Here are sustainability consultants’ comments from the survey, identified by the individual’s role in the supply chain. To the question: “What role should buyers play in determining what social responsibility programs a supplier might choose?”
Ideally, buyers would offer a variety of certifications or audits for their suppliers to choose from, recognizing that there is often substantial crossover between them. Suppliers would then be free to choose the one that makes sense in their own organization’s context and is accepted by the majority of their buyers. This would help reduce audit fatigue. This is a common problem we now see in food safety as well; a supplier might undergo multiple food safety audits covering the same criteria, but administered by different organizations, because of the requirements of their multiple buyers.
Buyers should encourage alignment of effort where possible with their corporate programs, but not dictate such.
