Supplier Diversity
partner and all the procurement (money) is still in large company coffers. Everyone is participating in this questionable prac- tice with no SHAME!! Nearly all corporations have declared
the mission of Supplier Diversity to be bottom line driven but unlike other profit center functions, no one can quantify rev- enue gained from diverse spend. With the exception of a few financial services com- panies I provide data too (not initiated or known about by supplier diversity teams), there is still no supplier diversity process that feeds data directly to the multicul- tural marketing function. I will correct myself. About 10 years ago IBM had a (very) senior level executive assigned to all major diverse suppliers they were do- ing business with to market IBM prod- ucts/services. This was a successful pro- cess for them. Bank of America around the same time had a tickler sent to their marketing department every time a di- verse supplier registered (DiversityBusi-
ness.com provided this service) that had over $1 million in annual revenue. These are the only direct marketing efforts of which I know of.
Arizona Proposition 200 and a recent
Wall Street Journal article “U.S. Virginia Senator Webb Calls for End to Diversity Programs” have dampened some efforts and success gained by diversity practitio- ners. Diversity & Inclusion practices at major corporations are continuing to gain momentum, strength and visibility in the C-suite. These efforts need to be recog- nized and made known to the general pub- lic not keep secret within the diversity network. More press outside diversity me- dia publications is key to broader expo- sure of corporate business diversity pro- cesses and achievements. There are more good things happening in America that most people know about. Organizations charged with the mis-
sion of economic development for diverse communities are still stuck in the 60’s. The programs, processes and management of government agencies and not-for-profit groups have not changed and have no new vision of their mission. Hung up on spend- ing over 50% of their time raising funding to pay for staff salaries, no real efforts are accomplished in working with small/di- verse businesses. They continue to be
viewed by business owners as handout groups that serve as window dressing for corporate and government initiatives.
Generational Gap Generational differences with supplier
diversity programs are not being ad- dressed by anyone. Gen Y and some Gen Xer’s see no need for inclusion programs due to more naturally open and accepted cultural, gender and ethnic differences. Gen Y entrepreneurs are creating highly successful businesses without participat- ing in the supplier diversity process. Tony Hish, CEO of Zappos (recently sold to Amazon for $1.4 billion); Jerry Yang of Yahoo; or Chris Huges, Facebook found- er, would have no inclination of having any diversity officers in their companies. They simply Get-It. Within five (5) years most managers within large corporations will have a different mindset on diversity and the chance of budgets being approved for 60’s activities (sponsorships, events, trade fairs, etc….) will be ending.
True Measure of Success With so much to do and no time to
plan, supplier diversity professionals con- tinue to have a difficult job dealing with internal and external demands. Industry discussions stay focused on “Best” prac- tices which would be best described as “Common” practices. Showcasing and success stories are the norm, but if looked at by cross-functional teams (Legal, Ac- counting, Marketing,…..) would raise “Don’t Do” flags if underlining data was exposed. The percentage of (real) owner- ship, work performed, margins retained and number of jobs for diverse employees has all been overlooked just to create “Spend”. It’s impractical to think C-suite executives would take a deep dive into the data and reports presented to them or supply chain executives would change their goals. It’s simply too easy to chase numbers.
What Business Owners Think So what are business owners thinking
these days? Okay, I don’t have to ask them because they come to me and tell. There is the general sense in the marketplace that
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Continued on page 32 The Black E.O.E. Journal
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