“Sometimes social businesses need a little help along the way, but then they can be reliable suppliers,” says Monika Frech, Managing Director Corporate at Yunus Social Business. The benefits are obvious to Monika Frech: “Companies that buy from social businesses and minority-owned businesses not only get the materials, products, and services that they need anyway. They also get to deliver the impact that these companies generate on top.”
For those who commission these social businesses, specific training, research, and securing the buy-in of the stakeholders involved, from the management level to the purchasers, are extremely important. Establishing supplier diversity is a long-term endeavor but, when done properly, can also offer long-term advantages.
With Yunus Social Business (YSB), Audi has an experienced partner by its side. Audi makes use of this expertise when it comes to searching for new partners, reviewing processes, and training our employees and partners. These days, a lack of knowledge is often one of the greatest obstacles.
In the course of the Act4Impact program, we are raising the employees’ awareness of the topic, training and qualifying them. Audi is using established and new ways of transferring knowledge such as workshops, webinars, and certification programs.