Ethical Sourcing Forum 2010

Supply chain issues are among the most prickly problems in CSR. Manufacturers are increasingly expected to take responsibility for the fields and factories they source from, and many take proactive measures to protect their brands from the kind of reputational disasters suffered by Nike and Gap in the 1990s. But supply chains are by definition outside of the direct control of a company, meaning that even a company's best efforts to control their supply chains can fail miserably.

So what's a company to do? Fortunately, there are some pretty creative minds working on these issues, which is why I was pleased to receive a media pass to cover the 2010 Ethical Sourcing Forum. Put on by the audit and testing company Intertek with support from several major news and CSR organizations, the conference promises to teach me to:

-"visualize supply chain issues and opportunities" with help from Wal-Mart's Matt Kistler and representatives from the Maquila Solidarity Network, Eileen Fisher, The Economist, and the U.S. Department of Labor;

-"re-think decision making processes" with help from Justmeans, Gildan Activewear, Bloomberg, and Ford Motor Company; and

-"solve these seemingly intractable ethical sourcing puzzles" through an interactive workshop (I'm not sure who's leading that).

The conference also features case studies from HP; a presentation on child and forced labor by a contractor for the U.S. Department of Labor; a panel discussion involving Coke, Cadbury, and NBC Universal; and even an eco fashion activist. Overall, the line-up looks good, although possibly unrealistically, I wish Intertek had invited some of its competitors to speak to offer a more diverse array of perspectives from the auditor community.

Since supply chain issues are notoriously complicated, I'm hoping to hear some out-of-the-box solutions to problems that industry has been tackling for years. I look forward to updating you next week on new CSR insights shared through the Forum.

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