Case study: How Askey promotes sustainable development among its suppliers
Askey is a leading network communication equipment manufacturer, actively expanding in the past few years towards the fields of smart vehicle products, smart homes, and smart cities, willing to create a new wave of momentum for business growth. Askey seeks to create and maintain long-term collaborations with its domestic and foreign suppliers, so as to create steadily developing sustainable supply chains Tweet This! and sustainable business opportunities with them.
This case study is based on the 2017 CSR Report by Askey published on the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Disclosure Database that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
Abstract
Askey not only strives to build trust with customers but also works actively to establish a long-term partnership for mutual growth with its suppliers, for the joint pursuit of sustainable development. In order to promote sustainable development among its suppliers Askey took action to:
- evaluate suppliers
- promote suppliers’ continual improvement
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) Askey has identified;
- How Askey proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by Askey to promote sustainable development among its suppliers
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2017 CSR Report Askey identified a range of material issues, such as economic performance, compliance, environmental responsibility for products, employment and labour/management relations. Among these, promoting sustainable development among its suppliers stands out as a key material issue for Askey.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups Askey engages with:
| Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
| Customer
| · Company Website · Customer Audit · Customer Service · Customer Satisfaction Survey · CSR Report |
| Employee | · Website · Employee Opinion Box · Departmental Meetings · E-paper · Welfare Committee Meeting · Employee Management Meeting · Occupational Safety and Hygiene Committee · CSR Report |
| Shareholder | · Company Website · Board of Directors · Financial Report · CSR Report |
| Supplier
| · B2B Platform · Supplier Audit · Supplier Assessment · Supplier Conference · CSR Report |
| Contractor | · Company Website · Contractor Assessment · Contractor Conferences · CSR Report |
| Local Community | · Company Website · Charitable Activities · CSR Report |
| Government Agency
| · Check · Official Document · Conferences · CSR Report |
| Trade Association
| · Company Website · Conferences · Organisational Member Conference · CSR Report |
How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues
To identify and prioritise material topics Askey engaged with its stakeholders through 248 questionnaires.
What actions were taken by Askey to promote sustainable development among its suppliers?
In its 2017 CSR Report Askey reports that it took the following actions for promoting sustainable development among its suppliers:
- Evaluating suppliers
- Askey follows prudent and rigorous procedures to perform the evaluation and selection of its new suppliers. Not only are the supplier’s product quality, price, delivery, service and technical capabilities used as the base of the selection, but other environmental standards such as hazardous substance management and social standards such as labour/human rights are also taken into consideration and evaluation. By doing so, Askey hopes its suppliers will also consider sustainable development concerns as a main issue for their company and will share responsibility with Askey to offer a great contribution to society. Additionally, based on its engagements in corporate social responsibilities, Askey does not support the mining conflict on the extraction of minerals in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighbouring countries in the Central Africa regions. Askey uses responsible purchasing behaviours to extend its influence to the supply chain, requesting its supplier partners to avoid using minerals sourced in conflict areas and keeps a close eye on information related to minerals coming from conflict areas when selecting new raw material suppliers. For example, if a supplier clearly knows that they did not use conflict minerals, they are required to sign a “did not use/ will not use conflict mineral commitment”. Askey thus expects that these specific requirements and constraints on the supply chain will influence positively the mineral conflicts issue. Moreover, each month, Askey’s departments including R&D, procurement and quality also conduct assessments on items such as technology, delivery and quality, and notify suppliers of the assessment results through the B2B (business-to-business) system. Suppliers in Class C and D will see purchase ratio adjusted or will have to find alternative materials. Askey uses regular monitoring and assessment modes to keep a good cooperation, and increase respective efficiencies and performances.
- Promoting suppliers’ continual improvement
- In order to lower the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) risk of its supply chain and improve overall supply chain competitiveness, Askey has scheduled annual supplier audit plans. Audits include various controls of the process and system, and suppliers that did not meet the requirements must propose improvement measures and follow new coaching and auditing processes, depending on the needs. In addition, in order to make sure suppliers meet Askey’s management requirements on sustainability, annual assessments regarding corporate social responsibility implementation are also arranged. On-site reviews and evaluations are used to understand the supplier’s management status and their level of CSR implementation regarding economic, environmental and social aspects. In 2017, Askey completed 59 CSR on-site reviews, and none of them showed significant actual or potential negative impact issues on the environment and labour/human rights. Suppliers have also proposed effective and feasible improvement plans for items that did not meet audits’ requirements, and all cases were closed. Askey will continue to use in the future different methods, including the ESG audits and annual supplier conference announcements, to encourage suppliers to pay attention to employee rights, to improve environmental safety and health risks at the work place, and to fulfill corporate social responsibilities in collaboration with Askey.
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:
1) Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria
2) Disclosure 308-2 Negative environmental impacts in the supply chain and actions taken
3) Disclosure 414-1 New suppliers that were screened using social criteria
4) Disclosure 414-2 Negative social impacts in the supply chain and actions taken
Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria does not correspond to any SDG.
Disclosure 308-2 Negative environmental impacts in the supply chain and actions taken does not correspond to any SDG.
Disclosure 414-1 New suppliers that were screened using social criteria corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
- Business theme: Workplace violence and harassment
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
- Business theme: Labor practices in the supply chain
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
- Business theme: Workplace violence and harassment
Disclosure 414-2 Negative social impacts in the supply chain and actions taken corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
- Business theme: Workplace violence and harassment
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
- Business theme: Labor practices in the supply chain
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
- Business theme: Workplace violence and harassment
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References:
1) This case study is based on published information by Askey, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original, please revert to the original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:
http://database.globalreporting.org/
2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/
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