Beyond providing increased opportunities to underrepresented businesses for participating in the procurement process, supplier-diversity initiatives offer substantive financial benefits to the buyer organization. However, significant challenges may be associated with designing, implementing, and evaluating the socioeconomic impact of supplier-diversity initiatives. This technical note is designed to introduce the concept of supplier diversity in supply chains and develops the socioeconomic and financial case for sourcing from diverse suppliers. It then describes a set of actions that professionals can undertake to source from diverse suppliers and discusses the challenges associated with managing supplier-diversity initiatives in supply chains.
This technical note would be an appropriate addition to any operations and supply chain management class, particularly in a module focused on strategic sourcing and procurement.
