Case study: How Wistron promotes sustainability among its suppliers
Wistron is a leading TSP (Technical Service Provider) company, providing state of the art information and communication related products, service solutions, and systems to top branded companies worldwide. Wistron requires its suppliers to comply, among others, with environmental protection requirements Tweet This!, so as to ensure the sustainable development of its value chain.
This case study is based on the 2020 CSR Report by Wistron prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards, 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
Suppliers are important partners for Wistron, whom it requests to commit to environmental protection, safety and health, and human rights, to fulfill corporate social responsibility. In order to promote sustainability among its suppliers Wistron took action to:
- organise a supplier conference
- procure non-conflict minerals
- audit suppliers
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) Wistron has identified;
- How Wistron proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by Wistron to promote sustainability among its suppliers
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2020 CSR Report Wistron identified a range of material issues, such as economic performance, data protection and privacy, health and safety, environmental compliance, waste management. Among these, promoting sustainability among its suppliers stands out as a key material issue for Wistron.
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 Wistron engages with:
| Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
| Customers | · Quarterly Business Review (QBR) meetings · E-mail, documents, and telephone · Customer questionnaires or onsite audits · Project meeting, e-mail, video conference, or telephone · Procurement guidelines, customer questionnaires, or audits |
| Employees | · Personal health status reports, establishment of pandemic prevention information networks, and pandemic prevention announcements · Strategic planning meeting, training needs survey, and performance communication interviews · Performance interview, evaluation, and meetings of the Employee Welfare Committee · Employee Relationship Promotion Committee · Wistron’s official website, training for new supervisors, and questionnaires · Employee health examinations and medical consultation |
| Investors/shareholders | · Shareholder’s Meeting · Investor conference · Investor meetings |
| Suppliers | · Supplier green product management platform · Supplier sustainability performance evaluation and audit · Supplier seminar |
| Government agencies/competent authorities
| · Official documents, Market Observation Post System, and explanatory seminars · Explanatory meetings and onsite audits · Explanatory meetings and regulation seminars · Official documents, explanatory meetings, regulation seminars, and conferences · Official documents/questionnaires |
| Non-profit organisations/communities | · Wistron’s participation and sponsorship of external public welfare projects · Wistron encourages employees to participate in internal charitable activities |
| Media
| · Hold press conferences or investor conferences or issue press releases |
| Others (directors) | · Organise meetings of the Board of Directors and Committees |
How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues
To identify and prioritise material topics Wistron conducted materiality questionnaire surveys on identified stakeholders, collecting a total of 270 questionnaires.
What actions were taken by Wistron to promote sustainability among its suppliers?
In its 2020 CSR Report Wistron reports that it took the following actions for promoting sustainability among its suppliers:
- Organising a supplier conference
- The Wistron Group Partner Conference is hosted every year in honour of suppliers with outstanding performance in sustainability, social responsibility, and greenhouse gas inventory reports. Wistron invited third-party institutions responsible for GHG inventory, RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) inspections, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions to attend the 2020 CSR/GHG Supplier Conference and provide training for suppliers. In addition, Wistron also explained Wistron’s management policies for sustainability and social responsibility to suppliers. In response to changes in the globalisation environment, Wistron provided complaint channels to suppliers in Taiwan and Mainland China with the aim of achieving friendly, mutually beneficial, and common growth for sustainability.
- Procuring non-conflict minerals
- Wistron complies with the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) and is committed not to use minerals such as tantalum, tin, tungsten, and gold associated with armed conflict, forced labour, or child labour abuse, or mining under other illegal and harsh working conditions. RMI included “cobalt” as a fifth mineral for management in 2019. Wistron updated its procurement management regulations in 2020 to include cobalt under conflict mineral management and ensure that suppliers do not purchase materials from armed conflicts. Wistron also requested main material suppliers to sign the “Declaration of Non-use of Conflict Minerals (Including Tungsten, Tin, Tantalum, and Gold)”. 1068 suppliers (89.8% of suppliers) have signed the Declaration. Suppliers must adhere to the requirements in the statement or Wistron will immediately cancel the qualifications in the event of a violation. No supplier violated the requirements and lost their qualifications in 2020.
- Auditing suppliers
- Wistron evaluates the five major dimensions of management regulations of 110 suppliers based on the RBA (Responsible Business Alliance) requirements. Wistron performs onsite audits and verification at suppliers’ production sites. The 2020 audit results were approved based on Wistron requirements. A score of lower than 80 points in the audit results is deemed as unapproved. Wistron will ask the supplier to propose improvement measures for discrepancies found in the audit. The supplier is required to complete improvements for the discrepancies, report back, and file a re-audit application within two months. If the re-audit results are still not approved, it may not file any application within six months. Where the issues discovered affect the quality of materials supplied, the materials/supplier will be replaced with alternatives. Wistron uses the aforementioned audit procedures to make sure its suppliers meet requirements in the RBA management system.
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
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.
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References:
This case study is based on published information by Wistron, 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 following link:
https://www.wistron.com/CMS/SocialResponsibility?pageId=234
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