“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.
Given the title of Jamie Crump’s current white paper, I can’t help but wonder how far we’ve come since 1967.” – The customer is always right: supplier diversity trends in B2B, B2G, and B2C (November 28th, 2023)
Cod liver oil, eating healthy, getting a minimum of 8 to 10 hours of sleep a night, and exercising at least 30 minutes per day. We know doing these things is good for us, so why aren’t more of us doing them? It is, after all, the right thing to do. But it takes more than doing something because it is the right thing to do. We must counterbalance it with also being the smart thing to do.
The Right Thing To Do
Since 1950, the greatest obstacle to continuous supply diversity initiatives is that we can’t seem to get past it being the right thing to do and embracing it as also being the smart thing to do.
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.” – The customer is always right: supplier diversity trends in B2B, B2G, and B2C (November 28th, 2023)
I initially wondered why Trimiew talked about the importance of “capitalizing” on the George Floyd tragedy regarding supplier diversity efforts. I then realized that it wasn’t until the “long, hot summer of 1967” Detroit riots that supplier diversity initiatives started to gain some form of meaningful traction beyond the good intentions of 1950.
And it wasn’t until the tragic events surrounding the death of George Floyd on May 25th, 2020, that supplier diversity was catapulted to national and international consciousness like never before.
That said, are Trimiew and many others right? Is there a shelf life or “best before” date for doing the right thing? How can we build a bridge from being the right thing to do to finally being the smart thing to do?
Back To Jamie Crump (Article Excerpt)
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.
Jamie Crump
30
Procurement Insights
Are Supplier Diversity Programs Running Out of Gas – Again?
Posted on November 29, 2023
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“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.
Given the title of Jamie Crump’s current white paper, I can’t help but wonder how far we’ve come since 1967.” – The customer is always right: supplier diversity trends in B2B, B2G, and B2C (November 28th, 2023)
Cod liver oil, eating healthy, getting a minimum of 8 to 10 hours of sleep a night, and exercising at least 30 minutes per day. We know doing these things is good for us, so why aren’t more of us doing them? It is, after all, the right thing to do. But it takes more than doing something because it is the right thing to do. We must counterbalance it with also being the smart thing to do.
The Right Thing To Do
Since 1950, the greatest obstacle to continuous supply diversity initiatives is that we can’t seem to get past it being the right thing to do and embracing it as also being the smart thing to do.
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.” – The customer is always right: supplier diversity trends in B2B, B2G, and B2C (November 28th, 2023)
I initially wondered why Trimiew talked about the importance of “capitalizing” on the George Floyd tragedy regarding supplier diversity efforts. I then realized that it wasn’t until the “long, hot summer of 1967” Detroit riots that supplier diversity initiatives started to gain some form of meaningful traction beyond the good intentions of 1950.
And it wasn’t until the tragic events surrounding the death of George Floyd on May 25th, 2020, that supplier diversity was catapulted to national and international consciousness like never before.
That said, are Trimiew and many others right? Is there a shelf life or “best before” date for doing the right thing? How can we build a bridge from being the right thing to do to finally being the smart thing to do?
Back To Jamie Crump (Article Excerpt)
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.
Jamie Crump
30
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