The Future of Ethical Sourcing

Publication Date	June 2007
Publisher	Verdict
Product Type	Brief
Pages	28
ISBN Number	not applicable
Product Code	VDT00223

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Summary

Introduction

This report examines the widening agenda of ethical sourcing using a survey of those who work in retail. Retailers with comprehensive ethical sourcing policies in place, addressing environmental as well as labour sourcing concerns, are in the best position to cover rising production costs. All retailers must respond now to keep up with competitors who already have a key advantage.

Scope

Assesses the importance of corporate social responsibility and ethical sourcing for retailers across different sectors.
Determines where retailers' priorities should lie now and over the next five years.
Examines the forces driving ethical sourcing to date and those driving changes in the future.
Forecasts potential cost rises in the supply chain and considers how these costs could be overcome or offset.

Highlights

The scope of ethical sourcing is changing. It now focuses on minimising the exploitation of all resources in the supply chain, not just the traditionally accepted agenda of improving labour conditions. Environmental sourcing concerns are set to become even more important over the next five years.

Ethical sourcing is expected to increase production costs by between 5% -10%. With consumers willing to pay a premium for a benefit that offsets guilt about other forms of environmental damage, retailers who embrace the full ethical agenda can offset increased production costs with higher price points.

An ethical sourcing policy is only as strong as its weakest link and every aspect of a retailer's ethical sourcing programme requires investment.

Reasons to Purchase

Ensure your ethical sourcing policy will stand up to the changing demands of the next five years.
Prepare for the expected increases in production costs and use this information to help minimise and offset these costs.
Formulate plans to keep up with competitors, support internal planning and targets.

Content

ANALYSIS
- Introduction - The Survey and the Widening Agenda of Ethical Sourcing
- Methodology
- How Important is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)?
- Components of CSR and Their Importance
- Sector Basis
- Labour Issues in the Supply Chain
- Change in the Importance of Labour Issues Going Forward
- Ethical Sourcing
- Drivers of an Ethical Sourcing Policy
- Role of Consumers
- The Value Clothing Sector
- The Cost of Ethical Sourcing
- Ways to Further Improve Sourcing and Cut Costs
- Environmental Issues in the Supply Chain
- Importance of Environmental Issues
- Change in the Importance of Environmental Issues Going Forward
- Labour vs Environmental - The Changing Balance
- A Class Leader - Marks & Spencer
- Conclusion
- Figure 1: Traditional understanding of ethical sourcing pre-2007
- Figure 2: The importance of CSR 2007
- Figure 3: The importance of CSR issues 2007
- Figure 4: The importance of CSR issues among those working in clothing & footwear 2007
- Figure 5: The importance of CSR issues among those working in food & grocery 2007
- Figure 6: The importance of labour issues (to all survey respondents) 2007
- Figure 7: How do you believe the importance of each of the following labour issues will change in the next five years? (to all survey respondents) 2012 on 2007
- Figure 8: Labour issues ranked by importance now and in five years 2007 and 2012
- Figure 9: Drivers of an ethical sourcing policy (to all survey respondents) 2007
- Figure 10: How consumers drive ethical sourcing
- Figure 11: Key cost components of ethical sourcing
- Figure 12: To what extent do you expect ethical sourcing to drive up production costs? 2007
- Figure 13: The importance of environmental issues (to all survey respondents) 2007
- Figure 14: How do you believe the importance of each of the following environmental issues will change in the next five years? (to all survey respondents) 2012 on 2007
- Figure 15: Environmental issues ranked by importance now and in five years 2007 and 2012
- Figure 16: Average importance of labour and environmental issues 2007 and 2012
- Figure 17: Evolution of ethical sourcing up to 2007
- Figure 18: Marks & Spencer's Plan A - five main commitment areas 2007
- Table 1: The importance of CSR issues (sum - as above) 2007