Responsible Purchasing
"I believe that everyone within the company and connected to it has a role to play. Our employees, our Board, our management, our customers and our suppliers are all part of advancing Corporate Social Responsibility".
Ben VERWAAYEN,
Chief Executive Officer of Alcatel-Lucent.
We require that our suppliers operate responsibly. We rigorously and regularly evaluate the way our suppliers fulfil their ethical, social, environmental and health & safety responsibilities. When necessary, we define improvement plans and engage in permanent dialogue with suppliers and subcontractors to help them improve their CR approach and practices and ensure that CR is an integral part of their business practices.
Our approach to responsible purchasing relies on three pillars:
Our Responsible Purchasing Principles:
Require:
- Define CR requirements based on internationally recognized standards;
- Formalize CR requirements in all contractual documents signed with suppliers, including a supplier commitment to comply with environment, health and safety requirements and to follow the Global Compact Ten Principles and EICC Supplier Code of Conduct;
- Integrate CR practices in supplier selection and management;
Assess:
- Ensure that our supplier CR requirements and assessment program are consistent with our own values, our commitments to customers and market expectations;
- Establish a trust-based dialogue with suppliers to promote and explain our ethical, social, environmental, health and safety values, principles and requirements, evaluate suppliers' practices in these areas, and work long-term with them on improvement plans;
Improve:
- Ensure that all members of the Purchasing community in charge of managing suppliers are aware of their responsibilities and take ownership of CR aspects through the deployment of dedicated training sessions.
These principles are embedded in our Responsible Purchasing policy and processes.
