Are your suppliers as sustainable as they claim? There are many papers and studies that show that diverse-owned businesses are more, or at least as sustainable, as non diverse-owned businesses. All the more reason to include more diverse-owned businesses in your supply chain.
Women entrepreneurs are paving the way to a better future. Even though men have a higher number of leadership roles, Women generate improved profits, better company culture and positive impact. For example, 54% of Women entrepreneurs value carbon footprint reduction as a measure of success in investing beyond financial returns. In comparison, only 41% of men have the same thought. Moreover, 76% of female fellows bring societal attitudes and cultural norms influence to the core of their strategy. Source; https://www.workforimpact.com/blog/women-entrepreneurs-sustainable-future
We’re on a good way….
The 2023 Keelvar The Year of Autonomous Sourcing Report states: Procurement professionals will also look to mitigate risk by improving supplier diversity (52%, up from last year’s 25%) and nearshoring suppliers (49%).
Or as per Supplier Diversity Expert, Rod Robinson’s recent LinkedIn post: ”As I have said many times, my 20 years in procurement has afforded me the opportunity to witness, firsthand, how more diverse and inclusive supply chains are more sustainable, more innovative and deliver higher value.”
Therefore, having more diverse owned companies in your supply chain can also help reduce the risk of “greenwashed” suppliers …
In addition to increasing the number of diverse-owned businesses in your supply chain, you can find more tips on what you can do to fight Greenwashing including more information on ”What is Greenwashing? How does Greenwashing relate to procurement? What can be done to fight against it?”in this article; https://procurementmag.com/articles/red-flagging-greenwashing-in-procurement
Another interesting article on ”Benefits and challenges of sustainable procurement” including actions that can be taken to help you lead the change to develop and implement a sustainable procurement plan can be found here: https://www.sdcexec.com/sourcing-procurement/article/22618201/accountability-sustainable-procurement-is-at-a-tipping-point Invest in sustainable procurement now to reap the long-term benefits for your organization later.