Title: Task 12: CSR in the Supply Chain
Course: Corporate Social Responsibility online > Section: Part 3: Strategic approch to CSR

/ca. 1 hour/

We've already gone through the questions pertaining to how CSR can drive market development as well as how CSR can be exercised in the marketplace and in the workplace. The last topic we will discuss in this section refers to how CSR can be exercised in the supply chain. So let's start with a short introductory video on what a socially responsible supply chain is?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdbKvXh6sLU

Source: W. P. Carey School of Business, Module 8: Socially Responsible Supply Chain Management - ASU's W. P. Carey School (4:32 min) [access 13.06.2020]. Derived from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdbKvXh6sLU

In fact, CSR in the supply chain is a very broad topic that includes concerns regarding purchasing, e.g. adopting environmental and social criteria for screening suppliers, sustainable packaging, transportation, warehoursing and also reverse logistics (e.g. recycling, designing for the environment, a closed-loop supply chain and circular economy solutions). If we look at the definition of sustainable supply chain management, we can read that it is:

"the strategic, transparent integration and achievement of an organization’s social, environmental, and economic goals in the systemic coordination of key interorganizational business processes for improving the long-term economic performance of the individual company and its supply chains."  (Carter and Rogers, 2008)

How does it work in the practice? Let's have a look at how companies sustain their supply chain, based on the example of Innocent Drinks. We've  already got familiar with Innocent Drinks in the section Core characteristics of CSR (30 minutes) in the following subsections:
- 6. Practices and values
- 7. Beyond philanthropy

Now, we ask you to thoroughly check the variety of programes that Innocent undertakes to improve the sustainability across its supply chain in different areas of its business:
in packaging and recycling: https://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/us/recycling-revolution

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvAIfs1xnp4&feature=youtu.be

Source: innocent drinks, an innocent guide to recycling (2:12 min) [access 13.06.2020]. Derived from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvAIfs1xnp4&feature=youtu.be

spreading the sustaianbility vision across suppliers: https://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/us/sustainability/heroes-of-change/greening-bottling-in-europe
fighting against modern slavery across the supply chain and promoting human rights: https://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/us/sustainability/good-to-the-core/human-rights-policy
identifying environmental costs of production by conducting research. Innocent collaborates with academics in order to support research on the impact of their activities toward the supply chain. Here you can watch a video containg an example on growing sustainable strawberries:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7slTNMLrl_c

Source: The more, the berrier - an innocent film about sustainable strawberries (1:10 min) [access 13.06.2020]. Derived from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7slTNMLrl_c

Building a sustaianble supply chain, however, does not only mean assuring a company's own processes but also spreading the idea across the entire network of suppliers. How does it work?
"Companies expect their first-tier suppliers to comply with given environmental and social (e.g. referring to human and labour rights) standards, and they ask that those suppliers in turn ask for compliance from their suppliers—who ideally ask the same from their suppliers. The aim is to create a cascade of sustainable practices that flows smoothly throughout the supply chain, or, as we prefer to call it, the supply network" (Vilena & Gioia, 2020).

How does it work in Innocent? The firm states:
"We want to work with suppliers that share our passion for doing business responsibly. It's important that the suppliers we work with share our values and we work with them to reduce the amount of energy, water and waste in our supply chain. We do this primarily through our hero supplier programme. The programme looks to do 4 things:  sustainability management, energy and greenhouse gasses, water and waste and resources" https://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/us/sustainability/good-to-the-core/sustainable-production

Innocent promotes the idea of the sustainable supply chain by providing the initiative "Our hero supplier programme". Please read more about the programme and look especially for different criteria that Innocent asks its suppliers for: https://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/us/sustainability/good-to-the-core/sustainable-production

How do you like this kind of assessment? Certainly, it helps suppliers to identify the possible negative environmental impacts and encouarages them to improve the processes. And what about proposing similar criteria in the area of social impact? Please read the Innocent Modern Slavery Statement and propose a set of at least 12 questions that you would ask the Innocent's suppliers in order to help them identify the possible negative impact of their operations in terms of  human rights violation and modern slavery:
https://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/static/sustainability/modern-slavery-statement.pdf (Accessed 19.05.2020)

Please prepare your answer in ca. 500 words.

References:
- Carter C. R.& D.S. Rogers. A Framework of Sustainable Supply Chain Management: Moving toward New Theory. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management 2008, 38 (5).
- Villena V.H. &  Gioia D.A. (2020) A More Sustainable Supply Chain. Harvard Business Review 3-4. https://hbr.org/2020/03/a-more-sustainable-supply-chain (Accessed 19.05.2020)
- https://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/