The way we organize ourselves to meet our objectives as individuals, families, communities, and countries has evolved. We create organizations to achieve goals that we could not achieve individually. For several organizations, these goals have evolved from a profit generation perspective to a more responsible approach that considers economic growth without putting society and the environment at risk.
This awareness of economic, social, and environmental balance has different sources associated with the needs of different stakeholders:
Consumers: are increasingly aware of the impact they have on the environment every time they make a purchasing decision.
Investors: each day, more and more of them seek to place their capital in sustainable businesses
Competitors: sustainability is already a differentiating element for many organizations and will increasingly be an essential element to guarantee their viability
Governments: are implementing new regulations in the markets in which the organization operates. Sometimes these requirements can also come from non-governmental organizations.
Regardless of the external pressures that an organization may have to adopt practices that promote sustainable development, the company’s own culture, purpose, and values create a favorable environment for adopting best practices. People play a fundamental role in the success of projects and initiatives and the commitment of an organization is directly related to the desire of each of its members to be better citizens and contribute to the achievement of a better future for all.
To carry out a real sustainable sourcing, organizations must design a strategy that begins by understanding the needs of their stakeholders; procurement areas must identify what is the gap between the current capabilities a
For several years now, companies have adopted sustainable practices. Let us remember that the concept of sustainable development appeared in 1987 with the publication of the Brundtland Report, which warned of the negative environmental impacts that industrialization, population growth, and globalization were generating and proposed a series of solutions to these problems.
Starting in 2015, as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, all UN member countries committed to achieving seventeen goals (SDGs) that are defined as an ‘a call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and improve the lives and prospects of people around the world.
This type of global commitment allows all entities worldwide (governments, companies, non-governmental organizations) to align, join forces, and have common ground on which to work. Thanks to the SDGs, organizations have a clear guide that allows them to identify where a positive impact can be generated and define an action plan to achieve it.
Each company will have to make its decision as to which Sustainable Development Goals it should support, they should be those where we consider that we have the greatest impact and capacity to influence various interest groups to contribute with actions, projects, and resources to achieve them.
The sustainability Strategy
Once the organization assumes these commitments, it must align the efforts of each of its areas, departments, divisions, or business units. The definition of a shared strategy is key to generating a common language and ensuring that each of the business processes makes the necessary adjustments to incorporate new practices, new decision criteria, and even a new work culture.
Sustainable Supply
Suppliers play a key role in achieving these results. It is not enough for an organization to do its best to meet its sustainability objectives if its suppliers are not committed to meeting them.
Consumers are not going to judge our product only based on what its manufacturer has managed to do to make it as sustainable as possible, they are going to look at everything that has happened throughout the supply chain to determine and judge whether a Product delivers what it promises.
Procurement areas have two key roles in executing the sustainability strategy. The first one is to work with suppliers that show real commitment to working toward common goals. Usually, the suppliers considered ‘strategic’ were those that represent a higher percentage of the total spend of the company, but nowadays we should have additional criteria to determine which suppliers can join us on the sustainability journey.
The second one is to ensure that the company’s ingredients, materials, and products generate the least possible environmental impact. It is necessary to carry out a life cycle analysis of its ingredients and materials from the beginning of the product design. If the product incorporates an ingredient whose origin is from another country, we will have to consider, for example, the impact generated by all the means of transportation that will be used to get the material to the production plant and additionally, the impact that will generate in the rest of the supply chain to get it to the consumer.
To carry out real sustainable sourcing, organizations must design a strategy that begins by understanding the needs of their stakeholders; procurement areas must identify what is the gap between the current capabilities and the ones needed to guarantee a sustainable supply of products and services. Finally, it is important to select the right partners to accompany us on the sustainability journey.
