Categorizing Corporate Web-Based, Supplier Diversity Initiatives

Abstract

Corporations seek to purchase from a diverse set of suppliers, but so far, supplier diversity programs have received scant research attention and Web-based supplier diversity initiatives no research effort. This study examines the Web-based supplier diversity content and majority supplier communication of Fortune 500 firms and develops a matrix to categorize that content. Innovation diffusion theory determines that firms which currently have Web-based supplier diversity initiatives are early adopters and that the largest firms in the study are the most likely adopters. Only a few firms are using public Web sites to explain their supplier diversity initiatives. Approximately a quarter of these large firms' Web sites make some mention of supplier diversity, and among the sites with the content, just over a quarter describe a supplier diversity initiative. Therefore, public Web sites are largely underutilized as a means of interacting with and attracting suppliers from a diverse population.