Corporate Social Responsibility in Supply Chain Management Essay

Case Study SingaporeThe case was create with the cooperation of Singapore drumhead for CSR solely for educational purposes as a voice to the Project entitled rude(a) Corporate Procurement Strategy on Trade in Goods and Services in APEC Region Supply- cooking stove options with CSR perspective - conducted chthonian the auspices of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). The case is neither designed nor mean to illustrate the correct or incorrect forethought of the situation or issues contained in the case. No part of this case can be re make waterd, stored or used without the written permission of the author and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation. 2007 APEC secretariat 216Case Study SingaporeExecutive Summary NTUC FairP sift Cooperative Ltd is the atomic number 82 supermarket seller in Singapore. The company is known as a supermarket with amicable conscience. Its supply chain activities focus on developing effective strategies to mitigate product persona and gu ard duty by working closely with its suppliers in implementing standards and good CSR practices. Singapore imports 95% of its vegetables from other economies since the topical anaesthetic farms cannot meet the local anaesthetic motivation. FairPrice itself imports about 80% of its vegetables. Sellers need to ensure that the vegetables are safe for pulmonary tuberculosis and its supply is ample. FairPrice invested in a impudently viands diffusion marrow in 2002 to enhance its ability to attain its stock faster and keep freshness character.The Good Agricultural Practices for Vegetable Farming (GAP-VF) certification ensures that local suppliers meet the standard but the certification does not cover overseas suppliers. FairPrice needs to incite these overseas suppliers to adopt similar standards. The standard employ to organic vegetables is even extravagantlyer. FairPrice works with Agri fodder Technologies Pte Ltd to develop an in-house certification program that would post assurance of the integrity of the organic produce. FairPrice participates in the Pekan Baru project, a collaboration of the Indonesian and Singapore governments. FairPrice purchases 50 tons of vegetables per week from Pekan Baru. As the sole importer of the vegetables produced in Pekan Baru, FairPrice provides much work and income for more than five hundred farmers and many operators along the supply chain.The project alike involves technology impartation which helps the farmers to implement good agricultural practices and get higher yields of better quality vegetables. Pekan Beru farmers learned the technology on cold chain management which makes it possible to maintain the freshness of vegetables while being transported from the farm to FairPrice distribution internalitys. With quality assurance, FairPrice broodages the vegetables under its house tag, Pasar. defacementing the vegetables under Pasar has helped to market and sum up demand for vegetables from Pekan Baru since FairPrice is a trusted defect in Singapore. CSR is a journey and FairPrice continues to strive to be the shell(p) personate to shop, the stovepipe place to work, and the best corporate citizen.Introduction In the sell sector, companies compete for the consumers money by looking at the marketing mix of 4Ps Product, Price, mall and Promotion. These are traditionally the four factors that retailers consider in their marketing strategy. However, overdue to globalization and better consumer awareness, retailers need to address another 3Ps People, Planet and (not only) Profit. Consumers no longer just buy what is displayed on the retail shelves. They are enquire questions as to how the products throw been produced, and what has been their impact on society and the environment. For retailers to compete efficaciously in the market today, they need to assure consumers that what they put on the retail shelves are ethical products. In the supermarket retail industry, produc t quality (e.g. freshness, taste) and resort are two of the key concerns. If consumers in Singapore are in doubt about the product quality and safety of any retailer, they have alternative sources much(prenominal) as vendors in local fresh produce markets. Hence, to 217Case Study Singaporecompete effectively, supermarket retailers need to look at how and not just what they are doing in business. By examining the opportunities and challenges in the circumstance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) within the supply chain, businesses can change their competitive edge and be good corporate citizens.Company visibleness Established in 1973 by the labour movement, NTUC FairPrice Cooperative Ltd has grown from its archetypal shop set up to defend the price of sugar and rice to being the leading supermarket retailer in Singapore. It employs over 5,000 and runs a retail network of 216 outlets comprising 76 FairPrice supermarkets, one FairPrice Finest, two FairPrice Xtra (Hypermart ), three Homemarts, 19 FairPrice Xpress and 116 Cheers thingamajig Stores. FairPrices founding mission was to moderate the cost of living for the intermediate households in Singapore. Over the years, FairPrices mission has evolved to its present mission which is to moderate the costs of a good life. Essentially, FairPrices aim is to be the best place to shop, the best place to work, and the best corporate citizen.To be the best place to shop, FairPrice focuses on maximizing consumer satisfaction which is based on its brand promise of delivering value, quality and service. Key to this commitment are its procurement practices. FairPrices product sourcing takes into account consumer feedback and needs, and market trends. It sources from established and reputable companies. It always tries to change its sources of supply, particularly for essential items. It also develops its own range of house brand products to offer consumers an alternative to national brands. FairPrice plays a strong role in establishing the price of essentials in Singapore.During the avian flu outbreak that resulted in the illegalise of testicle imports from the region, FairPrice responded swiftly to the crisis by putting in place precautionary measures to curb profiteering. To prevent arbitrage, FairPrice took unpopular but necessary measures in cut back the purchase of eggs. To further alleviate the egg shortage, it merchandise Australian and New Zealand eggs as alternatives. Even after the ban on Malayan poultry imports was lifted, FairPrice continued its efforts in working with business partners to peg cowardly and egg prices at a reasonable level. Through this, FairPrice helped restore egg prices to pre-ban levels.To be the best place to work, FairPrice is a unionized employer that has good labour-management relationship. FairPrice takes a holistic approach in providing for employees well-being and opportunities for growth and development. FairPrice received the Work-life wo rth represent 2006 conferred by the tripartite committee on Work-life Strategy Singapore, in recognition of its programs to help employees balance personal commitments and work responsibilities.FairPrice contributes to the community done its own initiatives such as its annual Used Textbooks project, its Million long horse Food Voucher Scheme for the poor and the provision of study grants to children of needy members. It also engages its network of suppliers to support its community efforts such as Heartstrings Buys, a fund-raising drive for the connection Chest. To promote environment protection, FairPrice launched the Love Nature useful bags to encourage its customers to reduce their reliance on moldable bags when shopping for groceries and necessities. In addition, the company participated in the Bring Your Own Bag Day to encourage 218Case Study Singaporeshoppers to bring their own shopping bags preferably of using plastic bags. Cashiers at the retail stores have been trai ned to pack more items in each bag to reduce the consumption of plastic bags. As a good corporate citizen, FairPrice was cited as the supermarket with a sociable conscience by the Far East Economic Review in a 2000 survey report. In September 2005, FairPrice signed the UN Global Compact (UNGC) to support the initiative of the Singapore Compact movement to establish a UNGC network in Singapore and help raise awareness among more companies of the key principles of CSR which it upholds.FairPrice was also conferred the Presidents Social Service Award in 2005 in recognition of its contributions to society. As a responsible food retailer, FairPrice is both a Case Trust accredited member and a Food Safety Partner of Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) the economy-wide food safety authority of Singapore. FairPrice also supports pro-family initiatives and prides itself as a pro-family business retailer. It was voted one of the best loved pro-family retailers in the Singapore 2006 contest organized by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth & Sports. In another survey conducted by the Readers Digest in 2006, FairPrice was voted in by consumers and won the Trusted Brand Gold Award for the supermarket chain category in Singapore.The Supply range Singapore has only 256 licensed farms covering 746 hectares1 which cannot supply enough fresh meat, fruits and vegetables to meet the demand of its population of 4.4 one million million. Singapore imports 95% of its vegetables worth S$314 million since local farms can meet only 5% of the demand for vegetables. It imports vegetables from Australia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, The United States and Viet Nam. With Singapores high dependence on merchandise fresh vegetables, local sellers such as supermarkets need to ensure that the imported food is safe for consumption and its supply is ample.FairPrice invested S$25 million on a 130,000 square feet fresh food distribution center in 2002 to better manage its supply chain for fresh food. The scenery up of the fresh food distribution center enhances the ability of FairPrice to move its stock faster and maintain freshness quality. The distribution center also provides the right infrastructure to improve the handling process of fresh food, consequently reducing spoilage. Good temperature management and storage management are slender in maintaining the quality of food and preventing cross-contamination. FairPrice is committed to maintain a high standard of food safety and hygiene at the fresh food distribution center by getting the center to be suppose Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) certified.From the distribution center to the retail stores, FairPrice uses preserve trucks to transport the vegetables. At the store, temperature checks are conducted again before putting the vegetables on the retail shelves. FairPrice works with the relevant authorities to develop standards. One such initiative is the implementation of the technical re ference standards on cold chain management for chilled pork in 2005. The standard was developed by AVA and bound Singapore, the economy-wide standard body, together with FairPrice. It provides strict receiving, storage and display guidelines to ensure that the quality of the pork is not compromised.