Balancing Profit and Purpose: How Supply Chain and Procurement Can Align for Success

Changes in the regulatory environment and rise of sovereign supply chains, along with increased pressure from consumers and shareholders alike, are all combining to make environmental and social governance (ESG) goals a top priority for business leaders.

Watch Now

Successful ESG practices are not just good for the world, they’re good for business overall.

Join Forrester analyst George Lawrie and Dr. Madhav Durbha for a discussion about how businesses can achieve both greater profit and improved outcomes for their ESG initiatives, including:

  • What executives think about corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability risk
  • The impact of supply chain design on an organization’s carbon footprint
  • How procurement and supply chain teams can align so as to maximize profits as well as achieve ESG goals.

The key to accomplishing the dual objectives of profit and purpose is to attain a very tight collaboration and alignment between Procurement and Supply Chain teams.

Striving together to manage supplier relationships and risk, and actively designing supply chain networks to explicitly factor in these objectives will be more important than ever. 

Listen to this on-demand webinar for a deep dive into the ways organizations can achieve this balance along with practical examples for the same.

Featured Speakers
George Lawrie, VP and Principal Analyst, Forrester Research
George Lawrie
VP and Principal Analyst
Forrester Research
Justin Walls
Justin Walls
Sr. Account Director, Enterprise
Coupa Software
So you’ve got the on-demand element of fulfillment… and you’ve got volatile demand that is moving around all of the time. So it means you need to stay agile, you need to be able to continuously redesign the network by which you anticipate demand and by which you fulfill it.
George Lawrie, VP and Principal Analyst, Forrester Research

FAQ

What are elements that drive supply chain variability?

Elements of supply chain variability include both demand variability elements and supply variability. Demand variability is affected by forecast errors, seasonal demand, outliers and unplanned demand, and late changes to planning for promotions or events. Supply variability is determined by lead time, lot size, late delivery, production variability, multiple supply sources, seasonal supply sources, and supplier performance. Our supply network must take into account all of the various elements that affect demand and supply variability.

What is the impact of a supply chain network on an organization’s carbon footprint?

Based on research from CDP, supply chain emissions are 11.4 times greater on average than direct emissions. Moreover, environmental risk threatens to boost supply chain costs by $120 billion within five years. Suppliers who disclosed their ESG efforts have reported 619 million tons in annual emissions reductions and $33.7 billion in savings by optimizing their supply chain to reduce their carbon footprint.

What are the big trends in procurement in recent years?

The first major trend is that ESG and supplier risk mitigation have become strategic priorities to procurement organizations. As a result, organizations are increasingly seeking out innovative suppliers who can help them meet strategic goals, including ESG goals, and not just cost-related goals. Another trend in procurement has been the increase in self-service, which has meant there are more buyers outside of procurement. An additional trend is that artificial intelligence algorithms have contributed to an overall improvement in procurement functions.