Ethical trade – whose responsibility is it?
27 October 2008 | Steve Bagshaw
The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), a group of retailers, brands, trade unions, charities and campaign organisations working to promote and improve ethical trade, had its 10th anniversary conference last week. ETI chairman Alan Roberts has previously said: “Chief executives need to start talking about ethical trade in the same breath as profits, not consigning it to some philanthropic department at the end of the corridor.” Do you agree? Who is responsible for driving ethical trading in your organisation? As a buyer, do you see this as one of your core responsibilities?
By Delwyn Cummack
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I do agree, Chief Executes should be educated by purchasing to understand that they should be asking about this. Sadly, it is so often left to marketing to push the importance of this. We are the ones as buyers that have the knowledge to know better and it is our responsibility as purchasing professionals (as taught in CIPS) to do it. People who really care about ethical buying often complain about ‘Green Wash’ claims of a product having some ‘green’ credentials, we can change this and I think we want to but often there is not enough time given to research the products we are buying and the alternatives. I’m Head of Ethical Print Purchasing for inkpm.biz and I’ve successfully got my MD chasing me for updates and I’m really pleased with myself for it. I think that’s the responsibility of purchasing; to educate the companies we work for and our suppliers to change.
Absolutely agree. If we aren’t taking responsibility for ethical buying then we are guilty of unethical practice, and no-one would really stand up and take credit for that.
We can drive change across the organisations we belong to, and influence client departments in procurement matters, so ethical trading has to be a core issue and not left to a third department trying to exert influence on the process.
Procurement professionals must consider, and take the lead on ethical trading issues. However when taking these on-board it is vital that the Procurement team answers two questions a) do we accurately reflect the culture of the organisation we represent; and b) how do we best progress given the scope of our influence?
For the fist point, if you want to show real leadership, make change happen, and influence business practices – you have to do so in a way that fits the culture of the organisation you work in and contributes to its long-term success. Ethical improvement requires a journey, not a soultion.
On the second point, I firmly believe that delivering a truly effective Procurement performance is more likely to lead to Board-level recognition, and therefore long-term influence. It should be remembered that a high proportion of ‘at risk’ sourcing (e.g. clothes from developing countries) are sourced by people who are highly skilled, but do not engage with CIPS. Will they be influenced by a Procurement team that source FSC-certified desks, or one that the Board sees as a highly effective team that delivers?