Workshop: Ethics in the Supply Chain: Managing Risk and building trust through Supply Chain Ethics

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Workshop Abstract:

Today, multinational companies’ reputations are inextricably linked to the behavior of their suppliers and third party business partners. Often, when a third party partner is caught breaking the law or violating ethical standards, the large customer can be the one that receives the brunt of the negative publicity.

So what today are best practices in supply chain ethics, from Supplier Codes of Conduct to ethics and compliance training? How can multinational companies approach suppliers of all sizes, whether large multinational companies or independent operations in the developing world, and ask them to sign on to anti-corruption and other ethics policies? What are the risks multinational companies face from an ‘unethical’ supply chain? How can companies verify that their supply chain has strong anti-corruption and ethics programs in place?

Areas of discussion for this workshop will include:

• Risks of Supplier Non-Compliance. What are the risks from supplier ethics/compliance violations, both in terms of financial penalties and reputation damage? This workshop will cover examples of large MNCs that have received monetary and other penalties after suppliers, contractors or sub-contractors broke the law and/or paid bribes.

• Supplier Codes of Ethics and Compliance. How do Supplier Codes of Ethics play a role in global anti-corruption and improving ethical standards? We will discuss best practices in Supplier Codes today, and why Supplier Codes should be standardized globally.

• Approaching Suppliers of All Sizes. How should companies approach suppliers of all sizes to encourage and enforce ethics? For example, ‘supplier” doesn’t just refer to small manufacturers in the developing world, it also refers to large multinational companies with thousands of their own suppliers and sophisticated ethics and compliance programs. This topic will cover how customers can approach suppliers of varying sizes without causing offence.

• Advantages of Supplier/Customer Trust. How can supply chain ethics build and maintain trust with suppliers? We will discuss studies that show how trust in the supply chain can reduce anti-corruption risks and penalties, as well as other risks, including lowering operational costs.

Moderator:

Michael Hershman – President, The Fairfax Group

Rapporteur: Michel Girodo – member of the Interpol Group of Experts on Corruption

Panelists:

Alexander F. Brigham – Executive Director, The Ethisphere Institute

Tim Erblich – Executive Vice President, The Ethisphere Institute

Stefan Linssen – Editor-in-Chief, The Ethisphere Institute

Alexandra Wrage – President, TRACE International

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