – Module L5M15)
- Category Management (CIPS Level 5, Module L5M6)
- Supply Chain Risk Management
- Strategic Procurement / Sourcing
- Supplier Relationship Management (SRM)
Otherwise, your professor will scribble this in their commentary after trashing your submission:
“The Kraljic Matrix is referenced; however, there is no clear application of the model to the organisation’s spend categories. The analysis remains descriptive rather than evaluative.”
CIPS Assessors Want Clear Application of the Four Kraljic Matrix Quadrants
Clockwise from bottom left: The four Kraljic Matrix supply quadrants for non-critical, bottleneck, leverage, and strategic items.
I encourage CIPS students to first understand each of the 4 Kraljic Matrix quadrants before choosing the best strategy to apply in their assignment. If you don’t show how the company should build stronger relationships with specific suppliers or which sources to scale back, you won’t get past a PASS grade.
But if you buy an affordable expert-level CIPS assignment template from us, even the meanest professor will acknowledge that your evaluation meets all learning outcomes and deserves a High Distinction!
1. The Non-Critical Quadrant
Products in this quadrant have minimal risk and low impact on a company’s margins. Stuff like office stationery are necessary for smooth daily operations, but don’t directly contribute to end-year profits. In your CIPS assignment, show the professor that procuring items in this quadrant shouldn’t be over-prioritized as various supplier options exist in the marketplace. To show you’ve aced application of the Kraljic Matrix in your submission, talk of efficiency measures that standardise procurement processes or minimise administrative overheads. Simplifying procurement processes for low-value goods and automation always does the magic with our clients.
2. Bottleneck Supplies (“Supplier’s Market)
This quadrant carries items with a limited source of supply (high supply risk) although their profit impact is low. All the bargaining power is with a tight, members-only supplier circle. The goal here is to demonstrate ways of minimising market structure risks which force the organisation to accept unfavorable deals. The many procurement consultants in our CIPS task team agree that assessing bottleneck suppliers is the most difficult part of a CIPS assignment. I can’t agree more.
3. Leverage Quadrant
To get DISTINCTION and above in a CIPS assignment, a student must show how an abundance of low-risk suppliers (“Buyer’s Market”) leads to high profits for a category of spend. Show exactly how your organisation can negotiate aggressively to settle for the best price. You may even give an example of when the company switched suppliers.
Traditionally, this quadrant was exploited to drive down overall overheads. Today, organisations prefer to reap more from leverage clauses by targeting supplier innovation instead of focusing on pricing.
4. Strategic Items
Whenever you analyse strategic items in your CIPS assignment, always remember this quadrant is made of high-risk, high-profit products with the biggest operational influence over the business. Only a handful of producers make strategic-grade items. Therefore, every CIPS professor expects an explicit framework that establishes and monitors strong, collaborative, long-term supplier relationships to ensure reliability and innovation.
Where Do I Apply the Kraljic Matrix in My CIPS Assignment?
You’ll have placed it right if you apply the Kraljic Matrix in a CIPS assignment that asks you to:
- Identify a supply need for a category of spend
- Carry out supplier research before selection (vetting suppliers for quality, price, and reliability)
- Negotiate, design a contract on behalf of the organisation, or formalise an agreement with a chosen vendor
- Create a binding purchase order
- Simulate a receiving / inspection scenario for goods
- Process an invoice or payment
- Any CIPS assignment that infers Supplier Performance Management (track ongoing supplier performance for contract renewal / review for future sourcing)
Apply the Kraljic Matrix Alongside Other CIPS-Recognised Tools!
It’s one thing reciting the Kraljic Matrix inside the lecture halls. Contextualising your analysis in a real-world business scenario alongside other CIPS-recognised tools is where DISTINCTION grades hide! CIPS assessors scout for a holistic view of procurement with customised sourcing, proactive supplier engagement, and sustainable risk mitigation strategies for A+ grades.
See SAMPLES of our CIPS-assisted submissions and Client Reviews
Sourcing Essentials assignment example
Negotiating and contracting assignment example
The Kraljic model builds the basic foundation of spend analysis through segmentation (the “What”). Other frameworks like the Kenton Supply Model or Supplier Preferencing Matrix pick up perspectives that deeply assess demand, the supplier, or relationship depths (the “Who” and “How”). This way, our experienced writers build a comprehensive, context-specific procurement strategy for every order.
How Kraljic Relates to Other CIPS Analysis Models
Lemmie drop this summarised model relationship table – because we’re friends😉:
| Kraljic Focus | Other Model | Connection | Expected CIPS Insight |
| Organisational perspectives (What supply items are critical to us?) | Supplier Preferencing Matrix | Supplier Preferencing evaluates how suppliers view your organisation as a customer. For example, a strategic item in Kraljic analysis could be coming from a low-priority customer for the supplier | Overlaying Kraljic with Supplier Preferencing shows any procurement mismatch, guiding a CIPS student to build stronger relationships or shift supply engagements in their evaluations / recommendations |
| Assesses supply risks and their impact on profit | Porter’s Five Forces / Market Analysis (e.g. Massin’s Matrix)
|
Kraljic identifies a Bottleneck item; Porter helps explain why (e.g., few suppliers, high barriers to entry), | Deepens analysis to cover market structure, competition, and supplier power. For CIPS assignments, Porter’s Five Forces is your go-to model for guiding organisational strategies such as seeking alternative suppliers or introducing direct /indirect innovation clauses in contracts
|
| Categorizes products into either the Routine, Leverage, Bottleneck, or Strategic quadrant | CIPS Relationship Spectrum
(Buyer-Supplier Segmentation) |
Combining Kraljic with Buyer-based Segmentation sharply defines the type of procurement relationships as transactional, collaborative, or a partnership | Kraljic’s quadrants suggest the appropriate type of supply relationship: strategic items demand partnerships while routine items best suit transactional approaches. An assessor who sees strategic spend fused with deep supply relationships for better outcomes awards that CIPS assignment Distinction+ grades! |
| Analyzes the supply market for a given category of spend | Kenton Supply Model (Demand Analysis) | Demand Analysis focuses on the demand side of the supply chain. It asks: What are our actual needs / usage patterns? | Used together, Kraljic and Demand Analysis offers a complete supply context: Kraljic clarifies what to buy while Kenton Model helps CIPS students to understand the “Why” and “How Much” |
A summary table showing the connection between Kraljic Matrix and other spend analysis tools and possible insights for CIPS assignments.
How Do I Apply The Kraljic Matrix in my CIPS Assignment?
We’ve already gone past the fact that 76% of CIPS submissions that we assist correctly apply and evaluate the Kraljic Matrix in their assignments score above a distinction. How do you do it our way to get that top grade? Here are 5 pro tips to keep you at the top of the class:
5 Pro Tips When Applying the Kraljic Matrix in CIPS Assignments
- Start with expanding the Kraljic analysis for each category of spend. Professors will love your understanding of the underlying risk factors and their impact on the company’s end-of-year profits.
For example, let your real-world application balance item supply with your organisation’s demand, evaluate the market structure, or justify the choice of strategy based on value of spend and Kraljic procurement principles.
- Using market research, internal stakeholder input and supplier performance data, categorize purchased items in relation to their respective impacts on profit (high/low) and supply risk (high/low)
- Applying the Kraljic analysis in your CIPS assignment is a result of deep market analysis. Here, you may consider factors such as market competitiveness, the number of alternative suppliers, current trends in pricing, or dependence on innovative technology
Important Note: When you’re thinking of a strategy under each quadrant, remember not to rely on static assessments. A practicing CIPS professor who doubles as our in-house consultant whispered to me that in real-life practice, you should revisit Kraljic classifications every quarter to accommodate market shifts, blooming technology, or internal changes in demand.
- Formulate a custom procurement strategy that optimises the organisation’s purchasing power and mitigates supply risks
- For the icing, recommend and outline an approach to implement specific action plans for each quadrant. List the key steps needed to execute your chosen strategy. Clearly indicate how the organisation will regularly monitor or review the positioning of items in their segment even after external market conditions or supplier situations change
Still can’t scratch a CIPS assignment even after reading this article? Request for affordable CIPS Assignment assistance TODAY!
Applying the Kraljic Matrix: A Practical Example for Your CIPS Assignments
Although the Kraljic model lacks built-in actionable strategies, its adaptability and foundational principles are valuable CIPS assignment assets in an ever-changing procurement environment. Nothing that J Gelderman or J. van Weele can’t help with when you’re battling a looming submission deadline for that high-voltage CIPS assignment! Here’s how to apply the Kraljic Matrix in your CIPS paper to make it shine from a distance:
A Procurement Expert’s Advice on Applying the Kraljic Matrix in CIPS Assignments
- Use the Kraljic Matrix in your assignment with full confidence that it is the most powerful strategic procurement tool for supplier portfolio analysis
- In a CIPS assignment, mention and illustrate how the Kraljic analysis affects strategic planning decisions in your organisation (this came from an insider currently teaching the 2025/2026 cohort!)
- If you want the highest grade, support keynote organisational decisions with a Kraljic analysis that complements other CIPS-recognised tools
- Show how your organisation can grow with balanced, high-value suppliers and reduce exposure to high-effort / low-profit suppliers
Debunking a Procurement Fallacy
The biggest misconception with CIPS students is that real-practice data analysis is a time-consuming activity with zero business value. Actually, data-driven Kraljic analysis (whether for an assignment or in real-time professional practice) is the sole pillar of strategic sourcing!
- Your CIPS assignment remains purely theoretical if you do not contextualise the Kraljic analysis. To earn an A+ grade, apply and evaluate the model as your core procurement framework showing relevance in modern digital and e-procurement-driven environments
Enjoy FREE 2025/2026 CIPS ASSIGNMENT templates with applied Kraljic Matrix analyses or DISCOUNTED assessment assistance now.
CIPS Students Also Ask
What is the Kraljic Matrix?
It is a strategic tool used by procurement and supply chain professionals to find and minimize supply risks.
Who Invented the Kraljic Matrix?
Peter Kraljic first published the procurement analysis tool in the 1983 issue of Harvard Business Review.
What are the categories of a Kraljic Matrix?
The Kraljic Matrix has four quadrants that categorise procurement items as either Non-critical, Bottleneck, Leverage, or Strategic.
Is the Kraljic Matrix still relevant in today’s complex global supply-chain setting?
Yes. Even with changing CIPS assignment requirements, the Kraljic analysis is still relevant in modern global supply-chain contexts.