Читать книгу Supplier Diversity For Dummies - Kathey K. Porter - Страница 22

Stakeholders are individuals or groups that have an interest in the organization and, whether directly or indirectly, are impacted by its actions. Stakeholders can be broken into two different groups: primary and secondary. Organizations have a different responsibility to each group.

Primary stakeholders are employees, suppliers, boards of directors, owners, shareholders, and customers. Secondary stakeholders are external groups such as government and regulatory agencies, trade and labor unions, political and social groups, the media, and so on. They drive supplier diversity in the external environment. In this age of cancel culture, they can wield tremendous influence, both positively and negatively, on the actions that the organization takes. They indirectly affect the organization by taking actions that either support the organization’s efforts or make success difficult.

In some communities, supplier diversity can be an emotional and highly charged subject. When I was a practitioner, usually once or twice a year, I’d get a call from a reporter wanting to know for an article how much we were spending with small and diverse businesses. It usually came after a politician announced “increasing opportunities for small and diverse businesses” as part of their platform.

This usually created a frenzy about who would respond and what exactly should be shared (going on the record can be tricky). If the results were good, it would be nothing more than an informative article. If the results weren’t so good, it usually created a firestorm in the community resulting in meetings with community leaders pushing for reforms for increased opportunities, an overhaul of the program, or even the removal of the supplier diversity leader. These stakeholders hold organizations accountable to their commitment to create opportunities for small and diverse businesses and push them when they feel their actions aren’t enough or results aren’t being achieved.

That’s how external stakeholders can drive change. Sometimes public outcry is needed before the organization takes action. Also, this interaction forms the basis for a long-term collaborative relationship. External stakeholders know what businesses in the community need. Internal stakeholders know what resources are available and how to navigate internally to get it done.