About Corsair
Corsair Gaming Inc. — a leading global developer and manufacturer of specialized gear for gamers and streamers — has always believed in the importance of being a responsible business. After going public in September 2020, the company saw an opportunity to be a leader in the emerging field of environmental, social, and governance (ESG).
Building an ESG Program
“Corsair is doing all this great work, from human rights to our packaging and our environmental policies, etc., but we weren’t talking about it,” said Jonathan Harris, incoming ESG lead at Corsair.
Incorporating a wide range of topics, ESG covers everything from environmental impacts to human rights protections, to legal business governance. Demonstrating strong ESG performance can be complicated. It requires extensive supply chain involvement and buy-in from all layers of stakeholders, from executives to suppliers, and even individual employees.
“Environmental laws, corporate responsibility, and social laws. All of these became part of my job. The scope of the task is immense,” said Jonathan.
Corsair has over 2,100 employees and works with approximately 80 suppliers. Aligning and educating all the stakeholders necessary to build an ESG program was going to require a lot of effort, coordination, and time. Thankfully, Corsair had just onboarded with Assent to manage their conflict minerals program.
“We have this amazing tool in Assent, this ability for a single operator to reach out to the entire supply chain. We just didn’t know what it would mean to us yet, how valuable the partnership would be to us.” Jonathan said. He started taking Assent’s free instructional classes, which cover regulatory product compliance, labor standards, human rights compliance, and dozens of other topics, helping Jonathan quickly become Corsair’s resident expert on how to fully utilize Assent. “The classes opened my eyes to the full potential of the platform.” It wasn’t long before he recommended expanding Corsair’s relationship with Assent to incorporate ESG.
With production operations in the U.S. and Taiwan, Corsair has multiple regulatory considerations and a diverse supplier base. Initially, with about 85 percent of production coming out of Asia, Jonathan planned to travel overseas to engage suppliers directly. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic quickly ruled that out.
Assent gave Jonathan the ability to engage the entire supplier base, educate them on their requirements, and support them in their own language.
Getting Results
After going public, Corsair’s first conflict minerals program was a huge success. “In just four months, working closely with our Assent team, we achieved a 92.7 percent response rate and 100 percent valid data submission returns.” Jonathan had high hopes Assent could help Corsair get similar numbers for its ESG program.
The Assent program launched in April 2022, and after three months Corsair had an average supplier response rate of 85 percent across six ESG topics. “We have good relationships with our suppliers. But there’s no way that we could have accomplished this for our entire supply chain without Assent.”
The high level of engagement that Corsair sees from its suppliers requires training and education throughout the supply chain. Assent provides training and support in 12 languages, and with almost 85 percent of production coming out of Taiwan, this ability was, and is, crucial to the success of Corsair’s programs.
“If suppliers get hit with a request they don’t understand, they might ignore it,” said Jonathan. “With Assent, they can log in and get training, even in their own language. That’s something that sets Assent apart, to be able to give any supplier that training they need. All through the Assent portal. They don’t have to come back to me with questions. They can get clarity, and training, and do it all before responding.
True Teamwork
Assent pairs customers with customer success partners and program managers, so they’re always supported in their supply chain sustainability management objectives. Jonathan and his management team credit Sam Lokman, Corsair’s dedicated program manager at Assent, with helping him build up the ESG program so quickly.
“My job would be far more difficult without Sam,” he said. “I’m a policy guy, I track legislation, industry trends, policy shifts, and Sam and I can speak the same language, but Sam is in the weeds too. He knows the regulatory details inside and out. He really became a key part of our team.”
“Corsair is a big company, and with ESG we have other vendors, other consultants. My experience has been that I have to consult with them. We initiate everything.”
“Assent is completely different. Sam and his team reach out to us, preemptively give us information, and anticipate our needs.”
When Sam doesn’t have the answers Jonathan needs, he’s able to draw on the knowledge of a global team of experts, with over 200 years of combined experience ranging from product compliance to ESG.
Supported by Experts
Corsair values supplier diversity, knowing that not only is it the right thing to do, but it makes sound business sense as well. As a manufacturer of many advanced products with complex technical requirements, it can be difficult to find suppliers able to meet Corsair’s high standard of excellence. It’s important to Corsair to be able to work with suppliers to address new and emerging regulatory issues, which often require the type of expertise Assent provides.
For example, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and the subsequent sanctions and laws that followed — had the potential to further complicate the supply chain. Corsair had a key relationship with a supplier based in Ukraine, but also wanted to support all international sanctions against Russia. Assent’s extensive due diligence and solution enabled Corsair to have confidence they were complying with all laws while continuing to source from a key supplier.
Where Corsair Is Headed
Corsair has expanded their work with Assent to include product compliance regulations, bringing a wide spectrum of supply chain sustainability management under one roof. With many regulatory considerations for Corsair to be aware of, getting all the data necessary for compliance can be a burden for suppliers.
“[Assent] is a wonderful resource to have, to help compliance teams do their job, too. Assent watches out for supplier fatigue so we can give them a break and a chance to respond to requests.” That coordination is hard when managing regulatory requirements across different solutions.
Jonathan knows regulators are moving to make parent companies more responsible for their entire supply chains, and that’s something he and Corsair take seriously. Uninterested in empty metrics, Corsair is putting in the work to get accurate data, meaningful supplier feedback, and deeper due diligence. “Corsair is about quality and high performance. We want authenticity in our ESG effort across the board — for our customers, the business, our investors, and our employees.”
“That’s what Assent is giving us,” says Jonathan. “We’re tracking our supply chain; we can see and know where things are. This goes right to the heart of our company, this strong relationship with our suppliers, and I can see it all in one place.”
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