Diversity In Supply Chains: What Really Matters?

Diverse, well-developed supply chains promote business success by reducing costs, enhancing innovation, successfully integrating acquired businesses and reaching new markets. Managing such inter-organizational relationships improves when the organizational culture is humanistic, achievement oriented, affiliative and self-actualizing and when similar perceptions of these values are held across all buyer and supplier groups. Based on a survey of a diverse group of supplier chief executive officers (n=70) and buyers in a focal organization (n=79), this study finds that African-American executives are less likely to perceive constructive dimensions of organizational culture, while Hispanic executives are more likely to perceive negative dimensions, while buyers perceive the culture as constructive for a culture of diversity.