I was hired by Tuck School of Business http://exec.tuck.dartmouth.edu/programs/minority-programs to support and
develop their 35-year old MBE program of providing world-class business and
leadership education to diverse business owners. But one of the first things I recognized that
I could do in this new position, that was ironically difficult to do from the
leadership position at GNEMSDC and the operator of two U.S. Department of
Commerce MBDA Business Centers, was the ability to be an even more effective
advocate for MBE development and growth.
Advocating from the inside is difficult, and in some cases politically
impossible. But now from my academic
perch, there is almost an expectation that policy advocacy is appropriate, and
more importantly, provides a certain legitimacy and gravitas because of the
theory and fact based nature of academic advocacy. The first thing I want to turn this new
energy toward is the need for more developmental resources for MBEs.
In my fourteen years as GNEMSDC president and CEO, I got a
front-seat view of how MBEs and businesses in general are paying almost
maniacal attention to the road immediately in front of them while occasionally
glancing at the indicator lights, the GPS, and the passengers. Running a business requires the business
leader to take care of existing clients, grow new clients, managing existing
resources, and plan for the future among other things. For most small businesses it is easy, and
even comfortable taking care of the “issues” that pop-up on a day-to-day basis
without ever spending the time to really focus on where you are really going,
or how you are going to get there.
The driving metaphor aside, minority businesses today are in
greater need of strategic focus than at any time in the brief history of
minority business development. When this
enterprise of MBE development started with the Federal government during the
Nixon Administration, the only strategy that was critical for “success” was the
fact that you and your business were eligible for special treatment in the form
of set-aside contracts. In those early
days, minority entrepreneurs who could even play in that space were few and far
between. Now there are thousands of MBEs
and the set-aside programs and mentality have gone the way of the dodo bird;
interesting but no proof of its current existence.
This being the case, it is time for MBEs to seriously retool
their business approach and face the reality that MBE programs have been on a
slow but steady decline in the sense that corporations and governments will go
out of their way to do business with MBEs.
In fact, the case can be made that in terms of priorities, MBEs have
fallen behind WBEs, service disabled veteran owned businesses and others in the
competition for scarce corporate and government opportunities. Most government organizations today do not
even formally recognize the term minority business.
The key to what needs to be done is - MBEs with the
assistance of corporate supporters can and should begin to make significant
investments in MBEs who are prepared and ready to invest in their strategic
business education. Not every minority
entrepreneur is going to be successful in their pursuit of financial
nirvana. However, those who are focused
on being successful in this globally competitive world will need to better
understand strategy and how their business will survive and thrive in this new
business world. This reality is why I
felt moving to Tuck was so important at this time. Certification is critically important. Access to capital is important and has been a
constraint. Relationships and
relationship building is indispensible.
But it is competitive strategy that will determine whether a MBE grows
and prospers. Some business owners are
natural strategists, and will figure out a winning strategy without the
assistance of others, but most businesses, even those who run the largest
companies in the world need help with this.
Corporations dedicated to MBE development, need to increase
their support for programs like Tuck, Kellogg, the University of Washington,
and others that help MBEs develop their strategic goals and their leadership
capacity. It is only when we improve this capacity will
MBEs be capable of overcoming the challenges of business in the real world. Corporations can help by supporting MBEs who
have indicated they understand this need.
Together, corporations, government, the academy and progressive MBEs can
reinvigorate MBE development.
