Are You Outsourcing Your Business Sustainability Risk?

Supply Chain Management (SCM) over the past few decades has proven to be big cost saving opportunity for many businesses. Traditional procurement strategies have primarily focused on cost, with most professional consulting firms targeting savings of 7% to 9% of revenue (including: vendor reduction, leverage spend, inventory reductions, transaction efficiencies, and administration savings through centralized functions). However, growing business sustainability risks and opportunities within the supply chain have many companies reevaluating their purely cost savings driven decision making.

In the 1990s and the early part of the 2000s, many businesses began to evaluated the strategic value of their procurement functions. Some of the companies, whom we now work within our sustainability consulting, saw a leverage opportunity in consolidating and even outsourcing what they considered transactional functions, (i.e. non-essential to their core business model).

Over the last few years, we have observed these same organizations reevaluating their business risk, particularly in the supply chain. Our professional consulting has observed many leading companies are now realizing the unique value in elevating sustainable supply chain management as a strategic in-house competency. Companies are examining the value of company resources with:

•    A genuine interest and passion for business sustainability
•    Incentives to perform in accordance with corporate sustainability values
•    A record of accomplishment in applying sustainability concepts in business transactions
•    Experience and credibility in building community relations
•    Complementary environmental, social, and business experience

Growing business eco awareness and resulting business sustainability risk has provided companies with a new perspective to reassess their core functions. At Taiga Company, our sustainability consulting provides information and business resources to clients of all sizes seeking to make incremental steps towards a sustainable supply chain.