Closing the Environmental, Social, and Governance Gaps
Lockheed Martin's Progress in Supply Chain Management
In February 2024, the Digital Supply Chain Institute and APQC conducted a global survey* about the impact of Environmental, Social, and Governance trends in supply chain management. The encouraging news from the survey was that 62 percent of respondents believed ESG factors were “extremely or very important” to their organizations’ supply chain management practices. Those taking the survey agreed that the driver for adapting supply chain processes was to meet increasing regulatory demands.
The not-so-encouraging news from the survey was that 76% of the same respondents recognized a significant gap between their employees’ understanding of ESG strategies and how to execute them. Only 43% of respondents had applied ESG performance as a criterion for selecting suppliers.
Gaps present great opportunities. Internally, Lockheed Martin’s Global Supply Chain, Sustainability, and Ethics organizations are working together in lock-step when it comes to its supply chain. You can learn more in this year’s 2024 Sustainability Performance Report which was recently released. Externally, Lockheed Martin continues its engagement with EcoVadis, a resource to allow suppliers’ self-assessment based on several criterion, one of which includes the “G” in ESG – Governance. So far, 60% of suppliers in our supply chain have elected to, a number that’s on the rise. EcoVadis, a number that’s on the rise.
When an ethical corporate culture becomes the foundation upon which you conduct business, it makes all the difference. It fosters employee and customer trust. It enhances your organization’s reputation. It encourages transparency and ethical decision-making on a daily basis. It begins with a simple question when faced with ethical dilemmas, “What’s the right thing to do in this situation?”
*Survey report below regarding “ESG Trends in Supply Chain Management,” published by the Digital Supply Chain Institute and APQC in February 2024.