External Stakeholders
We undertook our first formal corporate responsibility external stakeholder engagement program in February 2007. This followed publication of our first (2006) CSR report. Our goal is to establish an ongoing dialogue with an external community of specialists interested in Sun's approach to corporate responsibility and our progress toward meeting our goals.
We worked with Ceres to identify an appropriate mix of participants, including customers, investors, academic communities, and environmental and social advocacy organizations. The stakeholder participants represented 14 different organizations. The advocacy organizations represented various issue areas relevant to Sun's business, including privacy, access to technology, supply chain management, human rights, and the environment. The stakeholder engagement process uses the Chatham House Rule as a format that allows for open and candid discussion from all participants. Sun executives and staff first met with stakeholders in May 2007 to review our 2006 CSR report as well as to get feedback on a detailed outline for the 2007 CSR report. As follow up to the May meeting, stakeholders reviewed a close-to-final draft of Sun's 2007 CSR report and provided feedback via a teleconference in August 2007.
Chatham House Rule
When a meeting, or part thereof, is held under the Chatham House Rule, participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed.
The most consistent point of feedback we received from the stakeholder team was to provide more data. We've tried to do that in this report and will continue to improve our reporting as we further develop data collection processes and systems. We were also encouraged to better highlight those programs that have a direct impact on our bottom line, either through cost savings/reductions or revenue generation. Good examples of this are the sections in this report on our Open Work program and our Eco Innovation Initiative. The stakeholder team praised Sun's progress over this short time period, while also reminding us to candidly acknowledge the challenges our company faces as we seek to address our responsibilities in the global marketplace.
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Other key points made by the external stakeholders include:
- The most important issues for Sun's business and operations are: 1) climate and energy, 2) supply chain,
3) workplace/employees, 4) privacy/security, and 5) the digital divide. Other issues raised were governance and ethics, human rights/labor, and diversity and inclusion.
- Sun is doing more to address privacy issues than other companies in the sector and should highlight efforts in the report. It was suggested that Sun should engage with governments in countries outside the U.S. where we have a presence to advocate for consumer privacy (just as Sun does in the U.S.).
- The goals and targets provided in this report are excellent; some possible additions that Sun should consider include a renewable energy goal and a takeback volume goal.
- Sun and other companies are exporting climate impact to Asia through our supply chains. Sun can show leadership by forming a consortium with other companies in the industry to influence first- and second-tier suppliers' business practices.
- Stakeholders felt it was important for Sun to have a human rights policy and raised this during discussions with our CEO, Jonathan Schwartz. He agreed and committed Sun to establishing such a policy.
- Stakeholders encouraged Sun to provide greater disclosure on public policy positions and how they are advocated.
- The team agreed that the overall tone for this report was much more candid than the previous year and encouraged Sun to consider being more forthcoming about the challenges associated with certain areas such as supply chain, public policy, and privacy.
- The data available in this report is a great improvement from the 2006 CSR report. The team strongly encouraged Sun to consider third-party data verification for the next report.
- Sun's impressive development and engagement with CSR initiatives are felt throughout the report, yet the team thought that it was important for Sun to also include information on the results or impact of Sun programs and actions. Examples include results from public policy action and impacts of procurement policies, digital divide projects, and philanthropic efforts.
Sun has agreed to consider all comments provided by stakeholders and strives to address key issues raised by the stakeholder engagement process.
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