For many companies operating in the “tech” meta-sector, the experience of the past two years has been characterized by a series of profound contrasts.
"On the one hand, most tech industries have, despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, maintained top line growth. On the other, such growth on the demand side has, in many cases, been offset by the emergence of new contingencies and the increase in longstanding vulnerabilities. This includes logistical challenges connected with labor and supply shortages, as well as human-and climate-related risks linked to shortfalls in the global supply base. These developments are pushing procurement processes and supply chain management into ever sharper focus among tech industry leaders.
As many as 93% of respondents to a recent McKinsey survey of tech executives stated that they plan to make their supply chains more resilient, including by building in redundancy across suppliers, nearshoring selected critical operations, reducing the number of unique parts in the manufacturing process, and regionalizing their supply chains. This sentiment was echoed in the EcoVadis Sustainable Procurement Barometer 2021, which found that 94% of respondents view supply chain resilience as a critical driver behind their sustainable procurement programs.
Indeed, procurement and sustainability are increasingly coming to be regarded as two-sides of the same coin. The COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated vividly how the most sustainably-run companies are also those best placed to absorb sudden contractions in supply and demand. Plus, given that most companies’ adverse social and environmental impacts occur in the upstream value chain, regulators, consumers and investors are increasingly demanding that organizations address sustainability issues in their supply chains.
This ebook takes a brief look at the supply chain challenges facing the tech sector and the factors which guide it in rethinking sustainable procurement systems before illustrating how tech companies are taking action. To do this, the ebook delves into EcoVadis’ unrivaled, comprehensive data on the companies we rated over the past several years, providing insights into the positive impact they are making."
