January 16, 2012 | Posted by Shaun McCarthy
Most organisations channel a high proportion of their revenue to their supply chain and rely on them to deliver their goals, including sustainability. LOCOG is unique in this respect in that they not only rely heavily on their supply chain for delivery, but are also part of the revenue stream. Much of the work in delivering an Olympic and Paralympic Games is done through a type of barter system, where companies trade brand recognition for cash, value in kind services or in some cases, both. There are also wider issues related to supply chains and commercial partners. Human rights are not well recognised in some supply chains and the current or historic corporate responsibility practices of some companies could be called into question when considering the Olympic and Paralympic values. To this end I was grateful to LOCOG for inviting me to their supplier conference this week: some 400 suppliers were represented and the theme was all about winning. The suppliers are already winners having competed for the work but there is a further challenge to deliver an inspirational and sustainable Games. I was curious to know how much the sustainability message would be pushed in a project where time is
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