Sustainable procurement according to Kearney

As the reality of climate change becomes more apparent with each natural disaster played on news channels across the world and more people demand more ethical working practices, it is a growing necessity for businesses to be sustainable.

In a new white paper Unlocking Value Through Sustainable Procurement, Kearney and The University of Tennessee have researched best practices within the supply chain and how to address challenges in procurement.

The management consulting firm Kearney was founded in 1926, Chicago, USA, has a revenue of US$1.4bn and has teams working across 40 countries. 

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, includes The Global Supply Chain Institute in the Haslam College of Business, which has published over 25 white papers with industry partners on supply chain management. 

Upholding ESG for employee satisfaction

Within the next three years, 77% of companies said they will increase their sustainability initiative spending. 

Furthermore, many institutional investors say that by 2024, they will stop spending money on products that do not align with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies.

Enforcing such policies signifies to employees that the business in question is both purpose-driven and transparent.

Supply chain policies 

Prior to the pandemic, the supply chain was vastly under-appreciated. 

Now, especially following on from COP 26, many are paying more attention to all of their emissions. 

One UN Global Compact report found that supply chains represent the biggest challenge in advancing global sustainable development goals (SDGs). The procurement industry must take note of this, or risk the wrath of the consumer.

Procurement coordination

According to the report, companies ‘rarely engage multiple tiers of suppliers in pro-sustainability policy formation or exe

However, procurement executives might be in a better position to carry out such work, because of ‘Their cross-cutting functional span, which reaches across numerous areas within an organisation’.

Read the full whitepaper here, to see how sustainable procurement is needed to support employees, achieve financial goals and ensure long term success. cution’. One reason for this is simply because organising a global network is difficult.