ACCENTURE
“ DSDP reaches 7 countries , allowing us to drive a more-inclusive marketplace in our supply chain , and we also gain access to innovative , responsive and cost-competitive solutions for our clients .”
Under the programme , Accenture also requests that select suppliers provide information and data on how they are reducing their environmental impact “ which in turn helps us improve our performance ”, as Dickson explains , who has a strong pedigree in procurement transformation and supplier relationship management .
Supplier diversity programme reflects Accenture ’ s values “ The programme is designed to grow and develop diverse businesses , and to support their integration into Accenture ’ s global supply chain . It ’ s very difficult for such businesses to navigate large , complex organisations like Accenture .
“ So , if you partner a diverse business with an Accenture executive then you can help them peel back the layers of the business and facilitate collaboration .
“ This way , a small business can come in and develop a piece of software or advance a platform , and can do so collaboratively so that we ’ re working together to innovate .”
Dickson adds : “ By innovating with this diverse supplier , you ' re helping them grow their business , which means they begin to employ more people in their community . Then you ' re seeing an economic impact .
“ It ' s a bit like a tech incubator . We look for diverse technology providers we can partner with , or even go to market with , and help the supplier build upon that technology . But it also includes non-tech businesses that we want to help grow .”
In her 21 years with Accenture , Dickson has acquired a deep level of experience of
“ Many small and diverse businesses looking to engage vast and complex Fortune 500 companies need help from non-profit organisations ”
NEDRA DICKSON MANAGING DIRECTOR , ACCENTURE
working with Fortune 500 companies across multiple industries and a range of disciplines , including : technology consulting , operations management , procurement and sourcing and category management .
And , yet , procurement was never on the radar of this engineering and computer science graduate , who began her Accenture career in tech support .
“ I made sure everyone had a laptop , and I helped write some of the software we were using back then ,” she says , recalling that time .
Dickson moved on to providing help desk support for clients and , in 2006 , was tasked with moving the function to Bangalore , India . “ That translated into doing tech work for some of our clients , and that ’ s when I realised I wanted to be client-facing .
“ I didn ’ t plan to go into procurement ,” she admits . “ It ’ s something that happened organically . I was told there was an opening in that area – I knew nothing about
28 December 2022