Driving Compliance and Ethics into Global Supply Chains

Waltham, MA — Integrity Interactive Corporation has released what it is calling the first and only Web-based service that lets a company drive its code of ethics into its global supply chain, offering a solution to help companies mitigate risk to their financial health and reputation and to their customers

The Ethics Issue

Over the past year, a number of leading corporations grabbed headlines with business scandals resulting from serious ethics and compliance breaches in their supply chains. Mattel, with its issues around lead paint in toys, is just one of the most recent examples.

Too often, supply chain scandals result in costly recalls and brand damage. But suppliers and vendors (including OEM manufacturers, parts and components suppliers, ingredient providers, re-sellers, distributors, service and support partners, and 1099 contractors) can't meet standards and expectations that haven't been set.

In fact, an Integrity Interactive survey of Global 2000 companies late last year found that a stunning 78 percent of companies do not include suppliers in their company's primary code of conduct. This same study revealed that nearly 58 percent of companies surveyed were not sure if their company regularly assessed ethics risks in the supply chain.

Identifying Rogue Suppliers

Integrity Interactive delivers a company's code of ethics to suppliers in a password-protected Web site, collects certifications and reports the results back to the initiating company. The service is free to the initiating company. Suppliers pay a nominal documentation fee but pay nothing to view or download standards of ethical conduct.

The new Supplier Certify service aims to help companies identify rogue suppliers before they get a chance to cause major problems or scandals. Three companies — Ryder Systems Inc., H.J. Heinz and bioMérieux Inc. — have already begun the process of driving ethics into their supply chain in partnership with Integrity.

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