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Supplier Diversity Initiatives 2/7/2008 Supplier diversity initiatives are now starting to grow into invisible PC-barriers for traditionally minded firms. Any business wishing to be considered by the London Development Agency for a contract to participate in revitalization efforts in the city must answer an extensive questionnaire about its workforce, including how many staff members are transgendered.1
This form is given to businesses of all sizes to report the breakdown of their staff along racial, ethnic, gender, perceived gender and disability status. Officials with the agency have said that the questionnaire is merely a tool to help them develop diversity among its supplier base.
That may not be the case for long, however, if British government agencies follow the path of the private sector. In March it was reported that Microsoft UK, the British arm of the software giant, terminated its business with one supplier because of the firm's "cavalier" approach to diversity.2 So goes the newest tool of homosexual activists in their efforts to force the acceptance and approval of their behavior on the corporate world.
"While the pro-family movement focused on doing battle against the homosexual lobby in Washington, D.C., and state capitals, 'gay' activists won over corporations, largely through internal activism within each company," notes Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth.3
Although the transgender question breaks new ground, the trend of supplier diversity initiatives being used to promote diversity in companies with which larger firms do business originated in the United States back in the 1980s. Originally intended as a helping hand to small businesses run by women, racial minorities, military veterans and the disabled, supplier diversity initiatives are now starting to grow into invisible PC-barriers for traditionally minded firms.
Many large corporations have already given in to homosexual demands. However, homosexual pressure groups have found some companies - particularly smaller, Christian-owned firms - impenetrable. Noting the growing success of supplier diversity initiatives, activists are now enlisting the aid of corporations friendly to their cause. Essentially, they are leveraging the pressure of large corporations on smaller firms through business-to-business (B2B) relationships.
Most firms see the supplier initiatives as secondary to their employee diversity. According to DiversityInc magazine, less than one quarter of Fortune 500 companies have a supplier diversity program, and they "spend less than two percent of their procurement budgets with minority- and women-owned suppliers."4 However, as the number of firms implementing the demands of homosexual activists increases, so are the number of firms that are paying more attention to the diversity of their supplier base.
If this trend continues, a small firm that remains committed to traditional values will be denied the ability to do business with larger firms based on the small firm's "lack of commitment to diversity," regardless of the quality and price of their work or products. As Dave Gartenberg, Human Resources Director at Microsoft UK, told Personnel Today, "the termination of the previously mentioned supplier contract had nothing to do with service quality."5
Two avenues in the promotion of supplier diversity are currently converging in the United States which will create the perfect storm of political correctness now popping up in Britain. Those two avenues are the preferential treatment of lesbian, "gay," bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees and vendors, and the use of business-to-business relationships to pressure small businesses to adopt and promote the value judgments of larger corporations.
Favoring LGBT-Owned Firms
Homosexual activists began this effort by promoting approval of the homosexual lifestyle within corporations. The Human Rights Campaign, a homosexual pressure group, tracks these internal policies through its annual Corporate Equity Index. Now in its 13th year, this effort has grabbed the attention of corporate America. According to the 2007 Index, 195 major U.S.-based businesses have reached the 100% rating. Those corporations include Marriott International, Inc., Allstate Insurance Co., and Bank of America Corp.
Once a corporation accepts homosexuality as a factor for which their Human Resources Department and top managers must account for as they strive toward creating a diverse workforce, it is not long before programs established to increase the ethnic diversity of a firm's supplier base are expanded to give preferential treatment to LGBT-owned and operated businesses as well.
Marriott International is one of a growing number of businesses that have implemented stretch goals to ensure that purchases from diverse suppliers are increasing. According to Marriott's Web page on supplier diversity:
"We have a goal to spend 15 percent with minority, women and LGBT suppliers by 2009. And we are definitely on track. Last year, we spent nearly 13 percent or $400 million with diverse suppliers and we're always searching for qualified businesses to work with."6
The National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) maintains a database of certified LGBT firms so that:
"Corporations can search for certified LGBTBEs [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender Business Enterprise] through our exclusive searchable LGBT supplier database, as well as meet face-to-face with potential suppliers at NGLCC SDI matchmaking events, which are held across the country throughout the year. Certified LGBTBEs may also be eligible for scholarship programs, mentorship and leadership training, and other business development tools."7
A growing number of such firms, like Kodak, IBM, Marriot International, and JP Morgan Chase, now actively recruit and certify LGBT businesses for their supplier base along with women-owned and minority-owed businesses. According to Kodak's supplier diversity program statement of policy, "personnel responsible for procurement and contracting operations will seek out and promote the competitive participation of diverse businesses in the performance of contract let by the company."8
This raises questions about the appropriateness of firms inquiring into the sexual orientation of a supplier's ownership and management. Given that such attributes are not immediately discernable, are smaller LGBT companies discriminated against to the point of needing private sector affirmative action? The misuse of supplier diversity programs is going further still, however.
Forcing the Issue
In August 2006, Wal-Mart announced a partnership with the NGLCC to provide funding for the corporate-focused homosexual pressure group in exchange for its input on the retail giant's supplier diversity initiative.9
Justin Nelson, president of the NGLCC, told Advertising Age that "the expectation is that Wal-Mart will encourage their core suppliers - the P&Gs, the Johnson & Johnsons and the Gillettes - to also diversify their revenue streams to include LGBT business."10
Nelson's comment should be met with suspicion however, since the core suppliers he mentioned have all outpaced Wal-Mart in terms of homosexual-friendly diversity policies. And, despite pressure from homosexual activists, Wal-Mart is already receiving honors for its promotion of diversity, among women and racial minorities, and was named among the "Top 50 for Diversity" by DiversityInc magazine.11
The retail giant is known in the business world for requiring its suppliers to adopt state-of-the-art supply chain technology and enact environmental initiatives in order to be a Wal-Mart supplier.12 As of February 2007, Wal-Mart is adding supplier diversity to the list of demands it makes of its 60,000 suppliers globally.13
At the time of its announcement, it was not clear what specific requirements would be made of suppliers, but chief merchandising officer John Fleming told the Financial Times that the issue would "be a discussion with any supplier we work with in much the same way we discuss price leadership and supply-chain initiatives."14
It's not clear whether the termination of suppliers for falling short of a larger firm's definition of diversity will be initiated in the United States by Wal-Mart or one of the firms highlighted by DiversityInc as being more focused on this cause. However, with LGBT activist groups pushing pro-homosexual businesses to increase their percentage of spending with LGBT-certified businesses, the day is near when a traditional firm is ousted to accomplish this goal.
Martha Kleder is a policy analyst with Concerned Women for America. She holds a Masters in Business Administration from Liberty University.
End Notes
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