Global supply chain and operations consulting firm Maine Pointe, a member of the SGS Group, is the sponsor of a series of insights pieces published by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Global Supply Chain Institute (GSCI), titled “The simple guide to ESG in the supply chain.” The article, first in a three-part series, describes in detail precisely how and why environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives have moved from “nice-to-have” to being a strategic imperative. It also outlines five practical steps executives can follow when seeking to drive ESG improvement across their supply chain and operations.
“As evidenced at COP26, the 2021 United Nations climate change conference, ESG improvement is becoming an imperative, not just as a function of acknowledging important social justice or climate change issues, but also as a critical function that positively impacts the company’s growth, bottom line, and ability to attract and retain top talent,” said Simon Knowles, Chief Marketing Officer at Maine Pointe. “In this series, the articles demystify the subject and outline best practices of how corporations can integrate ESG as a part of their core business and supply chain.
The first article illustrates that one of the reasons ESG is such a critical issue is changing consumer and investor expectations. “CEOs and supply chain leaders must manage the environmental and social impacts of their end-to-end supply chain or face stark financial consequences,” said Alan Amling, Distinguished Fellow, Global Supply Chain Institute. “This is evidenced in the first article which outlines how one company lost $1.5 billion in market value over two days after revelations of poor working conditions at one of their garment manufacturers came to light.”
According to the first article, senior leadership commitment is essential to rolling out an ESG strategy. “It is important for a company to move from a simple reactive approach to being more proactive on
ESG, and incorporating it as a key business strategy,” said Knowles. “Part of this is expanding focus beyond short-term results.”
“Optimization of procurement, operations and logistics are just table stakes,” added Amling. “Today a coherent ESG strategy, with support from top management and clear goals and metrics, has become an imperative to a company’s short, medium and long-term success.”
The next article will address the ‘how’ of sustainability, highlighting best practices in ESG to uncover the strategies, structures, and tools to achieve actual results today. The last article will focus on the ROI of ESG, underscoring how being a good corporate citizen and driving bottom-line results are not mutually exclusive. You can download the first article and subscribe to the series of insight pieces by signing up at www.mainepointe.com/esg-improvement.
About Maine Pointe
Maine Pointe, a member of the SGS Group, is a global supply chain and operations consulting firm trusted by many chief executives and private equity firms to drive compelling economic returns for their companies. We achieve this by delivering accelerated, sustainable improvements in EBITDA, cash and growth across their procurement, logistics, operations and data analytics. Our hands-on implementation experts work with executives and their teams to rapidly break through functional silos and transform the plan-buy-make-move-fulfill digital supply chain to deliver the greatest ethical value to customers and stakeholders at the lowest cost to business. We call this Total Value Optimization (TVO)™.
Maine Pointe’s engagements are results-driven and deliver between 4:1-8:1 ROI. We are so confident in our work and our processes that we provide a unique 100% guarantee of engagement fees based on annualized savings. www.mainepointe.com
About SGS
We are SGS – the world’s leading testing, inspection and certification company. We are recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. Our 93,000 employees operate a network of 2,600 offices and laboratories, working together to enable a better, safer and more interconnected world.
SGS has been delivering ESG and sustainability solutions and services to clients for the past 25 years and has been a carbon neutral company for the past seven years.
About the Global Supply Chain Institute
The Global Supply Chain Institute (GSCI) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, shapes and influences the practice of supply chain management by serving as the preeminent global hub for leading practitioners, academics, and students to learn, network, and connect. With the largest assembly of corporate partners of any university-based supply chain management program, more than 1,200 students studying the subject, and the top-ranked faculty globally for supply chain research, UT’s GSCI is shaping the practice of supply chain management. Please visit https://gsci.utk.edu/ or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook for more information.
