Buyer / Supplier Collaboration on Sustainability

GEMI Quick Guide provides a short, easy-to-read view of how companies can engage with their suppliers in more collaborative ways to create shared value.

PDF, 13 pages.

The GEMI Quick Guide: Strategic Buyer / Supplier Collaboration on Sustainability provides a short, easy-to-read view of how companies can engage with their suppliers in more collaborative ways to create shared value. The Quick Guide is intended to:

• Offer a framework for advancing buyer / supplier engagement on sustainability along with examples that inspire action; and
• Support discussion within your organization, and with your suppliers and customers, about how to achieve greater business value from deeper collaboration.

Various drivers are pushing companies to assess the sustainability performance of their suppliers. For some, this is in response to their customers asking them to complete surveys or perform audits, and they then extend the information request to their suppliers. Some companies seek to uncover and better manage risks in their supply chain that could impact business continuity and reputation.

GEMI’s Responsible Supply Chain Guiding Principles provide a framework for buyer/supplier collaboration on sustainability:

• Relevance
• Transparency
• Accountability
• Scalability
• Inform Decision-Making
• Commitment to Shared Value
• Collaboration

For each of the seven Guiding Principles, there are two short examples of how companies have put them into practice, moving beyond the theoretical to the practical. These highlight how thoughtful and strategic engagement can reduce the burden on suppliers and deliver improved sustainability performance for both buyers and suppliers.