In this Section
- The new dialogue
- The new standards
The new standards: Integrity and transparency in an open world
As an organization’s operations become increasingly collaborative, transparency is essential to maintaining trust—with partners, clients and society at large, and within the company itself.
Trust has always been vital to corporate governance—but today it means something more. In a globally integrated economy and society, the need for trust goes far beyond ethics and compliance.
IBM has a long history of leadership in governance policies, education and review. In 1993 the company’s board of directors established its Directors and Corporate Governance Committee, paving the way for the future of corporate governance almost a decade before legally required. A year later the board formalized its long-standing policy of requiring a majority of independent, non-management directors. In addition to policy, we believe strong governance requires the integration of controls and compliance programs into a business’s daily operations. In 2007 IBM launched its globally integrated, on demand solution for compiling and analyzing controls data—helping the company proactively identify strengths, opportunities and risks. Likewise, Confidentially Speaking—a global online conduit for employees to raise concerns, also introduced in 2007—extends and innovates a 45-year heritage of similar programs. A key step in building trust into the company’s management systems was the October 2006 establishment of IBM’s Corporate Trust and Compliance office. In addition to overseeing legal and regulatory compliance, the office is helping IBM’s leadership to anticipate changes in society, markets and technology—and thus to take progressive steps to maintain and foster IBMers’ core value of trust and personal responsibility throughout the company. Ultimately, trust rests upon a foundation of worldwide employee engagement. In 2007 more than 350,000 IBMers around the world completed online education on the company’s Business Conduct Guidelines and, as they do every year, certified online their reading and understanding of the Guidelines.
"In the fast-paced age of globalization, values and principles take on an even greater importance, and vanguard companies like IBM have recently redoubled their efforts to bring them front and center -- and to do so in collaborative fashion. Not only does this approach enable IBM to unify geographically and culturally a diverse set of people and guide their daily decision-making, but it inspires higher levels of creativity, leading to more breakthrough innovations for the company and for society." - Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ernest L. Arbuckle Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
As the backbone of a globally integrated enterprise, a supply chain has to deliver both operational efficiency and social responsibility.
IBM continued expanding its supply-chain social responsibility program in 2007 with supplier assessments in Eastern Europe and China. Since 2004 IBM has audited more than 400 locations in a dozen countries to measure compliance with our code of conduct. Audits include manufacturers as well as suppliers of software, services, facility management and distribution. When an audit finds noncompliance, suppliers must respond by identifying causes and creating a plan for improvement; IBM reviewed and accepted more than 90 plans for suppliers assessed during 2007. IBM is a founding member of the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct, which now includes more than 30 suppliers of components, higher-level manufacturers, OEM brands and even a major electronics retailer—putting it in a strong position to work together toward a cohesive, sector-wide approach on issues of social responsibility throughout our industry’s supply chain. Another key element of supply-chain social responsibility is to expand the range of the company’s suppliers. IBM’s supplier diversity program began in 1968, and in 2000 we became the first IT company to spend $1 billion with diverse-owned businesses. In 2007 the total exceeded $2.3 billion with more than 350 suppliers worldwide. IBM participates in the international committee of the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), and has been a founding member of every organization it has established internationally, including those in Brazil, Canada and the United Kingdom. The NMSDC named IBM’s Michael Robinson its National Supplier Development Leader of the Year in 2007. IBM also works with the Women's Business Enterprise National Council to create similar organizations in other countries.
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2007 IBM Corporate Responsibility Report
A new model of global citizenship among individuals, organizations and society at large.