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Defining Supplier Diversity Management

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People often think of supplier diversity as an endless number of luncheons, breakfasts, and dinners (the chicken dinner circuit) with a few workshops thrown in. It’s easy to disparage these “chicken dinners,” but historically, prior to organizations like the National Minority Supplier Development Council, diverse business owners never had the opportunity to socialize with nondiverse business leaders. In the South, it was not only illegal — it could be deadly.

Yes, as part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, supplier diversity professionals are very visible at community events such as these, and informational workshops make up a large part of supplier diversity programming, but those are just snapshots of everything involved in supplier diversity. Looking at the field collectively rather than the individual events provides a fuller picture of what it really entails.

Depending on the leadership, some view supplier diversity as an optional initiative and not a true management function. When you actually think about the myriad of activities involved in supplier diversity, it really is a system or process, one I call supplier diversity management (SDM).

Supplier diversity management is a new way of thinking about supplier diversity. It comprises the planning and coordination of all the people, policies, processes, procedures, and stakeholders working together to connect small and diverse businesses to opportunities while creating value for the organization. It requires aligning your internal efforts and external resources to focus on value creation and on driving results for the small and diverse business community.

Supplier diversity management involves many interconnected functions that are difficult to manage separately and expect worthwhile outcomes, such as the following:

 Supplier development

 Contract compliance

 Creation of the 4 P’s (people, policies, processes, and procedures; see Chapter 6)

 Project management

 Stakeholder engagement and collaboration

 Community relations

As organizations shift to build programs that are impactful and focus on adding value, they have to ensure that these functions are aligned and working together.

Think of SDM like a car. A car needs all its internal parts (battery, engine, electrical systems, and so on) and its external parts (wheels, doors, windows) in order for it to work properly. Some of the items are required for it to work at all. It may still technically function without some of the others, but if it doesn’t work the way you’d hoped, it’s nothing more than a useless heap of scrap metal which has no value to you. The same goes for a supplier diversity program; sure, you can technically run it without all the pieces, but it isn’t as effective.

Supplier Diversity For Dummies

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