A responsible purchasing policy that runs deep in the supply chain

Xiaolei Pan

Client Success Manager, EcoVadis

When it comes to implementing their CSR commitments across their supply chain, telcos must increasingly take into account a growing number of criteria—ethical, environmental—and more. As such, it is no longer possible for single companies to develop their own audit processes to guarantee responsible purchasing policies.

Set up ten years ago, the Joint Audit Cooperation (JAC) initiative brings together 16 members, who account for 2.7 billion connections worldwide, and seek to address these challenges. Given that most telcos are in business with the same major hardware suppliers, JAC also helps strengthen their bargaining position to make CSR commitments stick. These efficiency gains also apply to suppliers: They now need only answer one assessment and on-site audit request – as well as work on corrective actions – with all their customers.

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Another key element of this success was the creation of the JAC Academy, which provides training and certification to Tier 1 suppliers, to implement these standards to their own supply chains. This enables JAC’s communication to cascade down to Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers, a unique feature of this industry-wide initiative. We believe the measurable successes achieved in the past 10 years will inspire other industries to adopt a similarly comprehensive approach.