Helpful Hints
Dimensional Differences
Time, at last, to get back to The Inclusion Dividend: Why Investing in Diversity & Inclusion Pays Off by Mark Kaplan and Mason Donovan. We last talked about this book in February 2014 with a look at how SDMWVBE (Small, Disadvantaged, Minority, Women, or Veteran Business Enterprise) business owners could be members of multiple groups and discussed the dynamics…
Read MoreWe’re Certified, Now What? Revisited
In speaking with newly certified SDMWVBE (Small, Disadvantaged, Minority, Women, or Veteran Business Enterprise) business owners or those seeking certification the question “What does certification do for me?” is often asked. In most cases, just being certified does not help grow your business; it is how you’re able to market your certification and utilize programs…
Read MoreCertification Alphabet Soup (or fun with acronyms)
In the world of diversity certifications there are many acronyms, some more familiar than others. This alphabet soup contains WBE, MBE, DBE, SBE, VBE, DSBE, HUB, LGBT and that’s only half of them. Some of the abbreviations are shared by government and third-party certifiers (MBE, WBE) and others are specific to the Federal government (8(a),…
Read MoreInsider Outsider Memberships
As SDMWVBE (Small, Disadvantaged, Minority, Women, or Veteran Business Enterprise) businesses we find ourselves members of multiple groups and the dynamics of these memberships is discussed at length in chapter six The Inclusion Dividend: Why Investing in Diversity & Inclusion Pays Off by Mark Kaplan and Mason Donovan. Insider outsider dynamics happen at the group…
Read MoreDiversity Dividends: Reducing Bias
Bias is the very human and perhaps unfair preference for or dislike of something. Its synonyms include prejudice, partiality and favoritism. At the heart of the original equal opportunity movement, laws and regulations were enacted to mitigate conscious bias in American education, employment and procurement opportunities. As SDMWVBE (Small, Disadvantaged, Minority, Women, or Veteran Business…
Read MoreInclusion Dividends: Taking the Initiative
During the summer, we talked about The Inclusion Dividend: Why Investing in Diversity & Inclusion Pays Off by Mark Kaplan and Mason Donovan, intending to relate the book’s concepts to supplier diversity and how we SDMWVBE (Small, Disadvantaged, Minority, Women, or Veteran Business Enterprise) businesses might be able to incorporate this information in our organizations.…
Read MoreSpotlight on USBLN
The US Business Leadership Network (USBLN) like WBENC (Women’s Business Enterprise National Council) and NMSDC (National Minority Supplier Development Council) is a national third-party certifier. USBLN certifies business that are owned and operated by a person or persons challenged with a disability – those with physical and/or mental impairment; including disabled veteran businesses, regardless of gender or ethnicity. Like the other…
Read MoreSimilar, But Not the Same
Having researched the UCP (Unified Certification Program) for all 50 states, as well as Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands; I thought I had a pretty good handle on what to expect from the certification process. Recently though we’ve experienced some new quirks as we’ve sought certification in additional states as a part of our…
Read MoreLean In and the Chaos Imperative
By now it is probably evident that we’re a bunch of readers here. This time we’re taking another break from The Inclusion Dividend: Why Investing in Diversity & Inclusion Pays Off by Mark Kaplan and Mason Donovan to talk about Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In: Women, Work and Will to Lead and The Chaos Imperative: How Change…
Read MoreInclusion Dividend: Business Case
In late June, we talked a bit about The Inclusion Dividend: Why Investing in Diversity & Inclusion Pays Off by Mark Kaplan and Mason Donovan, with the intent of relating its concepts to supplier diversity; and, how it might apply to us as SDMWVBE (Small, Disadvantaged, Minority, Women or Veteran Business Enterprise) businesses. Chapter two’s…
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