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NINIAN WILSON – STANDING TALL WITH VODAFONE’S THREE PILLARS (PART 2)
Procurement With Purpose
April 30, 2021
In Part 1 we talked to Ninian Wilson, CPO at Vodafone, about how the organisation is embedding sustainable and purposeful behaviours into its procurement activities and its supply chain. (Part 1 is here)
Sustainability, Climate Change, and Carbon Capture: Three Must-Read Articles for Business Leaders
LinkedIn
February 25, 2023
As the world continues to grapple with the urgent challenges of sustainability and climate change, business leaders must stay informed and take action to address these issues. Here are three must-read articles that provide valuable insights into these challenges and the latest developments in sustainability and carbon capture.
HOW DO WE FEEL ABOUT THE OIL INDUSTRY?
Procurement With Purpose
February 07, 2023
If you care about the environment and climate change, it is easy to be negative about the oil and gas industry and its component companies. We need to transition to renewable energy as quickly as possible, and carbon emissions are rising again, with potentially horrible consequences for the planet and its people. Firms that extract and produce oil and gas are deeply embedded in the whole process of producing emissions.
FAKE MEAT - GREAT IDEA, BUT IS THE WORLD READY?
Procurement With Purpose
January 31, 2023
If you are at all interested in healthy eating, veganism and the future of food, this recent article by Denna Shanker published by Bloomberg is an absolute must read (but you may need to register to get a free article per week and access it on their website).
GETTING HOT, HOT, HOT - TEMPERATURE RECORDS BROKEN ACROSS EUROPE
Procurement With Purpose
January 03, 2023
The New Year has dawned, and after record low temperatures in the US just before Christmas, we are currently seeing new highs in Europe for the first week of January. The warmest January day ever was recorded in many European countries including Poland, Denmark, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Belarus, Lithuania and Latvia, according to data from climatologist Maximiliano Herrera, who tracks extreme temperatures.
COP15 on Biodiversity - Success or Failure?
Procurement With Purpose
December 22, 2022
The COP15 UN Biodiversity Conference, COP15, took place in Montreal last week. It produced an outcome that most observers see as positive for the future of the environment and the planet’s living creatures.
NEW ACCENTURE REPORT ON SCOPE 3 IS THOUGHT-PROVOKING AND HIGHLIGHTS A BIG QUESTION
Procurement With Purpose
December 16, 2022
Another interesting and useful report (with a few caveats) concerning carbon emissions was published recently. The title and sub-title signpost the content pretty well – “Thought you knew the Scope 3 issues in your supply chain? Think again. Gaining visibility to hidden hot spots to move from targets to action to value.”
THE KEY STAKEHOLDERS FOR SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS
Procurement With Purpose
December 06, 2022
This is a short extract from the book, “Procurement with Purpose - How organisations can change the way they spend money now to protect the planet and its people”. Available from Brown Dog here or all good online retailers.
HARVARD - TURNING SUPPLIER DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION FROM CONCEPT INTO REALITY
Procurement With Purpose
October 24, 2022
At the recent Jaggaer Rev conference in Nashville, there was considerable focus on sustainable and purposeful procurement (hence my keynote). Procurement technology firm Jaggaer is certainly getting behind that agenda and there is a genuine commitment to the cause from their senior people I spoke to at the event.
Tags: Supply Chain, Procurement, Diversity and Inclusion
HOW KALEIDA SUPPORTS SUPPLIER DIVERSITY - JASON ROBERTS TELLS ALL
Procurement With Purpose
October 13, 2022
Jason Roberts was brought up in Brixton by his single-parent Caribbean mother, then worked for over two decades in financial services. He started in IT before moving into selling technology into the sector, with some success. As a young, tall (6ft 5in) black guy, he had some “interesting” experiences, being told once told by a boss to be aware of the impact he had on others – “remember you’re a big guy, you’re a big black guy” following an incident in a corporate office. The implication was that colleagues might be somehow worried by his presence - for some reason, that never happened to me (5ft 7in white guy) when I worked in that sector!
Tags: Supply Chain, Procurement, Diversity and Inclusion
NO-ONE SAID PROCUREMENT WITH PURPOSE WOULD BE EASY
Procurement With Purpose
October 04, 2022
There have been several interesting news items recently that might give support to those who see the ESG movement as something of a con or a waste of time. I’d prefer to look at them differently. ESG, sustainable / purposeful procurement and related issues are all pretty new to us ideas really. We are all learning about the complexities involved, and therefore it is inevitable that some initiatives will prove to be less useful than others. There will also be fraud in places, until we get better at spotting that, and some people who see opportunities to make a quick buck.
Tags: Sustainability, Procurement, Renewable Energy
AVOIDING SOCIAL VALUE BARRIERS TO ENTRY
Procurement With Purpose
September 10, 2022
As the concept of looking for “social value” in public sector procurement becomes established, attention has turned to the practicalities of making it work in the intended manner. There are tricky issues which we have discussed around scoring the social value elements of bids and tenders. There are also risks that if buyers aren’t careful, social value considerations (including environmental demands, human rights accreditation and other factors we see cropping up now in procurement) might become barriers to entry, working against smaller, younger or less well-resourced potential suppliers. It would be ironic if “social value” made it harder for social enterprises, minority-owned firms and the like to actually win contracts!
PUBLIC PROCUREMENT NEEDS TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE
Procurement With Purpose
September 03, 2022
As I write this, we are only 48 hours away from knowing who our new Prime Minister is in the UK. Unless there is a huge shock – and the betting has the odds at about 90:10 probability - Liz Truss will be the winner.
US "INFLATION ACT" COMMITS BILLIONS TO CLIMATE ACTIONS
Procurement With Purpose
August 12, 2022
It’s not unusual for me to write something here that includes a phrase such as “this is all more complicated than it first seems”. That applies to everything from assessing social value in supplier bids to understanding whether re-forestation projects are really worthwhile.
SHOULD SOCIAL VALUE IN BIDS BE CONVERTED INTO FINANCIAL VALUE?
Procurement With Purpose
July 21, 2022
In the years since I became interested in procurement with purpose – and the parallel “social value” approach in the UK public sector – I’ve felt uncertain about one important issue. I touched on it in the book, but as social value becomes more prevalent in public procurement, and the weightings attached to it in supplier selection decisions increase, it becomes more and more critical.
NHS BLACK COUNTRY ALLIANCE - MAKING A DIFFERENCE WITH SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT
Procurement With Purpose
July 07, 2022
Last week we commented on the CIPS SM Awards and the shortlisted entries for the Sustainability Project of the Year. Should the awards recognise grand strategies and long-term ambitions, or smaller-scale initiatives that actually deliver more immediate benefits? That was the question we asked, based on the disappointment suffered by the UK National Health Service (NHS) Black Country Alliance (BCA) procurement team, who weren’t shortlisted despite being leaders in how the NHS is implementing carbon reduction on the journey to net zero
CIPS SUSTAINABILITY PROJECT OF THE YEAR - ASPIRATION OR ACHIEVEMENT
Procurement With Purpose
June 28, 2022
How will the battle against climate change be fought and – let’s hope – eventually won?
Will it be through big, bold strategies, commitments and plans, announced with fanfare by CEOs and politicians? Or through thousands – maybe millions - of smaller decision and actions taken by all of us, by the organisations we work for and the governments that represent us?
WORKER WELFARE IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN – CREATING A LASTING IMPACT
Procurement With Purpose
June 06, 2022
How can businesses most effectively respect and promote the rights and welfare of workers employed in the supply chain? That is a big and challenging question for procurement with purpose.
Yunus Social Business - Davos discussion and a taster for a new report
Procurement With Purpose
May 27, 2022
Unfortunately, my invite to this week’s World Economic Forum from Obama, Bill, and my other billionaire / political leader friends did not materialise. But I did get invited to tune in virtually to a panel discussion held at Davos with Yunus Social Business (YSB), titled “The Opportunity of Social Procurement”, and held in partnership with software leaders SAP.
AMAZON DEFORESTATION CONTINUES AT A RECORD PACE
Procurement With Purpose
May 09, 2022
“Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon surged to record levels for the month of April, nearly doubling the area of forest removed in that month last year – the previous April record – preliminary government data has shown, alarming environmental campaigners. In the first 29 days of April, deforestation in the region totalled 1,012.5 square km (390 square miles), according to data from national space research agency Inpe …”
WESTMINSTER HEALTH FORUM - "THE BIGGEST NHS TRANSFORMATION EVER"
Procurement With Purpose
April 26, 2022
Last week I tuned in to the online Westminster Health Forum policy conference – “The way forward for net-zero health services”. The chairs were members of Parliament Philip Dunne and Nadia Whittome, and the agenda covered a wide range of topics, including sustainability and net zero issues connected with property, public health, facilities management, supply chain and medical equipment and processes.
BUSINESS PURPOSE MEANS MORE THAN STATEMENTS ON WEBSITES
Procurement With Purpose
March 21, 2022
Last week, P&O Ferries dismissed 800 of their UK staff who worked on their ships between the UK, Ireland and the European continent. Staff were in some cases forcibly remove from the boats with security personal employed to “facilitate” that process. In place of the 800, P&O has hired “agency staff” who will work under less favourable terms and conditions. £2.60 an hour is being quoted as the new wage rate. Many will come from eastern Europe or south-east Asia and will work for well below UK minimum wage.
THREE PWP EVENTS COMING UP - TWO NEXT WEEK
Procurement With Purpose
March 15, 2022
Three events to tell you about.
Next Monday, March 21st (the spring equinox, no less) has been designated “World Sustainable Procurement Day” by the team at the Sustainable Procurement Pledge initiative. There is an impressive-looking range of virtual events throughout the day, with quite a range of Procurement with Purpose topics, from Scope 3 emissions to social value and diversity in the supply chain. Some are sector or industry specific – such as “Chemical Supply Chains for a Better World” and some are topic related such as the fascinating-sounding “How students and young professionals transform corporate supply chains for the better”. You can register for sessions here – all free of charge as far as I can see.
Vizibl: Securing a sustainable future for your organisation
Sustainability Magazine
March 06, 2022
Mark Perera, CEO, Vizibl discusses how organisations can secure a sustainable future for their operations, looking at both supplier and customer emissions
SUPPORTING SOCIAL ENTERPRISES - A WORTHWHILE ELEMENT OF ANY "PURPOSE" PROGRAMME
Procurement With Purpose
February 21, 2022
I’ve seen several UK public sector tenders this year and the inclusion of social value factors in the evaluation process is really becoming established. That “social value” terminology is very broad in this context, incorporating potentially the full range of what we classify as environmental, social and economic issues in our Procurement with Purpose book.
SOCIAL BUSINESS - NOTES FROM SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT PLEDGE WEBINAR
Procurement With Purpose
January 29, 2022
The Sustainable Procurement Pledge (SPP) was created by Thomas Udesen (CPO at Bayer) and Bertrand Conquéret (CPO at Henkel) in 2019. It is a relatively informal network of procurement professionals who sign up to the “Pledge” – whilst it doesn’t require too much effort to join, it does at least show that you have some interest in the topic and there are now some 6000 members. With a new website too, SPP is now “an international bottom-up and non-profit organization for procurement professionals, academics and practitioners, driving awareness and knowledge on responsible sourcing practices and empowering people in procurement”.
UNILEVER IN THE PRESS, SHAREHOLDER VALUE IN FOCUS
Procurement With Purpose
January 17, 2022
There are good reasons why “Unilever” appears in the index for our Procurement with Purpose book more than any other commercial business. The firm has become a leader in the field of sustainable and purposeful business over the last 12 years, since Paul Polman as the then new CEO made bold commitments in a number of key environmental areas.
DON'T LET PROCUREMENT WITH PURPOSE CREATE BARRIERS FOR SUPPLIER
Procurement With Purpose
December 23, 2021
In my last article, I commented on the risk that firms may decide to leave public stock markets and seek investment from private equity and similar if large investors such as fud and pension managers stop investing based on somewhat questionable “ESG” requirements. Defence firms or even those supporting governments in areas such as immigration or justice management might find themselves shunned.
SOCIAL PROCUREMENT – READ ALL ABOUT IT!
Procurement With Purpose
December 05, 2021
The Social Procurement Manual has been developed to support and drive the use in the supply chain of organisations that have a social purpose of some sort. It is well-researched, written and presented, and will be useful to many. The authors describe the cause in this way:
PROCUREMENT WITH PURPOSE - PUBLICATION DAY!
Procurement With Purpose
November 29, 2021
Today is the official publication day of our book, Procurement with Purpose – How organisations can change the way they spend money NOW to protect the planet and its people”.
DON'T FORGET ABOUT GOVERNANCE - INTERVIEW WITH DAVID LOSEBY
Procurement With Purpose
November 25, 2021
David Loseby has been around the procurement world at senior levels for quite some time, and has also become an industry thought leader with strong academic credentials. He has acted as an editor for industry journals, and his doctorate which focused on behavioural science in a business context developed into a book, Soft Skills for Hard Business, published in 2018.
COP26 FINISHES - OR SHOULD WE SAY "PHASES DOWN"?
Procurement With Purpose
November 16, 2021
Thousands of exhausted policymakers, lobbyists, scientists and journalists, as well as Glasgow’s bar staff, taxi drivers and sex workers, all greeted the end of Cop26 with some relief, I suspect.
BIODIVERSITY AND NATURE - CEOS CALL ON GOVERNMENTS TO ACT NOW
Procurement With Purpose
October 12, 2021
We are getting close now to COP26, the global climate summit being held in Glasgow next month. But another important event in terms of biodiversity, nature and the future of our environment kicks off this week. The opening phase of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Cop15 meeting will be held in Kunming, in China, with most delegates attending virtually.
ENERGY CRISIS HIGHLIGHTS NET ZERO CHALLENGES
Procurement With Purpose
October 08, 2021
The full-on climate change deniers seem to have gone a bit quiet these days, as record temperatures, wildfires, floods and droughts sweep the planet. Similarly, there aren’t too many people around who think it’s a clever idea to continually increasing the amount of plastic we throw away into the oceans and landfill. However, there are major differences when it comes to the pace of change, a tension that is being heightened at this moment by the crisis in the energy markets of many countries.
Tags: Sustainability, Supply Chain, Climate Change, Renewable Energy
GREEN PACKAGING - HOTEL CHOCOLAT HIGHLIGHTS THE CHALLENGES
Procurement With Purpose
September 26, 2021
Life used to be simple. I was Head of Packaging Buying at Mars Confectionery back in the late 1980s and whilst I did have issues with continuity of supply, finding the best material for a combination of quality, price and customer attractiveness, I didn’t ever worry about the sustainability – or otherwise – of my packaging.
BEING ETHICAL IS TOUGH
Procurement With Purpose
August 30, 2021
The ethical issues we all face sometimes seem impossibly complex. As we get more into the purposeful business agenda, with procurement at the forefront of many of the key decisions, matters get more and more difficult. In summary, being ethical - for individuals, corporations, governments and even chaitieis - is tough.
SPEND MATTERS LOOKS AT ESG - TIMELINE AND TECH ANALYSIS
Procurement With Purpose
August 16, 2021
My old colleagues at Spend Matters have come up with a very good idea – a timeline for “Procurement /Supply Chain ESG Regulations Through The Years”.
It lays out some of the major milestones that focus on ESG (environmental, social, governance) in terms of government regulations, major reports and actions in those areas. It starts with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), put in place in 1977 in the US “to prohibit bribery payments to foreign officials that could influence obtaining or retaining businesses”.
ATTRACTING THE BEST INTO THE PROFESSION THROUGH PROCUREMENT WITH PURPOSE
Procurement With Purpose
August 06, 2021
How do we attract the brightest and the best into procurement and supply chain roles?
In these days where the “war for talent” is a real issue, that is a big question for any leading procurement function or leader. It is also relevant for CIPS and other professional bodies, and was the agenda item for a virtual meeting of CIPS Fellows the other day. Discussion included how to be successful at careers fairs, how to inform teachers and parents about procurement as well as getting to young people themselves, and the best way to communicate just how interesting these professions and jobs within them can be.
G20 FAILS TO AGREE CLIMATE CHANGE PACKAGE - RISK OF EXTREME WEATHER CONTINUES TO RISE
Procurement With Purpose
July 27, 2021
Reminders of what climate change means to the earth have been coming thick and fast in recent weeks, particularly in terms of our weather. The people of Northern Ireland – usually one of the wettest parts of the United Kingdom – saw its temperature record beaten three in a week, with 31.4°C on July 22nd.
CONSULTING FIRM PROXIMA MOVES INTO THE SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT SPACE
Procurement With Purpose
July 19, 2021
It feels like procurement consulting firm Proxima has been around forever, but actually it is “only” some 25 years or so. The firm morphed from an initial cost reduction focus to an outsourced service model, but in more recent years, the business has become one of the leading international consulting firms working across the procurement space.
PROCUREMENT AND DIVERSITY - GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS
Procurement With Purpose
July 11, 2021
Whilst issues around climate change and carbon tend to dominate the “sustainable procurement” agenda, we have always positioned “procurement with purpose” in the broadest possible way to incorporate issues around social and economic wider value as well as the critical environmental areas.
BUYING SOCIAL - A VALUABLE AND INSIGHTFUL NEW GUIDE FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION (COPY)
Procurement With Purpose
June 03, 2021
In many countries, public sector buyers are now looking to achieve more than just a “good product at a fair price”. Driven by central government as well as local politicians, the aim is to use public procurement to drive wider “social value”. That definition can cover issues from global concerns such as emissions or modern slavery, to much more local challenges - supporting employment in a town or city, or encouraging minority-owned businesses to bid for work in their locality.
THE KEY STAKEHOLDERS FOR SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS
Procurement With Purpose
May 17, 2021
Virtually all the senior procurement leaders we have interviewed for articles here have stressed the importance of working successfully with key stakeholders to develop successful procurement with purpose (PwP) programmes.
LOANHOOD – CAN FASHION AND SUSTAINABILITY BE COMPATIBLE?
Procurement With Purpose
May 06, 2021
“How did you first get interested in business purpose and sustainability?” That is a question we’ve asked everyone interviewed for this website. Jade McSorley gave perhaps the most unusual answer.
NINIAN WILSON – STANDING TALL WITH VODAFONE’S THREE PILLARS (PART 1)
Procurement With Purpose
April 21, 2021
Ninian Wilson is a well-known leader in the procurement world, a regular in the CIPS “Procurement Power List” and held senior roles from an early age at British Gas, Cable & Wireless, and the Royal Mail. He joined Vodafone back in 2009 and is now the Group Procurement Director and is also the CEO of the firm’s procurement company, so “I’m in the fortunate position that everyone in supply chain management in Vodafone reports into us in Luxembourg”.
Tags: Sustainability, Procurement, Diversity and Inclusion
BEWARE THE GREENWASH! MARK CARNEY UNDER FIRE FOR EMISSIONS CLAIM
Procurement With Purpose
April 15, 2021
Greenwash (v)- “the process of conveying a false impression or providing misleading information about how a company's products, process or practices are more environmentally sound than they really are. To make people believe that your company is doing more to protect the environment than it really is”. (Investopedia)
Tags: Sustainability, Procurement, Renewable Energy
April 6, 2021 WORKING WITH CHINA - PURPOSEFUL BUSINESS ISN'T ALWAYS EASY
Procurement With Purpose
April 06, 2021
This “purposeful business” thing isn’t as easy as it looks, as many large businesses are finding. The latest challenge comes as China is increasingly the subject of international criticism for its alleged treatment of the Muslim Uighur population in the “autonomous” north-western region of Xinjiang.
TESCO, HSBC AND DANONE IN THE PURPOSEFUL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
Procurement With Purpose
March 25, 2021
One of the core beliefs of this website and our “procurement with purpose” initiative generally is that business can and should be a force for positive change in terms of wider environmental, social and economic issues. That’s where we differ from themore extreme campaigners in areas such as climate change or evenmodern slavery.
ARE THE UNITED NATIONS SDGS ACTUALLY APPROPRIATE?
Procurement With Purpose
March 19, 2021
The United Nations has considered issues such as the environment as part of its brief for fifty years or so, going back to the 1972 UN Conference on Human Environment (the Stockholm Conference), which was called to tackle the pollution caused by global industrialisation during the 1960s and 70s. In more recent years, as the world tries to address these tough issues, the organisation has increased its efforts in terms of greater scope and more activity.
RUNNING TOWARDS NET ZERO WITH MARK SMITH OF BP
Procurement With Purpose
March 03, 2021
Deciding the right things to do from a sustainability or procurement with purpose viewpoint isn’t necessarily a hard task in itself. However, in the world of energy companies – particularly oil and gas – it is somewhat harder to excel when you’re dealing with exploration, extraction, processing and distribution.
Tags: Sustainability, Procurement, Renewable Energy
THE POWER OF PROCUREMENT WITH PURPOSE
Procurement With Purpose
February 23, 2021
It is possible and desirable for organisations to act within their own four walls in the spirit of sustainable and purposeful business. If they use natural resources, they can do so in a sustainable fashion. They should treat staff properly, and ensure that modern slavery, discrimination or human rights abuses are not taking place internally. They can look to recruit from disadvantaged or minority groups.
THE ECONOMICS OF BIODIVERSITY – CAN WE PUT A VALUE ON AN ELEPHANT?
Procurement With Purpose
February 15, 2021
Earlier this month, the Dasgupta Review was published. “The Economics of Biodiversity” is an independent review representing “a landmark contribution to our understanding of the relationship between nature and our economy”, according to Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England.
Tags: Sustainability, Procurement, Diversity and Inclusion
Top Five 2021 Key Procurement and Supply Chain Trends
LinkedIn
January 25, 2021
For many, the reality of our climate emergency was brought into sharp focus in 2020, as a result of, and even prior to, the escalation of the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, the worldwide financial sector understands that the investment risk of global warming is real and even before the pandemic, they had started to adjust their behaviour accordingly. This means that Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) frameworks have gone beyond a simple tick-box exercise.
POSITIVE IMPACT COMMERCE – AIMING TO SET STANDARDS FOR SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS
Procurement With Purpose
January 20, 2021
Let’s face it, there weren’t many positive aspects to 2020. But I did get the chance to meet and interview some really interesting, passionate, and smart people who care about various elements of the Procurement with Purpose agenda. Unfortunately, since February that has been online rather than over a beer or coffee, but you can’t have everything.
SOCIAL VALUE AND PUBLIC PROCUREMENT - WARNING NOTES PART 2
Procurement With Purpose
January 12, 2021
We talked in part 1 about the risk that selecting suppliers based to a large extent on their “social value” offer might lead to less-then-competent firms winning public sector work. That is true even without considering the spectre of fraud and corruption, which is my second area of concern.
Supplier Diversity Will Be A Primary Goal for CPOs in 2021
LinkedIn
January 09, 2021
This year, COVID-19 has disrupted businesses and global economies in extraordinary ways, unmasking a lack of resilience in our global supply chains. In fact, supply chains are being severely tested as they respond to the disruption of the pandemic, which has shone a light on under-investment in supply chain tools, technology, processes and people.
Why Procurement with Purpose is Set to be the ‘New Normal’
LinkedIn
December 28, 2020
The shock of COVID-19 has been felt all around the world, and it is having a disruptive impact on global supply chains. To this point, consulting and advisory firm Deloitte has questioned whether COVID-19 will become a “black swan” event that forces companies, and industries, to rethink and transform their supply chain model.
OLIVER HURREY – DRIVING COLLABORATION IN SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT
Procurement With Purpose
December 09, 2020
For many of us, awareness of environmental and sustainability issues in a business context has come relatively recently. But for Oliver Hurrey, it has been at the centre of pretty much his entire 20-year working life.
He got into the field first of all by organising events for the sustainability industry, then worked for 2degrees in various roles for some 10 years. 2degrees helps businesses work together through digital platforms and events, all aimed at driving sustainable business. He worked with huge firms such as Asda, Unilever and GSK, helping them “communicate sustainability goals to their supply chains”, he says.
A VEGAN FEAST ANYONE? GAUTHIER POINTS THE WAY
Procurement With Purpose
December 01, 2020
Some positives have emerged from the Covid pandemic. Whole new markets have been created from nothing, and organisations have shown commendable creativity and resilience in finding ways to survive and continue to trade. Those positive qualities will be needed for some time to come as we look to recover from the economic shocks we’ve seen in 2020, driven by lockdowns and restrictions on movement and activity.
Tags: Sustainability, Procurement, Business Continuity
CONSERVATION AND TECHNOLOGY ALIGNED – AN INTERVIEW WITH ALISON SMITH
Procurement With Purpose
November 24, 2020
Alison Smith’s interest in and commitment to conservation issues was sparked by a lifetime of international travel (her parents served with the UK Air Force in various countries) and a love of ocean diving. Visiting wonderful locations such as the Galapagos and Madagascar made her realise how fragile elements of our natural world really are. “You see it with island ecologies – they are a barometer for our effect on nature. They are particularly vulnerable to the way in which humans can change the ecosystem, and they will be amongst the first hit by rising sea levels”.
ANIMAL WELFARE ISSUES - AND WHO KNEW ABOUT DENMARK'S FUR FARMS?
Procurement With Purpose
November 17, 2020
The Covid pandemic has taught us many things, but one of the most surprising emerged last week with the news that mink kept on farms in Denmark have developed a new and potentially very dangerous type of “mutant coronavirus”, which has spread to humans. (Perhaps the animals really are trying to wipe out humankind?) That has led to restrictions on people from that country travelling to the UK, and other precautions are being taken with similar outbreaks reported in the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, Italy and the US.
UK WATER FIRMS CRITICISED FOR WORSENING PERFORMANCE – A WARNING TO “WILD SWIMMERS”!
Procurement With Purpose
November 11, 2020
One of my close friends, along with her family and others, regularly swims in the Thames – her partner is a serious triathlete and trains on the Henley to Maidenhead stretch. I’ve never been tempted to join them, being a poor swimmer and not fond of freezing water, but there are other dangers as well, as you might guess.
In October, the UK’s Environment Agency (EA) issued its annual assessment of the nine privatised water and sewerage companies, and its Chair, Emma Howard Boyd, said their performance continued to be unacceptable. Water companies in England were responsible for their worst levels of environmental pollution for five years in 2019, so matters appear to be getting worse rather than better.
CIPS PANEL DEBATES PROCUREMENT WITH PURPOSE – COLLABORATION OR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE?
Procurement With Purpose
November 06, 2020
CIPS (the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply) held its annual conference last week – virtually, of course, and free for members. 4000 people registered and whilst not that many tuned in on the day, it does highlight a major positive of virtual rather than live events – the opportunity for more people to enjoy high quality content without paying a large fee!
MARS SIMPLIFIES PALM OIL SUPPLY CHAIN - GOOD NEWS FOR THE ORANGUTANS?
Procurement With Purpose
October 20, 2020
Earlier this month, confectionery giant Mars announced that as part of its “Palm Positive Plan” it will reduce its number of palm oil suppliers, removing from the supply chain those that do not meet the required sustainability criteria. The firm is simplifying its supply chain, reducing the number of mills it uses from 1500 to fewer than 100 by 2021, and then aiming to halve that again in 2022.
AVOCADO FARMING AND HUMAN RIGHTS HIT THE HEADLINES
Procurement With Purpose
October 13, 2020
Personally, I really don’t like avocados and my wife is actually allergic to the strange green fruit. But they have become de rigeur for the Millennial generation, with crushed avocado on toast apparently the equivalent of my generation’s cheese and pickle sandwich.
But these days there appears to be a dark side to pretty much anything we buy, and an investigation by the Sunday Times takes us into avocado-related procurement with purpose territory.
Actually, this case is an example of my two personal interests overlapping in terms of procurement practice and behaviour. As well as the purpose and sustainable procurement agenda, I have been focusing on things that go wrong in the procurement world, with my book Bad Buying — How Organisations Waste Billions Through Failures, Frauds, and F*ck-ups published last week by Penguin Business. And this avocado case study shows how procurement with purpose issues can flip into “bad buying” in a very real sense.
UK GOVERNMENT EMPHASISES SOCIAL VALUE IN PROCUREMENT
Procurement With Purpose
October 07, 2020
With many of the public sector procurement stories in the UK recently featuring apparently strange pandemic-related supplier selection decisions and allegations of nepotism, it is good to be able to report a positive story from Whitehall.
REGISTER NOW FOR VIZIBL COLLABORATE & OUR PROCUREMENT WITH PURPOSE ROUNDTABLE
Procurement whit Purpose
September 27, 2020
On Wednesday this week (September 30th, 2020), the two founders of the Procurement with Purpose website (and movement), Mark Perera and Peter Smith, are participating in a session on the topic during the Vizibl Collaborate 2020 virtual conference.
Vizibl is the software firm founded and run by Mark, previously one of the founders of Procurement Leaders, and the line-up for the event is very impressive, with big name speakers such as Marcel Vollmer (ex SAP CPO and now a partner at BCG), Clive Heal, Detlef Schultz from Vodafone and many others from academia, the consulting and solution provider worlds plus top procurement execs.
FRANK OMARE – DRIVING VALUE FROM SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT
Procurement with Purpose
September 22, 2020
Frank Omare wants to make it clear that unlike many people who just fell into the profession, “I found procurement. I saw it as an exciting and interesting place to be”. As a qualified chemical engineer, he worked in that discipline, then moved into manufacturing management roles in the food industry, before seeing that procurement and supply chain was where he wanted to focus his attention.
HERVÉ LE FAOU OF HEINEKEN - A REAL SENSE OF PURPOSE
Procurement with Purpose
September 15, 2020
Moving from the vision back to current activities, Le Faou is one of the co-leads of Heineken’s sustainability programme. The firm has cut carbon emissions from its breweries almost in half since 2008 and has committed to using 70% renewable energy within ten years. “Regenerative agriculture” is another priority, which in areas such as barley cultivation looks to improve the soil, develop healthier water systems and increased biodiversity, as well as improving the lot of farmers. Heineken also is working to make logistics and cooling greener too, which matters as the firm has no less than 150,000 of its green fridges out in the marketplace!
A VIRTUOUS REVOLUTION
Procurement with Purpose
September 11, 2020
Remember the days before Coronavirus when climate change was the great threat to humanity? With our eyes now firmly fixed on the unfolding impacts of the pandemic it is easy to overlook, but it hasn’t gone away, and urgent change is needed.
If COVID-19 has done any good, it is that a number of sacred cows have been killed regarding what is possible in how we live and work, such as the need for 9-5 office attendance, ad hoc convenience shopping and the need to use cars constantly - all debunked and the air cleaner for it. But these effects only go part way to achieving sustainability goals, even if we did retain those lockdown habits. Is there a better way?
PAUL POLIZZOTTO – ENTREPRENEUR AND SOCIAL BENEFIT VISIONARY
Procurement with Purpose
June 20, 2020
Paul Polizzotto isn’t talking about the coronavirus, but about less specific yet very real threats. “People are getting angry, about climate change, about healthcare, inequality”, so time is short to address these challenges. “Rome is burning”, he claims.
NANDINI BASUTHAKUR - LEADING WITH PROCUREMENT LEADERS
Procurement with Purpose
June 17, 2020
Nandini Basuthakur is arguably the best-connected individual in the global procurement world. She has personally worked in many countries, and held some significant jobs, including her current role as Chief Executive Officer of Procurement Leaders (PL).
Nandini was finding the constraints of social distancing challenging when we spoke to her for this interview. “I’m a sociable person”, she said. At PL, the world’s largest procurement networking and intelligence platform, she is used to constant face to face contact with colleagues, as well as PL’s unrivalled network of global CPOs and their senior teams.
I saw this quote from Bill Gates and it really resonated with me. It’s something that one of the best business minds in the world identified a long time ago, and yet we still struggle so much with understanding what innovation entails.
And this led me to think of why is it that when it comes to the word innovation, it conjures up a world of complication along with feelings of confusion and frustration. Do we over complicate things? Do we miss the fundamental aspects of what innovation should involve? Do we even know what we mean when we utilise the word innovation?
Procurement Leaders
Procurement Leaders
April 25, 2019
Founding Editor of Procurement Leaders Magazine 2005-2008.
Procurement Leaders Quarterly (PLQ) and Monitor are publications designed to inspire, inform and educate procurement chiefs and their teams on the latest trends shaping the function.
Why & How to Run Your 1st Supplier Day: Pearson's Story
linkedin
December 20, 2018
Ask any supplier what they want most and the majority will probably give you the same answer – namely, being involved earlier in the decision-making process and also, crucially, given a true understanding of what it is that a company is trying to achieve
Where I see Procurement in 2025
LinkedIn
June 28, 2018
Organisations need two things to thrive. Growth and speed. Miss these and you will miss the boat. Today I want to look at how technological advances will enable procurement teams to automate and augment their current transactional workload and allow them to deliver measurable growth and speed.
Where I see Procurement in 2025
linkedin
June 26, 2018
Organisations need two things to thrive. Growth and speed. Miss these and you will miss the boat. Today I want to look at how technological advances will enable procurement teams to automate and augment their current transactional workload and allow them to deliver measurable growth and speed.
Calling Female Tech Founders! €50.000 Startup Prize at the Arch Summit
linkedin
March 08, 2018
Arch Summit’s Women in Technology competition aims to help profile the awesome female-led technology startups with leading corporate innovators & venture capitalist.
Six Supplier Collaboration Takeaways from Munich.
linkedin
May 19, 2017
I’ve been lucky enough to be the facilitator of Old St Lab’s whistle-stop world tour on supplier collaboration. So far we’ve held executive roundtable sessions in San Francisco (write-up here), London (write-up here) and we’ve just wrapped up another session in Munich.
Formula 1 Reinvents Itself Every Year — It’s time for Procurement to Follow Suit
linkedin
June 15, 2016
Last week I attended the Docusign Momentum event in London and was blown away by a presentation former SAP CEO Jim Hagemann Snabe gave entitled “Re-invention from a Position of Strength — Leading through the 4th Industrial Revolution.
The Hard Things About Supplier Relationships
linkedin
April 04, 2016
One of the best books I’ve read in the last few years is The Hard Things About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz the co-founder and General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. In a departure from most management books I’ve come across, Horowitz steers clear of the ‘management made easy’ spiel and instead opts for a far more personal approach to the topic highlighting accounts of his personal challenges in the corporate arena.
Memo to the CEO: Suppliers Are Key to Growth
Medium
March 13, 2015
You have no doubt heard the phrase that the customer is the key to a business’s success. Making sure the customer’s happy, providing ways for the customer to interact with sales and customer service staff and the continuance of supplying helpful services and useful products are all parts of this success. However, there’s one key factor that could cause a breakdown in a business’s success regardless of how it treats its customers and that is suppliers. Suppliers are key to growth.
Engineering a Revolution at Work - Podcast
linkedin
January 16, 2015
Business innovators please take the time to listen to this podcast from Simon Sinofsky, on the evolution of work. Then reflect to tools & approach your team using day to day...... there might be an better way
Favorite App of 2014 - Slack
linkedin
December 13, 2014
This selection was simple. Slack is simply awesome.
At Old St Labs we don't use email internally. We use Slack. We keep email for our lovely customers & future customers.
PROCUREMENT WITH PURPOSE
Procurement With Purpose
November 29, 2021
Procurement with Purpose describes a growing and powerful movement – how organisations can use the money they spend with suppliers to help address wider environmental, social and economic issues. That is not just about emissions and climate change, but includes how to address issues such as biodiversity and habitat loss, plastics and waste, modern slavery, inequality and discrimination, and more. That organisational ‘buying power’ is now being used to drive change across the business and political world.
Procurement Leaders
Procurement Leaders
January 01, 2004
Procurement Leaders connects, informs and inspires global corporations and their executives to enhance the contribution procurement makes to the business each day.
Founded in 2004 and headquartered in London, we are a global membership network serving major corporations and procurement, sourcing and supply chain executives. We provide independent procurement intelligence, professional development and peer to peer networking via our award winning online information resource, events and training solutions.
Our unique insights, research and data, as well as networking and professional development opportunities, enable procurement executives to deliver more value to their businesses equipping them with expert practices that deliver greater savings faster, reduce risks and transform functional performance.
Illuminating The Future: Evolution of Supplier Relationships
hopin
March 31, 2021
Join the discussion with our industry experts on how they are evolving their relationships with their suppliers to deliver their goals
If you are a supply chain, procurement, sustainability or innovation practitioner Vizibl's COLLABORATE 2021 is a must attend. At this years summit we are focused on discussing topics with industry leaders and thought-leading trailblazers that challenge the status quo and show you how you can do what they have done.
Join us on Wednesday 31st March at Vizibl COLLABORATE 2021 to be enlightened, enabled, and empowered to turbocharge your supplier relationships for sustainability and growth.
Date: 31st March 2021 // Time: 14:00 - 18:30 UK TIME | 15:00 - 19:30 CET | 09:00 - 13:30 EST
Mark Perera looks at how leading organisations are looking deep into their supply chain to make a world of difference and how organisations are developing strategies for procurement with purpose.
Mark Perera - What's the case for Relationship Management?
Mission Innovation
May 26, 2020
A lot of people use terms like "supplier relationships" and "partnerships" interchangeably. To most of us, they mean the same thing. But when you're talking about your procurement strategy, it's important that you differentiate between the kinds of arrangements you want to nurture. They'll impact how you carry out your strategy and what resources you need to invest in.
Don't get left behind in the ecosystem revolution. Understand how innovation, through a strong, dynamic ecosystem, benefits your business now and in the next few years. Learn from Sean Thompson, Yves Mulkers and Mark Perera from Vizibl on how you can capitalize on global commerce for your business now.
PROCUREMENT WITH PURPOSE ROUNDTABLE
PROCUREMENT WITH PURPOSE
September 27, 2020
On Wednesday this week (September 30th, 2020), the two founders of the Procurement with Purpose website (and movement), Mark Perera and Peter Smith, are participating in a session on the topic during the Vizibl Collaborate 2020 virtual conference.
Sustainability through Supplier Collaboration: From green ideal to commercial imperative
Vizibl
February 03, 2021
On February 3rd 2021, Vizibl will be hosting a live webinar alongside executives from Heineken, BP, and Colgate Palmolive to discuss the topic that should be top of every enterprise's agenda in 2021: sustainability.
Once regarded as little more than corporate philanthropy, sustainability initiatives have since proved their returns
outweigh their cost; alongside safeguarding our planet and its people, they provide tangible financial advantage
to the businesses that pursue them.
At time of writing we are already over 25% of the way through the decade, with every five weeks that pass signifying one percent further to 2030. As such, my prediction for sustainability in 2023 is that we will see focus in corporate sustainability move away from data-gathering and aggregation towards taking urgent action based on the insights we’re able to generate quickly. We’ve spent years trying to construct the perfect dashboards, but nothing is going to happen if we just sit around staring at them rather than changing our behavior. I also anticipate that the focus of our attention will expand towards a broader concept of sustainability that places more emphasis on social issues, particularly human rights; organisations have been grappling primarily with their environmental impact thus far, but the upcoming European human rights legislations will force companies to look more closely at their performance across other dimensions under the banner of “ESG”.
Join Thinkers360 for free! Are you a Reader/Writer, Thought Leader/Influencer (looking to increase your earnings), or an Enterprise User (looking to work with experts)?
NINIAN WILSON – STANDING TALL WITH VODAFONE’S THREE PILLARS (PART 2)
Sustainability, Climate Change, and Carbon Capture: Three Must-Read Articles for Business Leaders
HOW DO WE FEEL ABOUT THE OIL INDUSTRY?
FAKE MEAT - GREAT IDEA, BUT IS THE WORLD READY?
GETTING HOT, HOT, HOT - TEMPERATURE RECORDS BROKEN ACROSS EUROPE
COP15 on Biodiversity - Success or Failure?
NEW ACCENTURE REPORT ON SCOPE 3 IS THOUGHT-PROVOKING AND HIGHLIGHTS A BIG QUESTION
THE KEY STAKEHOLDERS FOR SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS
HARVARD - TURNING SUPPLIER DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION FROM CONCEPT INTO REALITY
HOW KALEIDA SUPPORTS SUPPLIER DIVERSITY - JASON ROBERTS TELLS ALL
NO-ONE SAID PROCUREMENT WITH PURPOSE WOULD BE EASY
AVOIDING SOCIAL VALUE BARRIERS TO ENTRY
PUBLIC PROCUREMENT NEEDS TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE
US "INFLATION ACT" COMMITS BILLIONS TO CLIMATE ACTIONS
SHOULD SOCIAL VALUE IN BIDS BE CONVERTED INTO FINANCIAL VALUE?
NHS BLACK COUNTRY ALLIANCE - MAKING A DIFFERENCE WITH SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT
CIPS SUSTAINABILITY PROJECT OF THE YEAR - ASPIRATION OR ACHIEVEMENT
WORKER WELFARE IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN – CREATING A LASTING IMPACT
Yunus Social Business - Davos discussion and a taster for a new report
AMAZON DEFORESTATION CONTINUES AT A RECORD PACE
WESTMINSTER HEALTH FORUM - "THE BIGGEST NHS TRANSFORMATION EVER"
BUSINESS PURPOSE MEANS MORE THAN STATEMENTS ON WEBSITES
THREE PWP EVENTS COMING UP - TWO NEXT WEEK
Vizibl: Securing a sustainable future for your organisation
SUPPORTING SOCIAL ENTERPRISES - A WORTHWHILE ELEMENT OF ANY "PURPOSE" PROGRAMME
SOCIAL BUSINESS - NOTES FROM SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT PLEDGE WEBINAR
UNILEVER IN THE PRESS, SHAREHOLDER VALUE IN FOCUS
DON'T LET PROCUREMENT WITH PURPOSE CREATE BARRIERS FOR SUPPLIER
SOCIAL PROCUREMENT – READ ALL ABOUT IT!
PROCUREMENT WITH PURPOSE - PUBLICATION DAY!
DON'T FORGET ABOUT GOVERNANCE - INTERVIEW WITH DAVID LOSEBY
COP26 FINISHES - OR SHOULD WE SAY "PHASES DOWN"?
BIODIVERSITY AND NATURE - CEOS CALL ON GOVERNMENTS TO ACT NOW
ENERGY CRISIS HIGHLIGHTS NET ZERO CHALLENGES
GREEN PACKAGING - HOTEL CHOCOLAT HIGHLIGHTS THE CHALLENGES
BEING ETHICAL IS TOUGH
SPEND MATTERS LOOKS AT ESG - TIMELINE AND TECH ANALYSIS
ATTRACTING THE BEST INTO THE PROFESSION THROUGH PROCUREMENT WITH PURPOSE
G20 FAILS TO AGREE CLIMATE CHANGE PACKAGE - RISK OF EXTREME WEATHER CONTINUES TO RISE
CONSULTING FIRM PROXIMA MOVES INTO THE SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT SPACE
PROCUREMENT AND DIVERSITY - GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS
CAN THE UK HIT ITS EMISSIONS TARGETS?
BUYING SOCIAL - A VALUABLE AND INSIGHTFUL NEW GUIDE FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION (COPY)
May 26, 2021 AN INSPIRING SPORTING SUSTAINABILITY STORY
THE KEY STAKEHOLDERS FOR SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS
LOANHOOD – CAN FASHION AND SUSTAINABILITY BE COMPATIBLE?
NINIAN WILSON – STANDING TALL WITH VODAFONE’S THREE PILLARS (PART 1)
BEWARE THE GREENWASH! MARK CARNEY UNDER FIRE FOR EMISSIONS CLAIM
April 6, 2021 WORKING WITH CHINA - PURPOSEFUL BUSINESS ISN'T ALWAYS EASY
TESCO, HSBC AND DANONE IN THE PURPOSEFUL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
ARE THE UNITED NATIONS SDGS ACTUALLY APPROPRIATE?
RUNNING TOWARDS NET ZERO WITH MARK SMITH OF BP
THE POWER OF PROCUREMENT WITH PURPOSE
THE ECONOMICS OF BIODIVERSITY – CAN WE PUT A VALUE ON AN ELEPHANT?
Top Five 2021 Key Procurement and Supply Chain Trends
POSITIVE IMPACT COMMERCE – AIMING TO SET STANDARDS FOR SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS
SOCIAL VALUE AND PUBLIC PROCUREMENT - WARNING NOTES PART 2
Supplier Diversity Will Be A Primary Goal for CPOs in 2021
Why Procurement with Purpose is Set to be the ‘New Normal’
OLIVER HURREY – DRIVING COLLABORATION IN SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT
A VEGAN FEAST ANYONE? GAUTHIER POINTS THE WAY
CONSERVATION AND TECHNOLOGY ALIGNED – AN INTERVIEW WITH ALISON SMITH
ANIMAL WELFARE ISSUES - AND WHO KNEW ABOUT DENMARK'S FUR FARMS?
UK WATER FIRMS CRITICISED FOR WORSENING PERFORMANCE – A WARNING TO “WILD SWIMMERS”!
CIPS PANEL DEBATES PROCUREMENT WITH PURPOSE – COLLABORATION OR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE?
MARS SIMPLIFIES PALM OIL SUPPLY CHAIN - GOOD NEWS FOR THE ORANGUTANS?
AVOCADO FARMING AND HUMAN RIGHTS HIT THE HEADLINES
UK GOVERNMENT EMPHASISES SOCIAL VALUE IN PROCUREMENT
REGISTER NOW FOR VIZIBL COLLABORATE & OUR PROCUREMENT WITH PURPOSE ROUNDTABLE
FRANK OMARE – DRIVING VALUE FROM SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT
HERVÉ LE FAOU OF HEINEKEN - A REAL SENSE OF PURPOSE
A VIRTUOUS REVOLUTION
PAUL POLIZZOTTO – ENTREPRENEUR AND SOCIAL BENEFIT VISIONARY
NANDINI BASUTHAKUR - LEADING WITH PROCUREMENT LEADERS
What is Innovation?
Procurement Leaders
Why & How to Run Your 1st Supplier Day: Pearson's Story
Where I see Procurement in 2025
Where I see Procurement in 2025
Calling Female Tech Founders! €50.000 Startup Prize at the Arch Summit
Six Supplier Collaboration Takeaways from Munich.
Old St Labs partners with Vodafone to drive ambitious supplier collaboration & innovation agenda
Formula 1 Reinvents Itself Every Year — It’s time for Procurement to Follow Suit
The Hard Things About Supplier Relationships
Engineering a Revolution at Work - Podcast
Favorite App of 2014 - Slack
My Favourite Quotes of 2014
PROCUREMENT WITH PURPOSE
Procurement Leaders
Illuminating The Future: Evolution of Supplier Relationships
Mark Perera - What's the case for Relationship Management?
PROCUREMENT WITH PURPOSE ROUNDTABLE
Sustainability through Supplier Collaboration: From green ideal to commercial imperative
Keynote speaker on the future of procurement
