Proactive Supply Chain Management
In India it is mandatory for companies to comply with an extensive series of Corporate Social Responsibility policies. For this reason, some of my consultancy work has focussed on companies in that region.
There are a number of international ESG standards which companies around the world adhere to. The most common are the UN Sustainable Development Goals and ISO Standards (such as ISO 20400 relating to Sustainable Procurement). However, the way companies relate to these standards varies on a variety of internal and external factors including size, location and sector. Often one of the most important factors in how they develop policies relates to whether or not it is mandatory or voluntary.
Photo by Jacob Braun
For example, I have noticed that, in general, when I work with larger companies in the US, Canada or the UK, they tend to prefer me to give them workshops (either face-to-face or online) and then produce policies collaboratively with in-house teams over a period of months.
Some of the smaller Canadian businesses and Indian companies I have worked with often come to me because they have to comply with very specific regulations. They have set deadlines and therefore need very specific advice created urgently. For this reason, those companies often request that I produce a series of newsletters or booklets aligned to whatever they are trying to comply with. They hire me because they want a collection of examples and case studies that demonstrate best practice and then adapt the information themselves. They also often choose this approach because it gives them more control and is more cost effective.
Below is a newsletter excerpt from a newsletter I wrote to support companies in developing Whistleblowing and Anti-Corruption policies for their Supply Chains.
Specifically, the document(s) should clearly outline what detailed and concrete steps would be taken to investigate third-parties the company engages with (ie suppliers, vendors, commission agents, brokers, sales representatives, distributors, contractors, customs brokers, consultants) to ensure anti-corruption compliance as well as to proactively prevent third-party corruption incidents.
While this sounds like a complicated and daunting process, many smaller companies have a one or two page policy document alongside questionnaire they require all third parties to fill out as part of their legal due diligence process.
Here is an excellent booklet that goes into further depth about all the main issues you need to consider regarding managing risk in your supply chain (they use the term "third parties").
Information: Research and understand all the information you are legally required to provide, and feel as a company you want to collect, for Due Diligence. Consider what additional information may tie-in with the additional initiatives such as Sustainable Procurement that we will cover in additional sections. For those reasons, think about asking for information about thord party vendor owner gender, race, environmental practices etc.
Questions: For Anti-Corruption purposes, it helps if you ask questions in ways that are quantifiable. This is because it makes it easier to present the data you receive into charts later which is often how you will be asked to report this information. Therefore, when designing these questionnaires, think about not only what information you need but also how you will need to report on it in the future to your stakeholders and in Annual Reports.
For example, some of your supply chain producers may not be certified as Fair Trade or Organic but may follow permaculture practices or are significantly committed to some other forms of sustainable practices. Others may not be female-owned but are female-run and or have a much higher than usual percentage of women managers which is one reason you value working with them. How are you going to ask questions that allow you to report on these nuances and grey zones?
Collect and Report: Decide who needs to see the information, at what depth, how often you will present it to them and - most crucially - where they will interact with it. This, and the rest of the information you are gathering, will usually eventually end up on a webpage, presentation or in an Annual Report.
Even with the best of intentions on all sides, all that carefully collected information is rarely read. This is especially true when it is presented with technical vocabulary or numerically. Consider ways to meaningfully engage your stakeholders throughout the process rather than just in order to dump information to tick end-of-year boxes.
Further installments of my newsletter helped give ideas about what transparent Corporate Responsibility data collection might look like and how to engage stakeholders more meaningfully when revising supply chain protocols and procedures.
There are a number of international ESG standards which companies around the world adhere to. The most common are the UN Sustainable Development Goals and ISO Standards (such as ISO 20400 relating to Sustainable Procurement). However, the way companies relate to these standards varies on a variety of internal and external factors including size, location and sector. Often one of the most important factors in how they develop policies relates to whether or not it is mandatory or voluntary.
For example, I have noticed that, in general, when I work with larger companies in the US, Canada or the UK, they tend to prefer me to give them workshops (either face-to-face or online) and then produce policies collaboratively with in-house teams over a period of months.
Some of the smaller Canadian businesses and Indian companies I have worked with often come to me because they have to comply with very specific regulations. They have set deadlines and therefore need very specific advice created urgently. For this reason, those companies often request that I produce a series of newsletters or booklets aligned to whatever they are trying to comply with. They hire me because they want a collection of examples and case studies that demonstrate best practice and then adapt the information themselves. They also often choose this approach because it gives them more control and is more cost effective.
Below is a newsletter excerpt from a newsletter I wrote to support companies in developing Whistleblowing and Anti-Corruption policies for their Supply Chains.
Ethical Supply Chains Newsletter
Anti-corruption due diligence Each company is required to not only have a clear anti-corruption policy, it must also have a program relating to third parties (often related to your supply chain vendors and associated service providers) in place.Specifically, the document(s) should clearly outline what detailed and concrete steps would be taken to investigate third-parties the company engages with (ie suppliers, vendors, commission agents, brokers, sales representatives, distributors, contractors, customs brokers, consultants) to ensure anti-corruption compliance as well as to proactively prevent third-party corruption incidents.
While this sounds like a complicated and daunting process, many smaller companies have a one or two page policy document alongside questionnaire they require all third parties to fill out as part of their legal due diligence process.
Here is an excellent booklet that goes into further depth about all the main issues you need to consider regarding managing risk in your supply chain (they use the term "third parties").
Information: Research and understand all the information you are legally required to provide, and feel as a company you want to collect, for Due Diligence. Consider what additional information may tie-in with the additional initiatives such as Sustainable Procurement that we will cover in additional sections. For those reasons, think about asking for information about thord party vendor owner gender, race, environmental practices etc.
Questions: For Anti-Corruption purposes, it helps if you ask questions in ways that are quantifiable. This is because it makes it easier to present the data you receive into charts later which is often how you will be asked to report this information. Therefore, when designing these questionnaires, think about not only what information you need but also how you will need to report on it in the future to your stakeholders and in Annual Reports.
For example, some of your supply chain producers may not be certified as Fair Trade or Organic but may follow permaculture practices or are significantly committed to some other forms of sustainable practices. Others may not be female-owned but are female-run and or have a much higher than usual percentage of women managers which is one reason you value working with them. How are you going to ask questions that allow you to report on these nuances and grey zones?
Collect and Report: Decide who needs to see the information, at what depth, how often you will present it to them and - most crucially - where they will interact with it. This, and the rest of the information you are gathering, will usually eventually end up on a webpage, presentation or in an Annual Report.
Even with the best of intentions on all sides, all that carefully collected information is rarely read. This is especially true when it is presented with technical vocabulary or numerically. Consider ways to meaningfully engage your stakeholders throughout the process rather than just in order to dump information to tick end-of-year boxes.
Further installments of my newsletter helped give ideas about what transparent Corporate Responsibility data collection might look like and how to engage stakeholders more meaningfully when revising supply chain protocols and procedures.
