Inclusive Sourcing: Exploring Missing Links in Procurement and Contracting That Adversely Affect the Upward Mobility of Minority Businesses
通过访谈少数族裔和多数族裔企业代表，揭示少数族裔企业在获取大型采购组织机会时面临的困难，包括发展机会少、向上流动性差，并指出信任是关键因素，为改善采购实践提供策略。
While large purchasing organizations (LPOs) continue to push their supplier diversity and development efforts, disparities remain between minority- and majority-owned businesses. We examine existing disparities, investigate the factors contributing to these gaps, and discuss how LPOs may improve their engagement initiatives with minority-owned businesses, leading to mutual economic success. Through interviews with representatives of minority- and majority-owned businesses, we uncover the difficulties that minority-owned businesses face in accessing LPOs. They receive fewer development opportunities and are less upwardly mobile than their majority-owned counterparts. Trust emerged as a critical factor required for minority-owned businesses to gain access to LPOs. We explore additional factors that may influence LPO procurement decisions beyond racial biases, such as the dense networks of minority-owned businesses, the risks associated with engaging minority-owned businesses, and the complexity of LPO organizational structures. This essay contributes to the operations and supply chain literature on diversity, equity, and inclusion by providing researchers and LPOs with a pragmatic view of their buyer–supplier relationships and strategies to improve contracting practices with minority-owned businesses.