Supply chain sustainability and modern slavery business plan

Sustainability and modern slavery have become buzzwords amongst supply chain professionals in recent years. Companies have become motivated to tackle environmental and sustainability issues in their supply chains for a variety of reasons, whether motivated by changing legislation, pressure from NGOs, changing consumer expectations, or having been ‘named and shamed’ in media organisations.

With the introduction of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 in the UK and the Modern Slavery Act 2018 in Australia, companies who have turnover over a certain threshold - £35mil and $100mil AUD respectively – are now required to produce an annual statement on how they identify and mitigate modern slavery risk in their global supply chains.

Much abuse that occurs in relation to workers happens in global supply chains, upstream in the chain where labour intensive and low value activities occur. Therefore, large companies located at the end of that global chain have a responsibility to work with their suppliers and suppliers’ suppliers to ensure that working conditions through the entire chain are ethical and legal.

In order to do this, efforts of global companies has largely been concerned with development of policies and tools related to supplier codes of conduct and auditing according to those codes. (Christ). Though a good place to start, the fact that labour abuses in supply chains continue to be uncovered is evidence that such an approach has so far been unsuccessful.


2020 Global SRM report: Supplier Management at Speed

Download here


Currently progress in addressing modern slavery is still limited by what private companies are willing to do in order to address labour abuse in their supply chains. In order to make actual progress, corporations need to cease viewing labour as a cost or merely as an input factor for production and make it a truly integral part of their supply chains.

Traditionally procurement organisations have focussed on their direct suppliers in terms of managing risk, continuity of supply and quality, however the modern slavery legislation requires organisations to think in terms of their entire supply chain, not just their key tier one suppliers. This is a shift in thinking that contemporary procurement practices and systems are not geared for. As such, procurement, compliance and sustainability teams are all grappling with the issue of how to gain visibility of their supply chain beyond their direct suppliers and how to ensure sustainable practices further down the chain and the COVID-19 crisis are not making things easier. 

Dash-for-cash: The short term tactic that will do more harm than good

During recent times, supply chains and supplier relationships have been tested like never before, putting the Chief Procurement Officer centre-stage and in the spotlight to find solutions as businesses try to protect operations, revenue and profitability. Throughout the Covid-19 crisis we’ve seen many procurement teams adopt a so-called “dash for cash” response (i.e. a classic cost-out initiative) - whilst not a surprising response to a crisis it’s a very short term in focus and easy to do. There are many levers available for such an approach (control demand, change the specification, limit usage, aggregate spend and so on). Yes, cost-out has the potential to yield results quickly and it will help the bottom line but it can do a lot of damage at the same time - the kind of damage that is difficult to undo.

We’re not saying that cost-out is intrinsically a bad thing, but how it is done is crucially important. It’s often used without fully appreciating the wider consequences - it hurts supplier margin and it kills the goodwill in supplier relationships. And as we slowly work towards post-Covid recovery, an organisation that just a few months ago acted with scant regard for its suppliers will probably not be a ‘customer of choice’ to those same suppliers going forward.

Working in the time of COVID – what will stay what will go?

There can be little doubt that the Covid-19 pandemic has been the most significant, and perhaps the most traumatic experience many of us will have had in our lives. It has and will continue to have a huge impact on us as individuals, as a society and as a workforce.

Catch the tiger by the tail – managing major consulting organisations

You’ve heard the story before, a new executive has joined the business, has ignored all processes and bought in ‘their favourite consulting company’ to review operations and they started 3 weeks ago….

Managing consulting and professional services organisations is a challenge almost every organisation grapples with. It is often compounded by the consulting company having contacts, relationships and often alumni at all levels of your organisation, meaning that, to manage them effectively, you also need to manage your own internal stakeholders effectively as well. Here we look at the common challenges faced in managing consulting companies and some techniques to help you.

Claim and counterclaim tell the story of a failing relationship

The best supplier relationships build value for both parties. The worst end up in court. That’s where car rental company Hertz found itself with Accenture. It had waited three years for the global consultancy firm to build a new website and mobile apps it was happy with.

You don't need to be a rocket scientist to understand the benefits of SRM

NASA_banner_2

Given the difficulty of its missions, NASA might be expected to lead in risk management. But in some cases it does not. The space agency has lost nearly $700 million after using faulty materials to build two rockets that were supposed to deliver satellites studying the Earth’s climate during 2009 and 2011.

Mergers and cost cutting: careful what you wish for

Times are tough for the manufacturers of our most beloved childhood snacks. Not only are organic and healthy foods attracting consumers’ attentions, many firms are also challenged with rising costs. Stock values have performed poorly across the sector, but Kraft Heinz, which owns brands from Cadbury Crème Eggs to Kraft Singles cheese slices, has experienced an especially severe period.

What’s trending in sustainable procurement?

1