Coupa Software has announced an initiative focused on making it easier for enterprises to increase their spend with diverse and inclusive suppliers. Called the Coupa Inclusion Initiative, the program provides new resources, tools, and technologies, including the launch of a diverse supplier portal that connects buyers with diverse and inclusive suppliers to drive economic impact.
“Businesses recognise the need for policy changes when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion goals, such as supplier diversity programs, because of the ROI, lower operating costs, higher profits, and access to increased innovation for the company,” said Rod Robinson, vice president of supplier inclusion and sustainability at Coupa. “However, most companies’ supplier diversity efforts are failing in good faith because the information and technology they need to efficiently source and spend with diverse suppliers was not available. Now within the Coupa Business Spend Management Platform, every company can make diversity and inclusion a strategic part of the business, rather than an afterthought.”
Standalone diversity, equity, and inclusion programs have struggled to make a significant impact on business supply chains, due to a lack of access to the right technology and information. The Coupa Inclusion Initiative focuses on enabling companies to find, select, and direct spend to hundreds of thousands of diverse and inclusive suppliers via the Coupa platform, including:
- Helping Diverse Suppliers Strengthen and Scale: Resources such as whitepapers, videos, and certifications are available to help diverse suppliers gain the requirements needed to partner with larger companies.
- Guiding a Successful Future: An advisory board of global diversity leaders and experts have been established to help guide Coupa to become a destination for inclusive suppliers who need mentoring, exposure, and connections with buyers.
- Directing Corporate Spend to Diverse Suppliers: A new, publicly available supplier portal at that
will enable businesses everywhere to search and find diverse and inclusive suppliers to meet their corporate goals.
The Coupa Inclusion Initiative helps any company incorporate diversity into its current processes by surfacing inclusive suppliers by region, industry, and diversity classification; providing knowledge from global supplier diversity certification and advocacy organisations to create the right inclusive supply chain; and sharing resources and tools to understand the value of inclusive supply chains and how to champion these programs internally.
Coupa has partnered with leading diversity and inclusion organisations, including the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), Minority Supplier Development United Kingdom (MSDUK), Global Supplier Diversity Alliance (GSDA), and National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC).
Mayank Shah, founder and CEO at MSDUK, said: “Underrepresentation of inclusive suppliers in both the public and private sectors deprive large organisations of options that bring new ideas to market and benefit the company’s bottom line. This initiative is giving inclusive suppliers exposure to not only its incredible portfolio of customers but to every company that understands the value of diversifying their supply chain.”
