Sustainability Part 2 – Logistics Provider Social Responsibility

Sir Isaac Newton said that every action deserves and equal and opposite reaction. And even though he was speaking to the laws of motion, this concept holds true in business. As a third-party logistics provider, LEGACY Supply Chain Services operates on a global platform by providing services that can impact communities all over the world.

It is important to understand how our actions as a company affect the communities we operate in directly, as well as the communities throughout the world that we impact through our supply chain relationships. As a company, having awareness of the impact of our actions is imperative to providing our customers with quality services. LEGACY subscribes to the notion that there is a strong positive relationship between corporate social performance and corporate financial performance – so it’s a win-win scenario. We believe that being a socially responsible company impacts our financial bottom-line. According to Brine et al. (2007)[1], social responsibility increases financial performance through these economic drivers:

• Employee recruitment, motivation, and retention
• Learning and innovation
• Reputation management
• Risk profile and risk management
• Competitiveness and market positioning
• Operational efficiency
• Investor relations and access to capital
• License to operate

If we are strong in these areas there is a positive outcome for LEGACY and our customers. For each business transaction we are involved in, LEGACY must evaluate the potential affects, and then execute based on both the positive and negative impacts of the transaction. This may sound like a simple task, but it is difficult to measure the social impact of a shipment going across the US, let alone a warehousing operation several thousand miles away. That is why LEGACY has focused on being a socially responsible business in tangible ways by defining our core values as:

• Financial Stability
• Customer Focus
• Being the Best
• Servant Leadership
• Integrity
• Making a Difference

These values help move us towards being a sustainable company by creating an environment that cultivates business growth while also growing the communities that support us. At LEGACY, we encourage community development and responsible & ethical business practices to ensure that we have a prosperous and sustainable future. (this is the second post in a series on Supply Chain Sustainability. To read Part 1 please click here)