Over the years I
have tried to use this And Finally column to give the stakeholders an insight
into how I think about business, society and life in general. But more than this, I have tried to provide
support for both our MBEs and the representatives of our corporate
membership. Business is hard. It is not for the faint of heart. This is true whether you are an MBE or a
corporate supplier diversity professional.
We all need to make decisions with imperfect information, that even if
they are the right decision., are rarely perfect in their outcomes. So lately, I have been thinking a lot about what MBEs and our corporate
members want.
I have learned over the years, MBEs want
access to opportunities. MBEs want
corporate members to give them the chance to make the case that they can
compete and over-deliver. On the other
side, corporate members want MBEs that fit into the strategy of their corporate
employer. Corporations want MBEs that
are efficient, competitive, and low-maintenance. This has not changed since I started in this
network as an MBE in 1984. But minority
supplier development has changed dramatically over the past thirty years, and
is likely to change over the next decade.
I will use these
last few columns to give my views on what the future holds for our work in
minority supplier development, but this much is clear to me; as an
organization, we must expand the number of corporate members to include more
corporations that are closer in size and scope as our certified MBEs. Increasingly it will be smaller local
corporate members who will have the interest and ability to buy from smaller
MBEs. While every MBE wants to sell to
the largest national corporate members, the reality is it will become
increasingly difficult for Category 1 MBEs to enter global supply chains - and
be profitable. While Category 1 MBEs do
not represent a majority of MBEs, they are a plurality. The strategy I would recommend for smaller
MBEs is to focus their efforts on smaller local corporate members and smaller
corporations who are not yet local members.
With the help of our smaller MBEs, we can bring these smaller
non-minority businesses into the network.
And it will be today's Category 1 MBEs who will be tomorrow's Category 4
powerhouses.
There is no shortage
of smaller local corporate members who could have a significant impact on. The
development of smaller MBEs. In fact,
many potential local corporate members have statutory or strategic requirements
to buy local. Organizations like school
districts, water authorities, housing authorities, transportation districts,
hospitals, universities and colleges, and the corporate leaders of most chamber
of commerce organizations make ideal local corporate members for smaller MBEs
to target and for regional councils to recruit. Access to the decision makers is simply much
easier in these organizations than it is with large national corporate members
where strategic sourcing and decision by committee has become the norm.
The dilemma with
this approach is that it is the large national members that understandably
dominate the network. And for these
large global companies, we (the network) must continue to develop high-growth,
high-capacity, well-financed, well-managed MBEs. We can no longer afford to have a simple
strategy of one size fits all. We as a network must meet our MBEs where they
are and help them achieve their dreams.
This means that MBEs must also be ready to adjust their strategies to be
successful in our network as local Councils build the local corporate
membership.
These are not
mutually exclusive goals, in fact I would argue that they are mutually
inclusive goals. We must satisfy the
needs of large global corporate members while building the local corporate
membership for the benefit of smaller - growth oriented MBEs. But our ability to accomplish this is what
will determine whether we will continue to relevant and successful. I am confident we can and will make the
necessary changes.
