A new report, published by the Management Consultancies Association (MCA), has found that almost 30 percent of companies have cut back on their spending to reduce their carbon footprint.
The report, The Weakest Link, which surveyed consultants who work with more than 90 of the FTSE 100 list of leading firms, also found that 40 percent view investment in reducing their carbon footprint as less important than they did a year ago.
Alan Leaman, Chief Executive of the MCA said: "Companies must not neglect their ethical and environmental obligations, even in a deep recession. That is not just bad policy; it is also bad for their business."
Commenting on making supply chains more green, Alan Braithwaite, Chairman of LCP Consulting said: "The global economic downturn has left governments and corporates in a position where they are wrestling with conflicting priorities including short term electability, continued office, annual bonuses and shareholder dividends versus an undefined meltdown in the future.
"But recent research has shown that there is still a demand for green products: a Populus survey found that 60 percent of respondents would try to buy the 'most ethical and environmentally friendly products' that they could.
"This consumer pressure will eventually prevail."
Other key findings from the MCA report include:
* Businesses need to collaborate with their suppliers to help everyone through the recession and speed up economic recovery.
* Over half of businesses expect their supply chain to become more complex in the future.
* Less than a third of businesses have good relationships with their suppliers.
* Only one in eight are planning to work with suppliers through the recession.
* 94 percent of businesses said that cutting supply chain costs, along with improving efficiency and productivity are their top priority.
The report concludes: "Britain's businesses should stop behaving as if this recession will be short-lived. All of our current understanding argues that it will be longer and deeper than most have previously imagined.
"And, therefore, businesses should look beyond those immediate actions that reduce their costs to what happens after these have been implemented, especially if the recession lasts well into 2010 or beyond.
"While cost-cutting is an obvious imperative for many business leaders, the long-term prospects of their organisations can be irretrievably damaged by short-term thinking.
"It is, of course, now clear that the recession is having a serious impact on business in the UK. 90% of MCA members we surveyed reported this and almost 6 out of 10 said that it had already had a substantial impact and will continue to do substantial damage to their clients during 2009.
"Much attention will now rightly be focussed on supply chains - how businesses source their materials and other supplies, and how they sell and distribute their products and services.
"Supply chains have become considerably more complex in the last ten years as the economy has globalised, communication and transport have been easier and demand from customers for low prices as well as quality and value has intensified. Ethical and reputation issues often now also play a significant part, as consumer attitudes have developed and the reach of the global media has grown.
"Each of the organisations MCA members work with report this phenomenon, and half of them expect the level of complexity to rise yet further in years to come."
Post a comment