The management systems community
– 16th Dec 2008 by Alex Briggs
The new ISO 9001:2008 update is slowly making its way into accepted business language. This recent blog post highlights some of the changes. For a more thorough update on what’s new in ISO 9001:2008 and what it means for you and your organisation, read this article.
– 25th Nov 2008 by Raz Chaudary
ASIS International (ASIS) have developed a business continuity checklist as a tool to allow organizations to consider the factors and steps necessary to prepare for a crisis (disaster or emergency). It is designed to assess an organisation’s resilience to manage and survive the crisis and take all appropriate actions to maintain critical operational viability.
The checklist has applicability in both the private and public sector environments. and can assist in creating, testing, and maintaining an organization-wide plan for use in the event of a crisis that threatens the viability and continuity of the organization.
Event: 2nd Dec 2008 – 3rd Dec 2008
While the United States enjoys the safest, most abundant food supply in the world, some consumers are questioning this fact in the wake of recent meat, produce and processed food recalls. Bolstering consumer confidence is the responsibility of every stakeholder in the value chain.
– 28th Oct 2008 by Alex Briggs
Chris Anstey, the Outreach Director for the Global Social Compliance Program, talked to www.businessassurance.com at the Ethical Supply Chain Summit in Berlin. Chris has experience in all aspects of the supply chain and was most recently with the CIES.
In this clip, part of the upcoming episode 4 of our Ethical Supply Chain Video Podcast Series, Chris talks about the growing trend towards certification for global food retailers and their suppliers.
– 27th Oct 2008 by Alex Briggs
Chris Harrop, Group Marketing Director for Marshalls in the UK is on the cutting edge of CSR, ethical supply chain initiatives, carbon labelling, workers rights and stakeholder engagement. Chris talked to us during the recent Ethical Supply Chain Summit in Berlin.
Chris shares his thoughts on some of the key topics that are facing global brands today, with the conversation ranging from competitive advantage for businesses embedding CSR as part of their business practice to Marshalls work with the Carbon Trust in becoming the first brand to carbon label their entire product range.
Watch Marshalls Stakeholder Engagement Interview in News Online | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com
– 22nd Oct 2008 by Alex Briggs
Louise Nicholls, the Ethical Trading Director for Marks & Spencer and Ariane Thomas, the Supply Chain Purchasing Director for L’Oreal were two of the stars of the Ethical Supply Chain Summit in Berlin last week.
Nicholls inspired the audience with “real stories” from M & S factories around the world. She talked about working with suppliers in Morocco and Kenya and the unique ethical dilemnas faced when working with local suppliers in those markets.
Thomas’ presentation was insightful in contrasting L’Oreal’s policy of working with suppliers to improve their performance rather than firing them if they fail to be 100% ethically correct.
– 2nd Oct 2008 by Raz Chaudary
Reseach identifies the top 10 strategic risks for global supply chains and businesses. Are you ready for the highlighted five fastest-rising threats that could also have a significant impact over the next three to five years?
According to Ernst & Young’s report, they highlight regulatory and compliance as the highest risks followed closely by global financial shocks, workforce and consumer aging, and the rise of emerging markets.
– 19th Sep 2008 by Alex Briggs
The tightening of visa restrictions around the recent Olympic Games in Beijing has had unintended consequences on the Quality Assurance industry, according to this Ethical Corp article.
Global brands producing in China have been unable to secure the auditors needed at Chinese factories to ensure that the quality of their products is right. A major fall out will be that people who have talked about moving production to other countries for some time are now actually having to do it to meet deadlines.
Even if (and there are no guarantees) things return to normal in September, it will be too late for these firms who need to get gear on boats in October for the holidays.
Now many are scrambling to find capacity in Vietnam, Bangladesh, etc., while any number of Chinese garment manufacturers (two thirds of whom operate on margins of less than 1.5% already) will go under.
A number of companies with production runs already underway are having to stall or delay work as they cannot get visas for their Quality Assurance (QA) staff to enter China.
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