Openness and trust are important aspects when working together with suppliers and driving compliance and performance improvements. We find that some suppliers have well-developed corporate responsibility programs, while others need more support.

Supplier assessments (self and on-site) are used to understand a supplier’s performance level and compliance to our requirements. Trained Nokia assessors conduct the majority of our supplier assessments so that we are involved first hand. We believe it is important for Nokia assessors to see the factories for themselves, to understand the problems and to work directly with suppliers to drive improvements. This hands-on approach means that both Nokia and its suppliers take their performance very seriously. Occasionally, we work with third parties for specific expertise or investigations, or as part of joint industry assessments. This is part of our aim for continuous improvement although we would not completely outsource this work or rely only on third party assessments. We do, however, invite our suppliers to use NGOs or similar parties to assure the effectiveness of their own labor standards and environmental practices.

Assessments are useful because they highlight a supplier’s best practices as well as risks and opportunities for improvement. However, they typically provide a "snap shot" of a situation and used alone, they do not always provide the right solution.

To drive sustainable change we often need to combine assessments with other tools and approaches including face-to-face meetings, performance metrics and targets, development programs, trainings and supplier-focused events.

We are often asked how far our responsibility reaches down the supply chain. See Sourcing materials to learn more.