supplier diversity
A New Champion for Supplier Diversity is Emerging:
The Office of Corporate Social
Responsibility
by Beulah Trey, PhD and Cynthia Wollman
T
he last few decades have seen At the same time, the face of Amer- alliance between supplier diversity and
three important trends reshaping ica is changing. By mid-century, it is CSR professionals can elevate the sup-
the landscape of American busi- estimated that half of the U.S. popula- plier diversity agenda to the top levels
ness. The highly publicized corporate tion will be African American, Hispan- of a company. There are other com-
scandals of the last decade such as ic, or Asian. Corporate America will pelling reasons for Diversity Officers
Andersen, Enron, and Worldcom left have to respond strategically to this to pursue an alliance with CSR depart-
many in the American public wary of seismic shift in the makeup of the ments besides the leverage to be gained
corporate power and skeptical of the country in order to stay competitive. through a liaison to another department
state of ethical leadership in current Many companies who want to be with a complimentary mission. In
business culture. At the same time, the reflective of their customers are estab- many corporations, the CSR division
public has become increasingly con- lishing Diversity Officer positions to itself has supply needs. In pursuit of a
cerned about the environmental impact become change agents in all facets of socially responsible agenda, the CSR
of business practices both here and diversity, supply chain, workforce department may by-pass the compa-
abroad. In the wake of this increased development and philanthropy through ny’s supply chain to contract with sup-
scrutiny, corporations have felt con- cultivating a diverse supplier chain, a pliers independently. If the Diversity
sumer, government, workforce and diverse customer base, and a diverse Officer is not in touch with CSR pur-
international pressure to integrate a workforce. However, depending on the chasing, s/he is missing out on a whole
social and ethical agenda with the bot- resources, execution, and degree of stream of work for which diverse ven-
tom line. attention accorded by top leadership, dors would be extremely attractive.
Corporate Social Responsibility supplier diversity programs have had Similarly, CSR Officers and depart-
(CSR) has become the umbrella term mixed success. ments may not be aware of the ways a
for a company’s initiatives that consid- To further institutionalize the goal Diversity Officer can advance their
er the interests of society by “taking of supplier diversity, some corpora- CSR agenda.
responsibility for their impact on cus- tions are taking the important step of The power of a CSR/Supplier
tomers, employees, shareholders, com- capitalizing on the synergies between a Diversity strategic alliance lies in the
munities and the environment in all Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) ability to share information. Supplier
aspects of their operations.” Compa- strategy and the goal of supplier diver- Diversity programs have long main-
nies who actively promote their CSR sity. Corporations who are leaders in tained databases that provides a robust
strategies go beyond compliance and CSR are discovering that when their source of diverse suppliers for the sup-
regulations to voluntarily develop CSR and supplier diversity agendas ply chain. It would not take much addi-
agendas that improve the lives of their work together, the result is greater than tional work for the databases to include
employees, customers, local communi- the sum of their individual efforts. For information about each vendor’s social
ties and the oversees factory workers example, companies such as Sun, agenda and sustainability certifica-
who manufacture much of the United Chevron, Office Max, and Starbucks tions. A CSR department could then
States’ consumer goods. In fact, the have integrated supplier diversity into use the database to easily locate
movement has gained such credibility their CSR annual reports. diverse suppliers with social agendas.
that CSR officers often sit at the CEO Since CSR Officers often have the As an example of the mutual bene-
table with other senior leadership. ear of executive leadership, a strategic fits possible in a CSR/Diversity strate-
14 Celebrating over 15 Years of Embracing Diversity WWW.HNMAGAZINE.COM
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