ACCENTURE
“ Awareness around why an organisation needs to embrace supplier inclusion and diversity is an ongoing problem ,” she says . “ The stereotype is that such businesses are too risky , or too small .
“ By innovating with a diverse supplier you ' re helping them grow their business , which means they can employ more people in their community ”
NEDRA DICKSON MANAGING DIRECTOR , ACCENTURE
Stakeholder education key to building diverse supply chains “ There aren ’ t enough conversations around the subject . We tend to write-off a business because they ’ re too small , mistakenly thinking that they ' re unable to scale up as fast . Then there is the size thing : many people look at small companies and see risk . They might doubt for example that the company has adequate insurance should there be any issues .”
Nevertheless , Dickson explains that one of the most important demands of her role is educating her own colleagues . “ By educating internal stakeholders in Accenture , you also are educating your clients . Not everyone is aware of the value-add that small and diverse businesses can bring , and it ’ s my job to remedy that .”
She points out that part of the problem is how easy it is for people to forget that even large multinationals were once small businesses .
“ Many of the large tech companies started life as a collection of small businesses that came together , and we want to continue to be at the forefront of this kind of thought leadership ,” she says .
Sometimes , the educating Dickson undertakes might be as simple as providing clarity around what diversity and inclusion actually is .
“ When you look at inclusion and diversity in the workforce , we ’ re talking about the volume of women and minorities ,” she explains . “ But , with supplier inclusion and diversity , it ’ s about the number of
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