Member, Get a Diversity and Inclusion Capability Model

The header above appeared in my email inbox this morning.  Even though I have retired from my job, I retain my membership in the Institute for Supply Management, due to my Business Survey duties.  Now, ISM has proven over the years to be as Leftist as any large organization, and they put a great deal of effort into what they call “Supplier Diversity”.  We all know what Leftists mean when they speak about diversity in any context.  They mean “skin-color” diversity, and “sexual-orientation” diversity, and your company has a duty to make sure that your Suppliers are appropriately-colored.

Since the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Federal Government has instituted requirements for any company doing business with the government-if you are a large company, you have “small, minority, and women-owned business” paperwork to complete every year on each of your suppliers; this requires a large amount of effort and resources, for absolutely no benefit (other than virtue-signaling).  The practical effect of these mandates, however, is that companies are forced by the government to use suppliers who, to them, are NOT the best suppliers, or the least-expensive, or the most appropriate for their companies.  They are forced to care about the skin-color of their suppliers, not the actual attributes that make a good supplier.

Per the headline above, ISM has to waste resources on extensive “supplier diversity” efforts that their members neither need nor want.  ISM may try to convince you that their supplier diversity goals will help your company, but that is manifestly not true.  I reject “supplier diversity”, and I give thanks that I am now retired and don’t have to worry about that BS anymore.