The customer is always right: supplier diversity trends in B2B, B2G, and B2C

When I was given an advanced peek at Jamie Crump’s white paper, “Rumors of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated: How Supplier Diversity Will Thrive in 2024 and Beyond”, a cascade of thoughts ran through my head.

To start, I was reminded of my research on diversity some time ago and how, even though it is a significant focus in 2023, the idea or concept was first introduced in the 1950s.

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Beyond conception, serious or notable traction regarding supply chain diversity wasn’t gained until the late 1960s. The 12th Street riot in Detroit, known as the “long, hot summer of 1967”, led indirectly to the automotive industry’s implementation of the first nascent diversity programs with which we are familiar today.

Given the title of Jamie Crump’s current white paper, I can’t help but wonder how far we’ve come since 1967.

Diversity – more than a program

“Diversity is more than a program; it is an imperative reflecting our values as a company to promote economic opportunity. It is who we are and what we believe and, as a result, it is much more than a system with a scorecard.” -  Jason Trimiew, Director, Global Supplier Diversity at Meta

In a 2021 interview to discuss his article, “Supplier diversity is more than the right thing to do”, Trimiew talked about diversity being more than a program and a scorecard. He emphatically stated, “At its heart, its most significant impact is the recognition that by solving economic injustice, we will also solve racial injustice.”

There is no way to argue with that point of view because it is right.

However, being the right thing to do isn’t always considered the smart thing to do (even though it usually is).

During a discussion panel in late 2020 that also included Apple’s Manager of Supplier Diversity, Scott Vowels, Trimiew stressed that “we must capitalize on this new window of opportunity created by the George Floyd tragedy.” He then concluded by saying that there is a need to “push or lean in for the change to broaden diversity initiatives that are going to be long lasting.”

Think about it: here we are in the present day, and the question of long-lasting diversity initiatives is still just that – a question.

Sustaining diversity beyond a crisis

In the same panel discussion, Apple’s Vowels discussed diversity’s two truths and a lie.

According to Vowels, the two truths are that diverse suppliers are “just as capable and qualified as any other supplier.” He went on to say, “of course, they can also be as bad as any other supplier.”

Within that balanced context, the lie about which Vowels speaks is the persistent belief that “you have to sacrifice something to engage diverse suppliers from a quality, time, or price standpoint.”

Crump’s white paper title now makes even more sense.

A question that requires answering is how do we sustain diversity initiatives well beyond a flashpoint crisis?

The customer is always right

In my May 2023 blog post for Scoutbee titled, “The real risks of missing ESG goals: buycott versus boycott”, I wrote that “financial deterrence is a short-term ouch” for non-compliant companies. I then suggested that “there is perhaps a ‘motivator’ that is more powerful and enduring than penalizing dollars.”

I am talking about the power of the customer.

While Crump’s white paper is worth a cover-to-cover read, her section “Every dollar is a vote” warrants deeper contemplation because it opens the door to understanding how the right thing to do becomes the smart thing to do.

You can download Jamie's white paper here.