What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2019 Sustainability Report RAK Ceramics identified a range of material issues, such as financial performance, corporate governance and compliance, anti-corruption, workforce wellbeing, sustainable production and innovation. Among these, promoting sustainability among its suppliers stands out as a key material issue for RAK Ceramics.

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 RAK Ceramics engages with:

To identify and prioritise material topics RAK Ceramics engaged with its stakeholders through the following channels:

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Investors	·      Formal reporting ·      Updates ·      Quarterly meetings ·      Annual general board meeting
Employees	·      Everyday interactions ·      Engagement surveys ·      Newsletters ·      Annual performance appraisals
Customers	·      Key account managers ·      Trade exhibitions ·      Social media platforms ·      Newsletters
Suppliers	·      Procurement process ·      Meetings ·      Workshops
Government and regulatory bodies	·      Meetings ·      Conferences ·      Collaborations
Community	·      Partnerships ·      Sponsorships ·      Volunteering

What actions were taken by RAK Ceramics to promote sustainability among its suppliers?

In its 2019 Sustainability Report RAK Ceramics reports that it took the following actions for promoting sustainability among its suppliers:

• Assessing suppliers
• Prior to becoming a supplier for RAK Ceramics, it is mandatory for all key suppliers to complete a supplier assessment questionnaire, which outlines the minimum requirements for quality, environmental practices, health and safety and ethical standards. Going forward, RAK Ceramics wishes to implement a more sustainable procurement process that will include several sustainability markers which RAK Ceramics will use to assess all future suppliers.

• Implementing Supplier Guiding Principles
• In FY20, RAK Ceramics is looking at implementing Supplier Guiding Principles for all key suppliers, which will focus on additional sustainability requirements that RAK Ceramics expects the suppliers to meet. RAK Ceramics will continue to work on its supply chain strategy, so it continues to meet the demands of the business and be in line with RAK Ceramics’ stakeholder values. Additionally, RAK Ceramics is committed to using local suppliers where possible in order to support the local community. In 2019, RAK Ceramics spent approximately 678 million AED with 1143 direct suppliers (with 64% of those being local suppliers in the UAE – figures include RAK Ceramics, Elegance Ceramics and RAK Porcelain vendors).

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

The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:

1) Disclosure 204-1 Proportion of spending on local suppliers

2) Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria

3) Disclosure 414-1 New suppliers that were screened using social criteria

 

Disclosure 204-1 Proportion of spending on local suppliers corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

• Targets: 8.3

Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria 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

 

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 RAK Ceramics, 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 RAK Ceramics: 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.