MAYANK SHAH , FOUNDER AND CEO , WHEN ASKED TO PICK TWO THINGS THAT HAVE WORKED AND TWO THINGS THAT HAVE NOT WORKED TO MAKE SUPPLY CHAIN INCLUSIVE , SAID :
THINGS THAT MAKE INCLUSIVE SUPPLY CHAIN EASY TO ACHIEVE
THINGS THAT MAKE INCLUSIVE SUPPLY CHAIN A NON-STARTER
MAYANK SHAH , FOUNDER AND CEO , WHEN ASKED TO PICK TWO THINGS THAT HAVE WORKED AND TWO THINGS THAT HAVE NOT WORKED TO MAKE SUPPLY CHAIN INCLUSIVE , SAID :
THINGS THAT MAKE INCLUSIVE SUPPLY CHAIN EASY TO ACHIEVE
• The desire for new products and services to support both members client growth / satisfaction and internal efficiency : One of the most critical factors to drive supply chain inclusion is the desire from every single procurement / sourcing team member- from top to bottom- to have the belief that bringing new products and services , breaking the status quo and working with SMEs ’ that bring new ideas and innovation will improve internal efficiency . Yes , inclusive procurement is a ‘ good thing to have ’ but what is more important is that it adds ‘ value ’.
• Corporate endorsement / commitment and individual passion : In my 10 years of working with 100s of large purchasing organisations , many have done extremely well but at the same time there are many organisations that never succeeded in introducing and engaging with EMBs / SMEs . What made some organisations succeed and benefit from inclusive approach ? Well , one commonality those organisations had was endorsement and commitment on supply chain inclusion from top management but more importantly it was driven by passionate people within the sourcing team . You have to get boththe top level commitment and individual drive to make inclusion a reality .
THINGS THAT MAKE INCLUSIVE SUPPLY CHAIN A NON-STARTER
• Client push with no self-belief ( ticking the box ): I mentioned earlier about many organisations that we worked with that never succeeded in getting anywhere with their supplier diversity / inclusion programme and in many cases , it was just a ‘ tick box ’ exercise . These organisations only engaged because of client demand , asking them questions in tenders and in performance reviews about their supplier diversity programme which lacked a coherent strategy , top level commitment and individual drive to deliver results !
• Project and not a process : Supplier Diversity / Inclusion , if taken as a fixed term project managed by individuals on ad-hoc basis , hardly brings any success . Procurement has to make inclusion part of the sourcing process , invest in educating buyers as well as tier 1 suppliers , make it part of procurement strategy and allocate budget / resources to manage it . If it is taken up as a project , it will not work ! More information on MSDUK can be found on www . msduk . org . uk
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