Diversification of the US economy will strengthen the country. However, most studies identify that the failure of most corporate diversity programs is rooted in short-term solutions with the least impact on investment strategies.
The shortsighted business model of providing lip service to diversity goals reaps the bounty of failed programs that litter the economic landscape of the US economy.
The CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion™ is providing an advocacy and educational approach to the achieving diversity in the workplace through pledge drives from corporate leadership. However, companies are not successfully diversifying the supply chain, workplace and management, https://time.com/6110631/corporate-boards-diversity/.
It is difficult to comprehend the strength of institutional barriers to diversification. Corporations spend Business Development expenditures that are often lost in speculation or failed transactions.
Access to high yield market opportunities is slim and dominated by saturated market providers.
A sound Business Development Plan can build in Diversity as a hedge strategy to protect against the prospects that do not pan out. Solid Business Development Plans analyze the market intelligence to develop the market strategies that can build several pipelines of business opportunities.
A common reason that companies provide for lack of progress, beyond the proclamation stage for the implementation of Diversity within its supply chain, is the lack of infrastructure to facilitate a diversification that will produce viable partnerships. The problem with this excuse is that some businesses are trying to squeeze diversification along supply chains as part of the company’s sales strategy. This strategy is doomed to fail. Decades of deprivation and the deleterious effect on the social fabric in which these companies sell their products and services will not be wiped out with boastful proclamations and varied media products. Placing diversification into sales strategies creates expectations that those who have been excluded will be suddenly included; while those who have benefitted from inclusion will be rewarded with sharp Returns on Investments that are generated from healthy sales pipelines, which benefitted from a slick branding campaign.
One of the most fundamental economic developments that has materialized in the face of marginalization is the development of a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem. The “value offering” that entrepreneurs of color have brought into the streams of commerce, is the foundation to build a solid diversification platform.
Corporations that are experiencing difficulties in deploying meaningful diversity programs will find the reposition of the program from the sales strategy to the market strategies platform a good first start to success. This redeployment alone will help aid in the process of changing the corporate culture. Market strategies by definition develop long term development strategies to capture new markets, new product lines and service lines. Another benefit of shifting diversity programs from sales strategies to market strategies is the effectuation of the corporation to the long-term commitment to improving the company through diversification. Market Strategies offer the steady and sturdy development of transactional plans. Successful Market Strategies involve the interface of several areas of expertise. When creative professionals interface with market researchers, it provides the ideal synergy for success. This interface is measured against all points of value, feasibility, production and distribution plans. For corporations to thrive, it must understand the market conditions in which it operates. The drive behind diversity is rooted in changes within the marketplace. A functional Market Strategy conducts the Points of Value analysis of new transactions, partnerships, and products/service lines against marketplace conditions. The idea of pursuing profits in a vacuum is not a sustainable market condition.
There is significant authority that has documented the growing demand in the marketplace from employees, consumers and investors for corporations that provide identifiable Corporate Social Responsibility (“CSR”) as an operational standard. The failure of a company to develop CSR policies will affect the marketability of the company’s products and services. Ryan Rudominer with R2 Strategic Consulting, provided a concise and documented overview of market conditional changes that companies cannot afford to ignore. The insightful analysis can be reviewed in the magazine of the Georgetown Center for Social Impact Communication,
Although a market analysis that includes the study of CSR as a market condition is a good step, a company cannot afford to settle for goals, brochures, and an immediate market splash with a few strategic hires. The next step in the analysis is the development of the company’s Environmental Sustainable and Governance (ESG) structures. It is important to understand the market metrics that are driving the need to develop a solid ESG platform as a corporate offering. If a company’s Business Development team (the one or two professionals for Small and Medium sized companies) needs an introduction to the emerging market conditions, MGSN News Program provides a compact and crisp discussion of the issues, https://youtu.be/z9n0G8fCFIo
Frankly, diversifying a company’s supply chain is the perfect place to start the implementation of ESG policies. Most of the points along the supply chain are operated by entrepreneurs and third-party business entities. Business Developers in many firms must be grappling with the market metrics since so many companies seem to be having difficulties finding talented professionals, as documented in the Time Magazine site. There must be an acknowledgement that there is not a talent shortage but a gap in equity and fairness when it comes to hiring. A hard look by Board directors, to make a concerted effort to go beyond their existing networks in order to recruit diverse talent, is a mandatory step, if the corporate world is serious about diversification.
Well, let’s see what we here at MGSN can do to help.
The first line of building a viable diversification program will begin in Marketing Strategies. Since institutional resistance will be significant, the most durable approach can be achieved by developing an Intrapreneur Incubator out of the company’s Business Development Group. The Incubator should have campus to off-campus relationships with the companies HQ.
The sector that can be used as an example to further explore the solution portion of this article can be a Child Entertainment Production Company. Since 90% of advertising dollars flow into the big cable channels, the Production companies, in this sector, are under significant pressure to develop consumer products in a highly competitive market.
The Prototype Company we will use for the tutorial portion of this article has a tight budget. Building an Intrapreneur Incubator will seem impossible based on outdated models that have only produced failed results. However, a transactional solution will provide a path to the diversification of this company’s supply chain.
The role of an Intrapreneur is to develop products and services lines from concept generation to the development, production, and sales for company. The training process from employee to Intrapreneur is laborious.
The most effective manner to jumpstart the training process and the development of the Incubator is to drop the off -campus operation into a robust startup ecosystem. The benefit is obvious, the interface of the Incubator, with the newly minted intrapreneurs, with the hardened entrepreneurs in the Startup culture, will provide the training, education, resistance, creativity, and development skills needed to develop products and services that are marketable.
Considering the financial constraints of the company and the need to create not only product and service lines that will be viable but also allow diversification to grow organically will be the first challenge to be conquered.
In order to choose the right ecosystem, the Business Developers must conduct disciplined and focused Due Diligence that will provide the market intelligence needed to identify universities with talent for hiring that can meet diversity goals and a robust startup ecosystem.
In conducting the Due Diligence for this article, MGSN studied the challenges of creating programing that will attract viewers, be able to generate an ability to build a community around its shows and support a merchandise build out. Varied startup communities were studied based upon the financial constraints of the company.
The Due Diligence pointed to Detroit as the Startup ecosystem that could meet the diverse talent and transactional opportunities within a slim budget. Detroit’s grit was the driving force behind this city during difficult times. Its residents have a fight against the odds strength that is now supporting a thriving Startup environment. The real estate options for supporting an off -campus Incubator will certainly match up with the company’s constraints.
New restaurants, clubs, bars, and cafes have developed around the young entrepreneurs that are moving into the city to take advantage of the reasonable rents and the developing but supportive innovative environment.
Despite the fact that there is a pronounced funding disparity, black owned ventures are providing the energy and the value of new products and services that have been brought to the Market against significant odds.
Turning the attention to the Prototype Company, market research identifies a dynamic entrepreneur who provides significant transactional build-out opportunities.
Yelitsa Jean-Charles is a dynamic Detroit- based entrepreneur who created a toy company called Healthy Roots. The website is focused and identifies the market stress points in clear and focus terms. The deductibility of how the Healthy Roots Products and Services lines provide solutions to market needs is well presented in the company’s website and blog.
In order to underscore the path to talent, if a company is willing to develop the infrastructure to facilitate diversity, it is necessary to understand the value that Ms. Jean-Charles can bring to the prototype Intrapreneur Incubator.
“Our founder Yelitsa Jean-Charles gave a TedxTalk exploring the issues of race, identity and diversity. She looks to the options society provides to girls of color and considers a more diverse and inclusive future powered by women entrepreneurs.
Healthy Roots Dolls is a toy company that creates dolls and storybooks that empower young girls and represent the beauty of our diversity.
65% of the world’s population has curly/wavy hair. In 2016, Dove conducted a study and found that only 4 out of 10 girls love their curls. Toys impact how we think, act, and perceive ourselves. So when girls can’t find dolls that look like them, it negatively impacts their self esteem.
That’s why we created Zoe, the first Healthy Roots doll.
We go beyond just painting a doll brown. We create an educational play experience with curl care.
Healthy Roots Dolls have a medley of facial features, skin tones, and hair textures that can be styled in countless ways. Our dolls have multiple interests and aspirations which exposes young girls to their own unlimited career potential. Our goal is to represent the voices of young girls in the toy industry with products that empower, educate and inspire self love.”
A full examination of the offering of Healthy Roots, particularly its Blog, will provide the starting point for obtaining the market intelligence enterprises needed to develop a viable diversification growth plan, https://healthyrootsdolls.com/
It should be clear that the interface between Ms. Jean -Charles and the protype production company provides transactional value. The Zoe product lines, and the story that has been built around the product development, provides a solid basis for entertainment media products with a built-in merchandise. The potential for transactional diversification of the Prototype supply chain is underscored by placing it in the Intrapreneur Incubator in Detroit.
However, the achievements and entrepreneurial skills of Ms. Jean-Charles should draw the attention of those enterprises large and small who are failing in building out diversity. As entrepreneurs know, failure is a learning lesson for the next opportunity.
It is painfully obvious that change occurs very slowly. Institutional change is even slower. Yet, there is no doubt that change is inevitable. Corporate leaders must develop the insight to lead change and Ms. Jean -Charles is one of many underrepresented entrepreneurs that have the “can-do experience” who have been successful against strong institutional odds. These “can do” entrepreneurs must be given the opportunity to help lead large enterprises in making the necessary changes, to the existing corporate culture, to develop viable diversification programs, utilizing the corporate world’s significant assets and strong institutional benefits.
