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Developing a responsible supply chain

With our inclusive procurement, we lead by example, promoting diversity in supply chains. Empowering businesses and fostering innovation.

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We can be the difference

Responsible buying allows us to work within our ecosystem to identify, develop and work with smaller, more diverse suppliers with increased agility. We also request select suppliers to provide information and data on how they are improving their business performance to reduce their environmental impact, which, in turn, helps us improve our performance.

Our Supplier Inclusion & Diversity Program global scope includes 22 countries in fiscal 2023 and we plan for continued growth of the program. We continue to evolve this program with digitalization efforts, leveraging technology tools such as our Sustainable Procurement Hub (The Hub) to streamline activities such as supplier environmental, social and governance assessments. By incorporating diverse businesses into our supply chain, we gain access to innovative, responsive and cost-competitive solutions for our clients.

Some of our partners includes several membership organizations, like:

Accenture Supplier Inclusion & Sustainability: Be the Champion

Join Accenture in building inclusive and responsible supply chains and workforces.

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“As the CPO of Accenture, we are proud to partner with organizations that represent minority-, ethnic- and women-owned businesses; the LGBTIQ+ community; persons with disabilities; veterans; refugees; and people living away from economic centers”. 

— Binny Mathews

Diverse Supplier Development Program

Accenture's Diverse Supplier Development Program (DSDP) reflects our commitment to developing and expanding relationships with diverse businesses owned by minorities, women, persons with disabilities, LGBT, veterans, disabled veterans, and service-disabled veterans, and others.

The formal 12- to 18-month program matches Accenture executive mentors with diverse supplier companies to help them grow their businesses. In turn, our company, clients, and communities benefit from their innovative contributions. Not only does DSDP represent a strategic sourcing strategy for Accenture and our clients, but also strengthens communities by creating more businesses, jobs, and economic growth.

To enable the efficient delivery of DSDP programs, Accenture built Small Medium Enterprise Digital Ecosystem (SME-DE) platform that facilitates easy interaction between SMEs and Accenture. It supports SMEs through the entire DSDP cycle, from having an automated application selection process, business assessment for targeted development, providing business tools and exposing commercial opportunities as they mature.

We continue to prioritize diverse suppliers, including through our Global Diverse Supplier Development Program (DSDP). In fiscal 2021, we set a goal to graduate 250 diverse suppliers by the end of fiscal 2023 and as of November 2023, have reached 256 graduates of our Diverse Supplier Development Program.

5 reasons why you should prioritize supplier diversity

Supplier diversity is more relevant – and necessary – than ever before. It’s long been a corporate focal point, thanks to federal requirements to demonstrate inclusiveness and equal opportunity. But many companies with Supplier Diversity programs historically have treated them like “check the box” or non-essential programs, which are often deprioritized when things get though.

By making supplier diversity essential within their procurement strategy, companies can generate value in five key ways.

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By the numbers

256

Small, medium and diverse suppliers developed through our DSDP.

1

Level 1- Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment in South Africa.

7

We are proud to be among the top-scoring companies on CDP’s Climate Change A List for seven years.

Sustainability commitment

We are committed to advancing sustainable procurement practices both within and outside our company. To that end, we expect our suppliers to provide updates around their environmental initiatives, goals and impact, and we encourage local and regional teams to discuss sustainable procurement during their regular supplier meetings. By engaging our suppliers on the benefits of sustainability, we are increasing the number of participants that monitor, measure and report their environmental impact.

*Key suppliers are defined as vendors that represent a significant portion of our 2019 Scope 3 emissions

82%

of our key suppliers* disclosed targets and 93% have disclosed actions to reduce their emissions

CDP’s supply chain program

As a corporate member of CDP’s Supply Chain Program, we use CDP tools to promote engagement, transparency and sustainable business practices with our suppliers.

As part of our goal to reach net-zero by 2025, we set an ambitious target requiring 90% of our key suppliers* to disclose their environmental targets and actions being taken to reduce emissions by 2025. Scope 3 emissions are an important and often overlooked metric in addressing climate change.

As of December 1, 2023, 82% of key suppliers disclosed their targets and 93% disclosed the actions they are taking, up from 68% and 75% as of December 1, 2022, respectively.

Sustainable Procurement Hub

Our continued investment in the Sustainable Procurement Hub (the Hub) allows us to assess and track our suppliers’ performance in environmental sustainability, human rights, supplier inclusion & diversity and ethics and compliance. We have also implemented operating model and change management initiatives to support the Hub.

These due diligence processes support our buyers on selection decisions and ongoing supplier relationships, while also giving us the insights to identify any critical gaps that may require actions from suppliers. The Hub is now live in more than 50 countries and continues to be deployed to new markets with new features and enhancements including integration with other operating systems.

In fiscal 2023, we conducted approximately 5,000 sustainability assessments. We continue to actively engage with our suppliers to gain better visibility of ESG performance in our supply chain and outline paths forward for increased social impact.

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Highlights

Responsible mineral sourcing

We adapt human rights due diligence, focusing on Conflict Minerals through a 3TG minerals working group, vital for addressing human rights in our expanding hardware manufacturing supply chain.

Respecting human rights

We're committed to eradicating modern slavery, child labor, and human trafficking. Our Modern Slavery Transparency Statement have more information about our efforts.

Empowering champions of change

In FY23, DSDP was offered in Australia, Canada, India, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the United States. Additional countries are being planned for the future.

Connect with us

Guide to doing business with Accenture

Read about our requirements for suppliers and onboarding processes.

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Accenture Supplier Connection

See information and links for our supplier portal, invoicing and more.

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Supplier awareness

Learn how we can all collaborate to improve the way the world works and lives.

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