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Corporate Responsibility Report 2008

Supplier diversity

Small and minority-owned companies are often under-represented in the supply chains of large companies.

In response, the US government and many large companies require their suppliers to source from diverse companies. The Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Bill 2003 in South Africa includes similar requirements.

We are working to increase the diversity of our supply chain by providing opportunities for small, diverse businesses to provide us with goods and services. This helps diverse suppliers to sustain their businesses, create jobs and boost their local economies. Our business also benefits. Beyond complying with regulations, supplier diversity encourages innovation and exposes us to new perspectives and fresh ideas.

US programme

In the US, we have a dedicated team working to create opportunities for diverse suppliers to work with GSK and to channel our procurement spend to women and minority-owned companies. Its activities include:

• Participating in national and local diversity councils
• Mentoring high-potential diverse suppliers and providing improvement grants to help them expand their business with GSK and other corporations. Read more in our case study
• Sponsoring diverse business leaders to attend executive programmes at the Tuck School of Business and Kellogg School of Management
• Sponsoring and attending outreach and networking conferences

We co-sponsor the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF), a non-profit organisation that supports African Americans and under-served communities in the US. We are donating $500,000 between 2005 and 2009 to the Foundation to provide training to help make diverse businesses more competitive. We also support an initiative, run by the CBCF, to help change federal policy that can restrict long-term relationships between minority- and women-owned businesses and major corporations.

We sponsor Roanoke Online, a technology company that hosts an online database and electronic sourcing system for diverse suppliers. This gives large companies, including GSK, better access to diverse suppliers. Corporations gain access to a large, diverse pool of contractors, which ultimately helps them lower their costs, while the small diverse suppliers get the chance to grow their businesses through increased opportunities to supply companies traditionally beyond their reach.

As part of the Adopt a Neighbourhood for Development initiative, our procurement and community relations teams work with local communities in Durham, North Carolina, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. These areas are historically deprived and are often overlooked by companies when choosing where to locate their businesses. GSK provides an annual grant to support self-development within the communities to make these areas more attractive as business locations.

Outside the US

GSK’s dedicated supplier diversity team is based in the US, but all procurement employees worldwide are responsible for supporting diverse suppliers where possible.

We are a sponsor of the Global Link Programme as part of our role on the International Advisory Board of the US National Minority Supplier Development Council. The Programme helps diverse suppliers develop partnerships with local businesses around the world. In collaboration with two other pharmaceutical companies, we paid for ten US-based minority-owned companies to visit South Africa in late 2007. The companies met diverse South African businesses and got the chance to form partnerships to help them compete globally. We have also participated in similar trips to Australia, Brazil and China. The initiative has enabled GSK to invest in the local economies of communities we serve and helps ensure our supplier base reflects the diversity of those communities.

GSK is a member of the new UK Minority Supplier Development Council. The Council forms a link between corporations and certified minority business enterprises, with the aim of increasing procurement and business development opportunities.