The value chain: beyond the company perimeter
Increased consumer awareness and increasingly stringent international human rights policies have led many companies to adopt monitoring systems that go well beyond what happens within the company walls. In fact, there is a growing awareness of how wide the perimeter occupied by this topic is and of how many risks may derive from a lack of control over it. Possible violations do not only concern child labor or forced labor, but also discrimination on the basis of gender, age, sexual orientation, violation of privacy, the rights to freedom of association, freedom of opinion and expression.
In order to respond to the market’s greater demand for transparency, companies are asking suppliers (including second, third and fourth level suppliers) to adopt certain standards of conduct: in a path towards sustainability, in fact, there is a growing demand for greater commitment from the various players in the production chain. This is one of the reasons why more and more companies are adopting a human rights policy, an important tool especially when it is the result of a transversal process that involves various company functions such as Human Resources, Purchasing and Risk Management.
A step towards cooperation, training, and involvement of suppliers in order to encourage them to adopt increasingly sustainable working methods.