Industry News
B2B Diversity Initiatives Should be Strategy-Specific
, 04-27-2009
Washington
In a new white paper released by Diversity Best Practices, the head of diversity for Siemens USA argues that successful diversity and inclusion initiatives for business-to-business companies should start by looking at their specific business strategies and their requirements. Emulating even the best practices of other industries is not a recipe for success, the paper notes.
In the paper, “CDO Insights: Generating Effective Diversity and Inclusion Practices for Your Business-to-Business Environment,” Joseph Santana, senior director of diversity at Siemens USA, discusses the key differences between business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) diversity and inclusion initiatives. He explains why it’s important for B2B companies to create their own effective practices instead of simply mimicking the “best practices” of B2C organizations.
“Evaluating the effective diversity practices of other companies is a logical first step in developing your own initiative, but it is not enough,” Santana said. “A company must go beyond what other companies are doing, even when these initiatives are deemed best practices. Companies need to look within when creating diversity programs, policies and strategies.”
Santana added: “Even companies in similar types of business will find that their specific business strategy and clients will affect their diversity needs and opportunities. A cut-and-paste approach to diversity will fail to make full use of the benefits diversity can offer. Such an approach can also waste investments and efforts in areas where they are not needed.”
Diversity Best Practices, also in partnership with Santana, will host a webinar on May 20, called, “Diversity Challenges in B2B Enterprises.”
For more information about the white paper, please contact Cynthia S. Marbley at cynthia.marbley@bonniercorp.com.
For more information about or to register for the web seminar, please contact Norma Graham at norma.graham@bonniercorp.com.
For More Information www.diversitybestpractices.com
