What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2016 Corporate Social Responsibility Report Inventec identified a range of material issues, such as employee welfare, financial performance, customer satisfaction, supplier management, labour laws conformity. Among these, reducing the environmental impact of its products stands out as a key material issue for Inventec.

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 Inventec engages with:

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Employee	·      Employee caring conferences ·      Employee symposiums ·      Leader symposiums ·      Employee suggestion boxes
Customer	·      Standards, audit or questionnaire survey proposed by customers
Government agency	·      Corporate annual report, CSR report preparation rules ·      Official documents from government department, in-plant inspection and declaration requirements ·      Government policy propaganda and project applications
Supplier (including contractor)	·      Questionnaire filled in by supplier
Shareholder/investor	·      Website ·      Board of Shareholders ·      Media news
Community	·      Suggestions or questionnaire survey proposed by community
Reporters	·      Questionnaire survey proposed by Reporter
Non-governmental organisations	·      Suggestions or questionnaire survey proposed by non-governmental organisations

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics, Inventec obtained feedback from its stakeholders through a questionnaire.

What actions were taken by Inventec to reduce the environmental impact of its products?

In its 2016 Corporate Social Responsibility Report Inventec reports that it took the following actions for reducing the environmental impact of its products:

• Implementing green design
• Inventec integrates aspects such as environmental protection and safety into product development, design and life cycle, as well as into the manufacturing process. The company uses a selection of raw materials and product design of easy disassembly, to reduce products’ environmental impacts while retaining a competitive product price, efficiency and quality. Inventec’s green design strategy means that the company:
  • spares no efforts in seeking new ways to reduce environmental impacts
  • reduces total energy consumption in the product life cycle
  • relieves land burden
  • designs products for durability, best operability, reuse, recovery and recycling
  • avoids using, in products, raw materials that contain toxic substances

• Producing green products
• Starting in 2006, Inventec has established the “IECQ QC 080000 Hazardous Substance Process Management System” and has, since, been passing 3rd Party SGS validation on an annual basis. In addition, Inventec has established a green number list to strengthen the requirements for manufacturing greener products, including the properties of materials used, which are subject to green product design requirements. In its plants, Inventec uses XRF (X-ray fluorescence) instruments to examine materials entering the production line and also performs spot tests to further prevent incoming non-conforming materials, to achieve the goal of 100 per cent green product identification, green component incoming rates, and green process execution rates.

• Helping customers achieve green product certification
• Responding to environmental protection legal issues in various countries and seeking to provide global customers with more environmentally friendly products and services, Inventec helps customers acquire product green mark certification, including the Taiwan Green Mark, the China Green Mark (SEPA), the China Energy Saving Mark (CECP), the China Energy Label (CEL), Energy Star, and the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT).

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

The GRI Standard addressed in this case is:

Disclosure 302-5 Reductions in energy requirements of products and services

Disclosure 302-5 Reductions in energy requirements of products and services corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
• Business theme: Energy efficiency
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
• Business theme: Energy efficiency
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
• Business theme: Energy efficiency
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
• Business theme: Energy efficiency

 

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 Inventec, 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) http://www.fbrh.co.uk/en/global-reporting-initiative-gri-g4-guidelines-download-page

3) https://g4.globalreporting.org/Pages/default.aspx

4) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/

Note to Inventec: 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 2016 Corporate Social Responsibility Report Inventec identified a range of material issues, such as financial performance, customer satisfaction, product regulations conformity, hazardous substance management. Among these, promoting employee welfare stands out as a key material issue for Inventec.

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 organization should identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations.”

Stakeholders must be consulted in the process s 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 Inventec engages with:

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Employee	·         Employee caring conferences ·         Employee symposiums ·         Leader symposiums ·         Employee suggestion boxes
Customer	·         Standards, audit or questionnaire survey proposed by customers
Government agency	·         Corporate annual report, CSR report preparation rules ·         Official documents from government department, in-plant inspection and declaration requirements ·         Government policy propaganda and project applications
Supplier (including contractor)	·         Questionnaire filled in by supplier
Shareholder/investor	·         Website ·         Board of Shareholders ·         Media news
Community	·         Suggestions or questionnaire survey proposed by community
Reporters	·         Questionnaire survey proposed by Reporter
Non-governmental organizations	·         Suggestions or questionnaire survey proposed by non-governmental organizations

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritize material issues based on stakeholders’ concerns, Inventec distributed a questionnaire to its stakeholder groups.

What actions were taken by Inventec to promote employee welfare?

In its 2016 Corporate Social Responsibility Report Inventec reports that it took the following actions for promoting employee welfare:

• Offering employees flexible working hours
• Inventec implements a flexible working hours system, enabling employees to adjust their working hours according to their needs. In the Shihlin headquarter employees should clock in before 9:00 am, but in the Taoyuan facility there is no such requirement. In addition, Inventec’s employees are allowed to leave the office without taking days off, as long as they get the management’s approval.

• Paying fair and competitive wages
• Inventec offers competitive salaries to talented employees across the company’s facilities worldwide, including Taiwan, mainland China, Europe and America, regardless of gender or ethnic group. In Taiwan, the basic salaries of professional staff and technicians are higher than the local minimum wage (1.221 times higher for male and 1.265 times higher for female employees). In mainland China, the basic salary of direct personnel is 1.02 times higher than the local minimum wage in the Pudong plant, Shanghai and approximately 1.03 times higher in the Chongqing plant.

• Promoting legal compliance
• In Taiwan, Inventec implements complete employee retirement programs, in accordance with the Labor Pension Act. In the Chongqing facility in mainland China, Inventec offers employees social insurance in compliance with the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Employment Contracts and the Social Insurance Law of the People’s Republic of China. Inventec offers social insurance since day one and is audited by the government. In the Pudong facility, Inventec provides qualified retired employees with retirement benefits, following the relevant law in Shanghai.

Which GRI indicators/Standards have been addressed?

The GRI indicators/Standards addressed in this case are:

1) G4-EC3: Coverage of the organization’s defined benefit plan obligations – the updated GRI Standard is: Disclosure 201-3 Defined benefit plan obligations and other retirement plans

2) G4-EC5: Ratios of standard entry level wage by gender compared to local minimum wage at significant locations of operation – the updated GRI Standard is: Disclosure 202-1 Ratios of standard entry level wage by gender compared to local minimum wage

 

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 Inventec, 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) http://www.fbrh.co.uk/en/global-reporting-initiative-gri-g4-guidelines-download-page

3) https://g4.globalreporting.org/Pages/default.aspx

4) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/

Note to Inventec: 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.