RESPONSIBLE SOURCING

The remit of Société Générale Group's Purchasing Department is the successful management of Group purchases by optimizing external expenses (by finding the best possible ratio between quality and cost) and limiting operating, financial and reputation risks.

Group sourcing

Key figures in 2010
  • Creation of the Purchasing Department in November 2000,
  • 80 purchasers in Paris and 100 overseas,
  • More than 2,000 accredited suppliers,
  • € 5.6 billion in annual Group expenditure (including € 3.5 billion in France),
  • Breakdown in expenditure by purchasing category: 54% linked to IT products and services, 26% linked to the banking profession (e.g. cash services) and 20% linked to services (e.g. business travel, marketing)
Societe Generale's Purchasing Department is in charge of supplier relations and the functional and financial responsibilities of its teams extend across the Group and around the world.
In guaranteeing that all business lines benefit from best possible conditions, quality and results, it not only helps to limit the scale of operating risk, but also has a fundamental role to play in the Group’s transformation policy.
Its mission is three-fold:
  • Normative: to define the standards, organisational procedures and processes that will ensure the best ratio of cost to performance for all Societe Generale Group entities both in France and abroad,
  • Operational: to optimise the quality-to-cost ratio of all goods and services required by the Group,
  • Strategic: to help define the best strategy for efficient sourcing and ensure its concrete implementation.
Its policy is based on three core principles:whitespacer
  • Neutrality: selecting those proposals that best suit the Group's functional and technical requirements according to an objective, fair and transparent process,
  • Responsibility: making CSR (Corporate and Social Responsibility) an integral part of its day-to-day activities,
  • Efficiency: constantly improving the Group's operations by identifying those suppliers that combine innovative solutions with quality and economic performance.
Highlights in 2010:
Definition and qualification of 48 "CSR risk" categories and implementation of various initiatives such as:
  • the implementation of a policy of "sustainable company restaurants": fair trade products, sorting and management of food waste, labelling of local and seasonal products and their origin,
  • management of the internal post of 50 Group sites awarded to a protected sector company,
  • recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) assigned in part to 8 protected sector companies,
  • proportion of CSR products in product catalogue increased from 6 to 16%,
  • implementation of a programme to reduce printing: printers that are shared and automatically configured for double-sided printing and use of 100% recycled paper,
  • integration of environmental criteria in the selection of fleet cars (CO2 emissions).