Why supply chains are personal - and why they matter - no matter who you are

'Virtually entire' fashion industry complicit in Uighur forced labour, say rights groups’ (The Guardian, July 2020)

‘Boohoo launches an independent review of its supply chain and cuts its relationship with two suppliers following exploitation claims’ (Business Insider, July 2020)

‘Amazon, FedEx workers fought exploitation in a pandemic, then joined an uprising’ (The Intercept, July 2020)

These are just a handful of headlines from one month - July 2020. Supply chains are, without doubt, becoming more visible in the mainstream news, both preceded and followed by an increase in consumer awareness that there’s a story behind everything we buy or use every day.

I’ve been obsessed with supply chains for a long time, because each of us is involved in them, whether consciously or not. They have the potential to transform communities and the environment for better or for worse. And, frankly, people - ‘the general public,’ but PEOPLE - are increasingly aware of and uncomfortable knowing that a lot of comfort in the developed world is built on human discomfort and exploitation of natural resources. 

Words like provenance, traceability and transparency have become more common in board rooms and policy conversations, as have focus areas like palm oil, conflict minerals, ocean plastics, climate change, and, now, Covid-19.

Supply chain issues aren’t getting any less complex, but they are increasingly hitting headlines, rallying activists and having an impact on corporate reputations and crisis communications priorities and budgets. Some of the biggest companies in the world have openly admitted they’re often not sure who all of their suppliers are or how to track and investigate things like the workers rights and environmental impact involved in some of their most common brands. The public are becoming ‘publics’ - activated stakeholders - and this is no longer an acceptable situation. 

The world has changed forever, and leaders and organizations who haven’t kept up are already set to be relegated to dinosaur status. It might already be too late for some of them, and there will be discomfort in the meantime as economies, consumption patterns, attitudes and systems break, shift and evolve. As someone who has worked in social and environmental issues for 30 years - 17 years of that as a formal career, I find this exciting. Now is an opportunity to stop doing business with a short-term vision. To build supply chains that are actually resilient and capable of serving humanity into the future.So, back to supply chains. Those who work with or have paid attention to supply chains know they are complex, fascinating, and incredibly risky. They’re also notoriously complex, difficult to trace, and only as strong as their weakest link. Consider some of the world’s biggest names in high street fashion, many of whom have pledged to pay workers fairly and be more transparent. Consider the opening headline here about Uigher labour in fashion supply chains. 

A recent investigation of supply chains published in the Harvard Business Review said it well:

“Consider the embarrassing scrutiny that Apple, Dell, and HP endured not long ago for sourcing electronics from overseas companies that required employees to work in hazardous conditions, and the fallout that Nike and Adidas suffered for using suppliers that were dumping toxins into rivers in China.

Many multinational corporations sincerely want to embed fair labor practices and environmental responsibility throughout their supply networks... But all corporations can and should do more. They should send their suppliers a more consistent message that economic, social, and environmental requirements are all important. They should make the same message clear to their procurement officials and create incentives for them to pursue not only economic goals but also environmental and social goals. Those officials should take a hands-on approach to collecting data about suppliers’ capacity, monitoring indicators of their sustainability performance, and engaging with them in continuous improvement projects. The MNCs should also work directly with their suppliers’ procurement units on the best ways to disseminate sustainability requirements throughout their supply networks.”

There are a couple of things clearly going on: a gap between resolve and action and a risk in communicating badly or falsely around social and environmental issues within supply chains. Champion women’s rights while one of your suppliers is refusing to pay female garment workers living on a Dollar a day? Nope. Fire internal whistleblowers while highlighting on social media your credentials on critical issues like racial equality? Try again. 

In my experience as someone who’s worked with corporates, governments and communications people for a very long time, the corporates regularly falling on their faces in public over these issues are increasingly common for three reasons:
1. Leadership and those who must communicate about such issues don’t understand them, and/or aren’t able to access the kind of innovative thinking that will change the status quo;
2. Leaders and communications people don’t understand how to communicate such complex issues;
3. Many current working cultures don’t encourage or even allow the people who work there (including leaders) to be human at work - to feel and recognise their instincts that everything in the world is connected, that a brief doesn’t feel quite right, and that being challenging about it, rather than sending out a media release or social media posts is the appropriate move.

Clearly, communicating social and environmental issues around complex areas like supply chains is crucial. It is risky to get it wrong and potentially rewarding to do well - depending on the activity and the reality behind the words. Good journalism as well as the internet have made the public more aware of this, and that trend is not set to decrease, wth the risk of more activism a very real one.

Fortunately, resources and innovations to address supply chain complexities, exploitation and transparency abound. There really isn’t any excuse to not try harder. Take, for example, blockchain technology. 

Some of my favourite examples are past clients: Better Chain uses blockchain technology to produce data that allows full traceability of metals and minerals in common electronics (and shines a light on conflict minerals, so companies can live up to their commitments not to use them). A Transparent Company uses blockchain to give full traceability to clothing and apparel. GPS and satellites are also being used to map deforestation in efforts to slow or halt it, to highlight other technologies and angles that are changing supply chain transparency.

Alongside, technology innovations, cross-sector partnerships are incredibly useful for bringing in complementary skills, perspective and accountability to truly address complex, tricky supply chain issues. WWF is a great example of a well-known and respected NGO who have for years forged partnerships with large corporates to protect rainforests, the ocean and other key natural resources. In a world where it’s now understood universal and complex issues like human rights and environmental impacts are too big for any organization to address alone - or more beneficial to address with others - partnerships and collaborations are of undeniable benefit.

Part of why I’ve long been intrigued by and worked on supply chain initiatives is because supply chains are personal to everyone. Everyone buys products or services of some kind, and behind every single product and service is a supply chain - which means social and environmental impact of some sort at every link in the ‘chain.’

The real, deep-in-my-gut reason I can’t shake because I know too much is also that supply chains have the potential to change the world, for better or for worse (to go back to one of my opening thoughts). What I allow myself to expect to pay for a tee shirt can have an impact on whether or not a female garment worker in Bangladesh can afford to send her children to school. Not giving in to convenience and grabbing the nearest chocolate bar as I grocery shop hungry can help to shut down child slavery in the cocoa supply chain, because I have chosen to buy only Fairtrade certified chocolate and it’s hardly painful.

At this time in history, there is no excuse for corporates, governments and consumers not to lean into a bit of discomfort to keep the world from falling apart. We are all connected - seeing Covid-19 fly around the world and ecosystems begin to collapse is proof of that. A bit of discomfort and leaning into challenges is what we must do, particularly when it comes to supply chains. Resources to innovate, to shine a light on murky supply chains, to insist on better abound. So, then, when corporations, leaders and communications professionals communicate the good stories about the social and environmental impact of the way current companies operate, they are not a cover-up to keep the profit coming in and the general public placated; they are proud stories of human and environmental wellbeing that can stand up to scrutiny. And that means we all get to survive.