The Supply Chain Imperative: How to Ensure Ethical Behavior in Your Global Suppliers

Dale Neef

AMACOM, 2004

ISBN: 0-8144-0783-8

306 pages; $32.95

To order: visit AMACOM online at www.amacombooks.org or any major book retailer

In The Supply Chain Imperative, author Dale Neef's burden of proof is to persuade companies that corporate social responsibility can coexist with competitive supply chain management. His argument is clearly and intelligently written, with many informative case studies about companies that have already embraced the concept of corporate social responsibility. Unfortunately, that argument takes too much time in the delivery.

The first chapters of the book lay out, with great expertise, the history of corporate social responsibility: the disorganized, home-grown remedies that various ambitious companies have tried to increase social accountability abroad; the notorious stories of unethical companies in the garment industry that have suffered from public backlash; and the growing trends in globalization and outsourcing that make even midsized companies more prone to the "naming-and-shaming" tactics of activists.

Neef makes many well-argued appeals to the importance of human dignity and environmental care that would convince activist and accountant alike. However, his initial arguments, which appeal to a sense of political and moral correctness, don't tell skeptics anything that they don't already know. He does provide convincing examples of the public-relations nightmares that big corporations faced when their wrongdoings were exposed. But he doesn't give many reasons why the other readers of his book—supply chain managers for smaller companies that don't enjoy as much media limelight—should invest in the time and money to ensure that their suppliers are compliant to certain ethical standards.

What the first half of Neef's book needs is more of the business-centered arguments that come in the second half. There, he makes arguments that corporate social responsibility is not just a fad or a public-relations exercise. He points to the increasing number of European and East Asian companies that are implementing social auditing as a part of their supplier-selection decisions. Those companies that adopt the infrastructure for social responsibility will have an advantage in bids for international contracts with the more socially conscious companies elsewhere in the world, he argues.

In the last chapters, Neef finally talks about how to implement a social responsibility program. This discussion excels in its level of detail and the specific examples that illustrate every step of implementing a social responsibility program: establishing a code of conduct, creating a business case, choosing standards, measuring progress, collaborating with suppliers, and conducting a final audit. In these chapters, Neef explains how improvements in environmental efficiency and worker morale, safety, and wages translate into tangible results such as cost savings and higher productivity.

For managers who want to infuse corporate responsibility into their sourcing decisions and relationships, yet fear the costs and restructuring involved, Neef's book provides real, specific solutions. Unfortunately, many of the hard facts and concrete details come later in the book, when the more skeptical reader's attention might have already drifted. Those who persevere to these later chapters, however, will find their just rewards in a wealth of practical arguments and explanations to help them move toward more ethical supply chain management.

Uniform Code Council Web site

www.uc-council.org

Companies' dreams of real-time supply chains that encircle the globe depend on some very nuts-and-bolts details: standards ... standards for classifying products, standards for e-commerce transactions, and standards for data carriers. For North American companies, the Web site for the Uniform Code Council (UCC) provides an excellent first stop for information on these key enablers to efficient and effective global business.

A not-for-profit industry organization, the UCC and its family of subsidiaries, divisions, and partnerships work to develop and promote these worldwide standards. The UCC was founded in 1972 to administer the Universal Product Code (UPC). The UPC provided the foundation for today's global EAN-UCC system, which the UCC co-manages with Europe-based EAN International. The EAN-UCC System standardizes bar codes, e-commerce transactions, XML schemas, and other supply chain solutions.

Item identification is still a major part of the organization's focus. The Web site walks users through both the basics of bar coding as well as its latest initiatives, such as the 2005 Sunrise effort that requires North American companies to be able to scan and process EAN-8 and EAN-13 bar codes at point of sale. Additionally, companies seeking to bar code their products can apply online for a UCC membership and EAN-UCC Company Prefix.

Since the 1970s, the UCC has expanded greatly and now includes three associated standards organizations— EAN-UCC Systems, the high-tech industry's RossettaNet, and EPC Global, which is developing the electronic product code for radio-frequency identification. It also encompasses two implementation support groups, UCCnet and eBusinessReady. UCCnet is a registry that ensures that trading partners are using identical, EAN-UCC compliant item information (such as weight and dimensions). The eBusinessReady program tests and certifies software interoperability. The UCC home page links to all of these groups, includes concise FAQs about each, and provides information on how to become a member.

To sort out how the different organizations and their associated standards interrelate and differ, it's helpful to download the press kit, which can be found under the "press room" heading on the navigation bar. Although meant for members of the media, the document does a good job of profiling each organization and showing how they tie together.

What this Web site makes clear is that global business requires a global business language. To make sure that your vocabulary is up to speed, it's important to be familiar with the UCC.