What Is Ethical Sourcing?
Ethical sourcing is defined by principles and practices of any given company. The concept of ethical sourcing lies at the heart of any decision for an ethical consumer to part with their money and invest in a product.
Ethical sourcing is about integrating sustainability, social responsibility and ethical business practice into a company’s supply chain processes.
It means ensuring suppliers step up to the place with regards to sustainability and the rest; and that means developing effective mechanisms and coherent policy on the nuts and bolts of ethical practice.
Ethical sourcing is an increasingly important issue for UK business because the failure to create a coherent ethical sourcing policy can have a negative impact on a brand.
How Does A Business Create An Ethical Sourcing Policy?
For a company to be a fairtrade company or to be regarded as an ethical company by consumers it needs to develop a coherent code of practice around its approach to ethical sourcing. It’s not just enough to have a mission statement spelling out intent. There needs to be a clear guideline for business managers, supply chain operatives, clients and partners with regards to what is acceptable and what is not from an ethical investment point of view; and particularly what the consequences are for any deviation from the ethical code of conduct and how it applies to suppliers.
What Issues Affect Ethical Sourcing?
In today’s more ethically aware business environment and with ethical consumer pressure mounting; companies in general feel the need and the pressure to be more squeaky-clean; although for some organisations it has clearly been a priority for a long time.
The demands of consumers are becoming more and more focused around ethical products though so ethical sourcing provides questions for company directors and supply chain managers to ask about what they stand for as a company.
Specifically though, how should they implement their ethical codes of conduct for the sourcing of materials, products etc? and what issues are the most important to them?
Ethical Sourcing can include any number of issues:
- Worker Rights
- Environmental Impact
- Animal Welfare
- Moral Ethics
- Supporting Developing Economies
- Fair Trading Relationships
- Human Rights
At the heart of many companies’ ethical sourcing and trading policy concerns though is the issue of operating in a world where much of the trade is to the detrimental impact of people from poorer nations with at times severe impact on their health and livelihoods.
Drafting Ethical Sourcing Policy
Ensuring products are produced and delivered under conditions that do not involve the abuse or exploitation of workers and respect the environment is likely to form the basis of drafting ethical sourcing policy.
The implementation of ethical sourcing codes could involve criteria such as:
- Having the least negative possible impact on the environment.
- Promoting good labour standards in the supply chains.
- Preventing damage to the company’s reputation.
- Ensuring employment is freely chosen; with no coerced workers.
- Living wages are paid.
- Working conditions are safe.
- No child labour is involved.
- Working hours are not excessive.
- Processes are monitored to ensure no undue wastage of materials including energy use.
- Conservation, including land and sea, is respected.
Ethical sourcing codes of conduct are likely to become more of a way of life for companies as business partnerships become ever more global and intricate; and consumers become increasingly ethically aware.
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ives are based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. In the tradition of their founders, co-operative members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others.
Famous Co-ops
The world’s largest consumer co-operative business is the Co-operative Group in the UK, which offers a variety of retail services – its corner shops and supermarkets – and financial and funeral services: the Co-operative Bank and Co-operative Funeral Parlours
John Lewis, leading UK department store chain, is employee owned although not officially a co-op.
Other famous UK co-operatives include Suma Foods, the UK’s largest workers co-operative.
There are many other successful large scale co-ops in other countries.