Does Your Organization Have a Proactive and Responsible Green Procurement Policy?
Does your organization or business have a proactive and responsible Green procurement policy with which it drives forward a sustainable procurement strategy to reduce risk and drive performance and eco-innovation within the entire supply chain? If the answer is no, there are many advantages and benefits in having a proactive policy in place - benefits that filter through to all stakeholders within the supply chain at both a local and global level.
Procurement officers and buyers within companies and organizations are only now scratching the surface and beginning to understand the advantages and benefits that derive from uncovering the best practices for engaging suppliers on sustainability. It is a sad indictment of modern business practices worldwide that the supplier tends to have the major input in the day-to-day operations of their clients; shouldn't it be the other way around? This, however, is easier said than done in practice. It can be quite daunting and time consuming to ascertain and check out the green credential (if any) of suppliers that are, sometimes, on the other side of the planet. A better practice than merely monitoring suppliers in a global marketplace is to engage them as stakeholders, rather than as merely suppliers, in implementing green policies and sustainable practices throughout THEIR supply chain. Now is the time to implement policies that feature engagement and collaboration as key features.
However, before a company or organization starts to engage and require their suppliers to adopt sustainable and responsible practices, operating under the old adage "do as I say, not as I do" can cause more than a little discomfort! Therefore, it's essential that companies and organizations look internally at their own environmental, procurement, sales, and social practices before having the temerity and audacity to require those around them to conform.
Internally, one needs to prepare the staff engaged in the internal buying department, or procurement department; train them and reeducate them in their role in implementing sustainable practice within every link of the chain. Indeed, without their full participation, the purchasing function and internal sustainable purchasing objectives cannot be met, and the chain will break before any of the links can even start to be forged together
EcoVadis has set in motion a collaborative platform that affords procurement teams and buyers the necessary tools with which to assess the environmental and social performance and impact of their suppliers on a global basis. Creating a first link in the green supply chain in implementing a green procurement strategy brings benefits and advantages that immediately start to filter through, forging a strong sustainable supplier chain. Further and more detailed information can be obtained from the EcoVadis website: http://www.ecovadis.com/website/l-en/home.aspx.
Procurement officers and buyers within companies and organizations are only now scratching the surface and beginning to understand the advantages and benefits that derive from uncovering the best practices for engaging suppliers on sustainability. It is a sad indictment of modern business practices worldwide that the supplier tends to have the major input in the day-to-day operations of their clients; shouldn't it be the other way around? This, however, is easier said than done in practice. It can be quite daunting and time consuming to ascertain and check out the green credential (if any) of suppliers that are, sometimes, on the other side of the planet. A better practice than merely monitoring suppliers in a global marketplace is to engage them as stakeholders, rather than as merely suppliers, in implementing green policies and sustainable practices throughout THEIR supply chain. Now is the time to implement policies that feature engagement and collaboration as key features.
However, before a company or organization starts to engage and require their suppliers to adopt sustainable and responsible practices, operating under the old adage "do as I say, not as I do" can cause more than a little discomfort! Therefore, it's essential that companies and organizations look internally at their own environmental, procurement, sales, and social practices before having the temerity and audacity to require those around them to conform.
Internally, one needs to prepare the staff engaged in the internal buying department, or procurement department; train them and reeducate them in their role in implementing sustainable practice within every link of the chain. Indeed, without their full participation, the purchasing function and internal sustainable purchasing objectives cannot be met, and the chain will break before any of the links can even start to be forged together
EcoVadis has set in motion a collaborative platform that affords procurement teams and buyers the necessary tools with which to assess the environmental and social performance and impact of their suppliers on a global basis. Creating a first link in the green supply chain in implementing a green procurement strategy brings benefits and advantages that immediately start to filter through, forging a strong sustainable supplier chain. Further and more detailed information can be obtained from the EcoVadis website: http://www.ecovadis.com/website/l-en/home.aspx.
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