SAP has always been an organisation that values social responsibility and sustainability. During the Sustainability summit held at SAP Ariba Live in Barcelona this year, they discussed sustainability in the supply chain and procurement operations. They encouraged organisations to sustain their operations with a purpose. Now, SAP is holding an awards event to recognise the efforts of companies who have established their sustainable efforts
The SAP Sustainability Procurement Awards give recognition to procurement innovators with an SAP sustainable story. This will provide organisations with a chance to inspire others with their journey towards successful sustainable procurement efforts.
Acceptance of entries will not only be open for SAP, SAP Ariba or SAP Fieldglass customers, but also participants from the private, public, and third sector companies or organisations.
Organisations may submit more than one entry for many categories for the SAP Sustainability Procurement Awards, but each submission can only qualify for one award. All entries need to be in English and need to be able to provide solid pieces of evidence such as external verification, numbers, testimonials, and others.
These entries should be filed under one of the six categories that will cover various initiatives and projects. Five of the categories puts focus on how organisations work with their suppliers and supply chains in delivering Sustainable Procurement, which is defined as working not only focus for short-term financial gains or profits, but also with a sense of “purpose.”
These categories include the following:
- Climate – Pertains to sustainability efforts that address carbon reduction, deforestation, emissions, or energy usage.
- Diversity – Refers to working with social enterprises or buying from small-medium enterprises owned by ethnic minorities, ex-offenders, veterans, or women.
- Environmental Management – Puts focus on environment-related efforts such as the use of recycling methods and protection of natural species.
- Human Rights – Initiatives or projects that support human rights, which may involve fair employment, forced labour, modern slavery, or wage discrimination.
- Social and Community Value – Efforts that encourage enterprise, create employment opportunities, support education or communities, and offer a response to problems in the local community.
- Technology – Involves the use of technology to find the problem and manage programmes that are related to sustainability.
The panel of judges are sustainability experts and are presently consultants and practitioners of procurement and supply chain companies. They will be headed by Peter Smith, a business writer, and adviser who was previously engaged with CIPS, CPO, and Spend Matters Europe.
The criteria for judging are the following:
- Strategy, planning, and execution of the initiative or project – 20%
- Results in terms of benefits to the organisation – 20%
- Sustainability benefits – 40%
- Creativity and innovation – 20%
The period of submission of entries is from the 18th of November until the 31st of January 2020. The award team will review all qualified entries and finalists will be selected from the 31st of January until the 28th of February 2020. A panel of judges will review the finalists from the 2nd of March to the 3rd of April to determine the winners. Winning entries will be announced in April 2020.
