SUSTAINABILTY
LS BLE
Responsible sourcing is a conscious effort made by organisations to ensure that , at each stage of the supply chain , goods and services are produced or executed in an ethical , sustainable and sociallyconscious way .
“ If you look at the disruption that ’ s taken place over the past two years , the foundations of responsible sourcing and supply chain resilience are very closely related ,” says Jonathan Laverentz , head of digital innovation , Tradeshift , Inc .
“ Could an organisation say they were truly responsible when , until the pandemic , most large organisations based their entire supply chain and procurement strategy on the premise that ‘ nothing bad will ever happen ’? Similarly , is it really responsible to ship parts and materials back and forth across the world , rather than looking at more diverse , localised production methods ?
“ The pandemic cast a pretty damning spotlight on what happens when you build supply chains hardwired for cost savings and efficiency gains . Ultimately , if something is cheap , someone or something somewhere is paying for it – likely in less than responsible ways ,” adds Laverentz .
What makes responsible sourcing fundamental to procurement and the supply chain ? In today ’ s modern business environment , it is becoming increasingly clear that those companies with solid ESG credentials fared better during the pandemic than those who didn ’ t . “ In other words , resilience and ESG go hand-in-hand ,” says Laverentz .
“ Even if we strip out moral and ethical considerations from this discussion ,
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