 
We can have an enormous impact on what our clients, our people and our suppliers do and how they behave. This means that we can shape the market to make a substantive difference to the way people in the United Kingdom work and live every day.
We have already transformed the development sector marketplace through Accenture Development Partnerships where we work in collaboration with non-governmental bodies to bring innovative approaches embedded in our private sector expertise. We also actively participate on committees and membership bodies to ensure that the debate moves on.
And we continue to push boundaries. Accenture lead the debate in the wider community on politics, economics, social and public policy to find ways of helping disadvantaged communities improve their socio-economic condition. We also work vigilantly to make sure that our suppliers share our commitment to Corporate Citizenship and that we share this best practice with our clients–via work from our sustainability practice and collaborating with clients to make a difference at a project level. Although what we do internally is extremely important, a company with our reach and reputation can make a substantive difference to the way people work and live every day. We have a responsibility to drive the market forward as well as look at our core business operations, the impact they have, and the means to address them. Our Everyday Client Work As sustainability moves from the periphery to the heart of business and government, organisations are finding the transition is difficult-fundamental transformation is required to integrate sustainability into the fabric of the organisation-but the gain is significant: opportunities to outperform peers, supercharge brands and reputations, and achieve high performance.
Learn more Sustainable Procurement We are committed to embedding sustainability principles throughout our supply chain. Accenture Procurement and Service Leads are working together to engage our key suppliers in raising standards of environmental, diversity, social and ethical performance in the services they provide to us and within the marketplace generally.
Learn more Transforming the Development Sector Marketplace The overall goal of Accenture Development Partnerships is to channel Accenture’s skills to help address international development challenges, working in collaboration with non-governmental organisations, foundations, and donor agencies. We partner with our clients to help them become high performance organisations, and we bring innovative approaches embedded in our private sector experience to help advance programmatic work in areas such as emergency response, economic development, global health and education.
Learn more Thought Leadership Accenture are leading the debate in the wider community through research and involvement in government discussions on topics of interest in politics, economics, social and public policy and the environment. Looking at how key stakeholders across all sections of society can work together to overcome shared challenges and develop mutually beneficial solutions has seen Accenture involved in finding innovative ways of using technology to help disadvantaged communities improve their socio-economic condition
Learn more 1. Our Everyday Client Work Our Sustainability practice is uniquely positioned to help companies and governments chart a course toward high performance via sustainability. We know how to embed sustainability strategies and practices for maximum advantage, combining that understanding with insights gleaned from helping global clients, coupled with research-based knowledge of what it takes to achieve high performance. The result is an unmatched, cross-industry perspective on how to thrive in a world calling for social, environmental and economic action.
Learn more 2. Sustainable Procurement Procuring responsibly–managing risks and improvement opportunities in our supply chain. We are a signatory organisation of the UN Global Compact and are committed to embedding ,The Ten Principles into all aspects of our business. Accenture takes very seriously its business ethics, corporate governance and transparency of operations. Our Ethics and Compliance programme is designed to - Foster the highest ethical standards amongst Accenture employees
- Be effective in preventing, detecting and appropriately reporting and addressing any allegation of misconduct and violations of law by Accenture personnel.
- Comply with government standards
Our programme includes written standards and procedures; training and communications; visible support of senior leadership; appropriate oversight and delegation of authority; auditing and monitoring; consistent enforcement and discipline; and response and prevention. The Accenture Code of Business Ethics was substantively revised and a new version adopted and made accessible on our website in September 2006. The new Code is designed to: - place more emphasis on Accenture's six core values,
- give practical examples to our people of what these values mean in their everyday work life,
- accommodate new legal and regulatory developments,
- make the Code more user friendly.
The new version of the Code is a result of the joint effort and work by many of our people across geographies and functions. In particular, consultations were held with our country operations and management in order to best accommodate local needs and legal requirements. The Code is available in 16 languages. We are naturally conscious of the ethical sensitivities which surround procurement. Procuring ethically, responsibly and sustainably is part of Accenture’s commitment to Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Governance. We strive to integrate progressively higher standards of ethics and sustainability into the purchasing of services and products throughout our organisation and supply chain. These higher standards are consistent with Accenture’s Core Values and the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact. Our sustainable procurement programme is focused on taking account of social, environmental and ethical (sustainability) considerations in our sourcing decisions, and taking a risk-based and opportunity-focused approach in managing and developing our supplier relationships. Our risk assessment process involves considering i) the relative likelihood of contravention of (or opportunity to more substantially honour) Accenture core values or UN Global Compact Principles by virtue of the nature of the product or service, coupled with ii) the relative strategic importance (a combination of brand value, operational security and spend) of the product or service being supplied to Accenture. 'High priority’ suppliers score high in both aspects. ‘Medium priority’ suppliers score high in one of the aspects. ‘Low risk’ suppliers have a low score in both aspects. High and medium priority suppliers are required to complete a survey-preferably as part of the RFP process, then at appropriate intervals in the life of the contract-to advise us of how they manage sustainability risks. This process enables us to prioritize areas for attention and improvement within the ongoing management and development of the supplier relationship. Procurement professionals and relationship owners (Service Leads) strive to encourage and support suppliers in the raising of ethical and sustainability standards. Such ethical and sustainability standards encompass a breadth of areas such as environmental best practices, labour standards and supplier diversity and inclusion. Accenture is actively involved in supporting the leading Corporate Member Organisations responsible for accelerating progress of supplier diversity; Accenture is a Founding Member of WEConnect and also a member of MSD-UK. We report regularly on progress against our sustainability goals to all stakeholders including our top leadership. 3. Transforming the Development Sector Marketplace The rapid growth of emerging economies, closer economic integration across geographies and unparalleled advances in information and communications technologies have created a multi-polar world in which business plays a broader role in society. Accenture leverages research-based knowledge and unmatched experience to help clients become high-performance business and governments. Accenture also applies its High Performance business approach to help non-profit organisations maximise their goal of achieving positive social change. To that end, Accenture has developed the Accenture Development Partnerships, a non-profit group that provides business and technology consulting services to organisations that have traditionally lacked access to world class management consulting and business services. The overall goal of Accenture Development Partnerships is to channel Accenture’s skills to help address international development challenges, working in collaboration with non-governmental organisations, foundations, and donor agencies. We partner with our clients to help them become high performance organisations, and we bring innovative approaches rooted in our private sector experience to help advance programmatic work in areas such as emergency response, economic development, global health and education. Accenture Development Partnerships represents an initiative that puts the broader sustainability agenda at the heart of Accenture’s business, utilising our people and core capabilities to make a positive social impact.
Learn more 4. Thought Leadership Accenture are leading the debate in the wider community through research and involvement in discussions on topics of interest in politics, economics, social and public policy and the environment. Looking at how key stakeholders across all sections of society can work together to overcome shared challenges and develop mutually beneficial solutions has seen Accenture involved in finding innovative ways of using technology to help disadvantaged communities improve their socio-economic condition. Institute for Public Service Value
The Accenture Institute for Public Service Value is a research and development center. Our mission is to promote high performance in public service delivery, policy and governance. Through research and development initiatives, we aim to help public service organisations create value and improve social and economic outcomes for their citizens.
Learn more Policy and Corporate Affairs (P&CA) The Policy and Corporate Affairs (P&CA) group is Accenture’s global economic and geopolitical think tank. P&CA conducts studies and develops insights on the key global trends facing business leaders and policymakers. P&CA uses a combination of primary and secondary research, trends analysis, scenario planning, economic modelling and business writing to produce its thought leadership. To complement its range of in-house skills, P&CA manages a network of relationships with a variety of influential institutions around the world, including think tanks, business schools and industry associations. P&CA uses its network to develop and exchange ideas with some of the world’s leading experts, and as a platform to showcase Accenture’s latest thinking.
Learn more Membership Organisations The forums we take part in across the United Kingdom are diverse to enable us to make the maximum impact at all levels of business and government. Below are just a sample of where we are driving change: Council on Social Action
Chaired by the Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the Council brings together innovators across business on a monthly basis to advise the Government on ideas and initiatives through which they can inspire social action–the ways in which individuals, communities and businesses can actively address social issues they care about. This programme seeks to encourage a whole new approach from Government, new kinds of support and a new style of leadership. Accenture is represented on the council and use our relationships to get the buy in of other organisations across our client base and provide mentoring support to help shape the agenda for the group.
Learn more Women in Enterprise Connecting to Contracts (WEConnect)
Accenture is a founding corporate member of WEConnect which works to break down the barriers faced by women-owned businesses in securing corporate procurement contacts though a certification programme. As a global organisation, Accenture is committed to responsibly and proactively engaging with the businesses that are reflective of the communities in which we live and work. Accenture established its Supplier Diversity Program to develop and expand relationships with minority-owned, women-owned, small and other growing companies. By cultivating an array of relationships, we are able to provide business opportunities to various enterprises, while enabling the long-term success of Accenture. We are committed to ensuring all suppliers have equal opportunity to participate in the procurement sourcing process. In doing this, we will meet our objectives to: - Expand the presence of diverse suppliers in our supplier base, as well as encourage our large suppliers to leverage diverse suppliers on Accenture's behalf through our Tier 2 program;
- Increase the number of diverse suppliers in our contracting relationships on behalf of our clients;
- Create an infrastructure for shared relationships to jointly market and promote economic growth for a multitude of businesses.
UN Global Compact Accenture has signed the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest voluntary corporate citizenship initiative. The UN Global Compact brings together companies from more than 120 countries to advance 10 universal principles in the areas of human rights, labour standards, the environment and anti-corruption. It is a natural step for Accenture as it underscores our ongoing commitment to advancing corporate citizenship and is aligned with our vision and core values.
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