What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2020 Annual Review & Sustainability Report Axis identified a range of material issues, such as anti-corruption, customer privacy, diversity and inclusion, use of water. Among these, promoting sustainability among its suppliers stands out as a key material issue for Axis.

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:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

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 Axis engages with:

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Employees	·      Web survey about sustainability ·      Local employee surveys ·      Performance appraisals ·      Dialogue with trade unions ·      Internal training ·      In-depth interviews about Axis’ sustainability efforts ·      Intranet ·      Meetings
Distributors and partners	·      Web survey ·      In-depth interviews ·      Trainings ·      Web seminars ·      Workshops ·      Meetings ·      Trade shows ·      Social media channels ·      Axis website ·      Newsletters
End customers	·      Surveys in connection with support cases ·      In-depth interviews ·      Social media channels ·      Continuous evaluations ·      Newsletters
Suppliers	·      Web survey ·      In-depth interviews on Axis sustainability efforts ·      Trainings ·      Web seminars ·      Axis website ·      Supplier audits
Owner	·      Meetings ·      Board meetings ·      The Annual review and sustainability report ·      The annual general meeting ·      Web survey ·      Interviews about Axis’ sustainability work
Society	·      In-depth interview about Axis’ sustainability work ·      Conferences ·      Membership in (and collaboration with) local and international trade associations ·      Dialogue with global non-governmental organisation ·      Social media channels ·      Axis’ website ·      Collaboration with universities, and other activities for students

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics Axis engaged with its stakeholders through a web survey with selected stakeholder groups, which was supplemented by in-depth interviews.

What actions were taken by Axis to promote sustainability among its supplier?

In its 2020 Annual Review & Sustainability Report Axis reports that it took the following actions for promoting sustainability among its suppliers:

• Implementing a Supplier code of conduct
• All Axis suppliers must sign and comply with its supplier code of conduct, which is based on the Axis code of conduct and the ten principles of the UN Global Compact on human rights, labour, the environment, and anti-corruption. The Responsible Business Alliance’s code of conduct was used as the model for requirements on working hours. The supplier code of conduct covers a variety of topics, such as a ban on all forms of child and forced labour, requirements on providing decent working conditions, and the necessity of counteracting all forms of corruption. Suppliers must also have controls in place for their environmental impact, energy and water consumption, emissions, and how both chemicals and waste are managed. Responsible purchasing of minerals is another requirement. Furthermore, suppliers must have ISO 14001 certification or an environmental management system that is in accordance with ISO 14001. Some suppliers have not signed Axis’ code of conduct for suppliers, referencing instead their own code of conduct. In such cases, Axis reviews the supplier’s code of conduct to make sure that the content corresponds to what is stated in Axis’ code of conduct for suppliers. All new suppliers during 2020 signed the supplier code of conduct, which is reviewed each year.

• Evaluating suppliers
• Prior to the start of collaboration, all new Axis suppliers are evaluated using a self-evaluation form. The form is based on the ILO (International Labour Organization) conventions and the ten principles of the UN Global Compact. It covers a wide variety of topics, including the company’s environmental impact (e.g., chemicals management and emissions) and social responsibility (e.g., working conditions, working hours, employee health and safety, ethical issues).

• Auditing suppliers
• Axis’ supplier audits are carried out in both the first tier (contract manufacturers) and second tier (component suppliers). Suppliers are classified according to the level of risk, where consideration is given to the country where they are located, credibility and prior evaluations. During the audit, Axis investigates the entire production process, through to end delivery, looking at such things as the factory’s environmental impact and working conditions for employees. Axis also checks that only conflict-free minerals are being used and that there are processes and systems in place for ensuring that operations are run in an ethical way and that there is no corruption. If it should be revealed that a supplier is not meeting Axis’ requirements, the supplier will be given three months to implement remedial measures. Axis then follows up that the problems have been corrected, by conducting one or more additional audits. If remedial action is not taken, Axis will not award the supplier any new business. The next step would be to phase out that supplier. Audits are conducted on suppliers that are critical from a sustainability perspective. On average, audits are carried out every three years (provided that no problems requiring remedial action have been identified). Recurring challenges with suppliers include deficiencies in how they manage both chemicals and waste, identify environmental aspects and set environmental goals. In all cases where problems were identified, the suppliers have taken action to remedy the errors. Regular audits on the majority of Axis suppliers have led to improvements in their sustainability efforts.

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: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.2
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.8
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
• Targets: 16.1

Disclosure 414-2 Negative social impacts in the supply chain and actions taken corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.2
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.8
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
• Targets: 16.1

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.
References:

This case study is based on published information by Axis, 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.axis.com/files/brochure/axis_annual_review_and_sustainability_report_2020.pdf.pdf

Note to Axis: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.

What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2017 Annual and Sustainability Report Axis identified a range of material issues, such as customer satisfaction, anti-corruption, carbon footprint, occupational health and safety, human rights and working conditions in the supply chain. Among these, protecting customer privacy stands out as a key material issue for Axis.

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:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

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 Axis engages with:

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Employees	·      Web survey with all employees in companies acquired in 2016 ·      Employee survey ·      Performance reviews ·      Continual dialogue with trade unions ·      In-depth interviews about Axis’ sustainability work ·      Intranet, meetings etc.
Distributors and partners	·      Web-based survey with distributors and partners in all regions where Axis has operations ·      Training ·      Webinars ·      events ·      In-depth interview about Axis’ sustainability work ·      Newsletters etc.
End customers	·      Continuous evaluations ·      Newsletters
Suppliers	·      In-depth interviews about Axis’ sustainability work ·      Training ·      Webinars ·      Supplier audits
Investors and owners	·      Meetings ·      Board meetings ·      Interim reports ·      Annual report ·      Annual general meeting ·      Interview about Axis’ sustainability work
Society	·      In-depth interviews about Axis’ sustainability work with representatives from local authorities and trade associations ·      Membership of local and international trade associations ·      Collaboration with universities ·      Trade exhibitions and other activities for students

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics Axis engaged with its stakeholders through a web survey, in-depth interviews and further dialogues in the form of employee surveys, satisfaction surveys, customer meetings, discussions and various types of collaboration.

What actions were taken by Axis to protect customer privacy?

In its 2017 Annual and Sustainability Report Axis reports that it took the following actions for protecting customer privacy:

• Focusing on IT security
• Axis has further increased its focus on IT security and works on this issue both internally and externally. Questions regarding IT security have also gained a more prominent role in Axis’ dialogue with distributors and partners. Additionally, Axis has started work on becoming certified according to the ISO27001 information security standard.

• Working preventively to protect customer information
• Axis works preventively and tries to eliminate all types of vulnerability before an incident is likely to occur, regardless of whether it concerns the vulnerability of an individual camera or of a larger solution. Accordingly, Axis carries out regular checks and evaluations to make sure customer information is handled and stored securely, and works continually to further improve security. Additionally, Axis’ research and development department attaches the highest priority to security and makes every effort to ensure software and interfaces are robust, with a high level of safety. Axis’ products and solutions support encryption and IP address filtering, and enable user authorisation protection and multi-stage logins.

• Providing training
• Axis trains its partners through seminars and workshops, and has additionally produced instructional materials. Axis also offers targeted training to its installers, to make sure video surveillance system installations are as safe as possible. In addition, at Axis’ partner meetings, questions about customer privacy and IT security in Axis’ products are continually discussed.

• Dealing with vulnerabilities and incidents
• Axis deals immediately with questions relating to customer privacy and personal integrity, and takes them extremely seriously. During 2017 Axis published six security bulletins, owing to the detection of vulnerabilities that had an impact on various products and solutions. Such publications, along with software updates to correct the problem, occur immediately when Axis discovers vulnerabilities.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standard addressed in this case is:

Disclosure 418-1 Substantiated complaints concerning breaches of customer privacy and losses of customer data

Disclosure 418-1 Substantiated complaints concerning breaches of customer privacy and losses of customer data corresponds to:

• 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: Compliance with laws and regulations, Protection of privacy

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.

 

References:

1) This case study is based on published information by Axis, 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/

Note to Axis: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.