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Written by Brian Tippens, Director, HP Global Supplier Diversity Program
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Monday, 10 August 2009 10:06 |
 Business owners wishing to become suppliers in a global market must understand that this requires, first and foremost, competing on a global scale. Multinational corporations are increasingly realizing that they can achieve cost savings by engaging in “strategic sourcing” strategies. These strategies frequently result in supplier consolidation: the shrinking of long lists of local suppliers to short lists of very large suppliers that can service the corporation on a global scale.
To succeed in the global market, businesses should employ a few tactics:
Strategic Alliances
Partnerships for capacity building with other businesses can gain advantages and better equip themselves to compete in a global market. Business-to-business partnerships can allow small and medium business to pool their resources to serve corporate customers on a global scale. Corporations are increasingly welcoming alliance and joint venture proposals in global bids.
Second-tier Opportunities
Second-tier suppliers are subcontractors who provide goods and services to primary corporate suppliers. These types of arrangements can provide global business opportunities for businesses that may not yet qualify as primary suppliers to multinational corporations. By gaining experience as a second tier supplier, these businesses can position themselves to compete for future primary supplier opportunities.
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Leverage existing resources and networks
A number of organizations have resources and services to assist small and medium business, as well as minority businesses in their attempts to go global. The National Minority Supplier Development Council (www.nmsdc.org) has established affiliate councils in others countries as:
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Utilize corporate supplier diversity programs
Most importantly, minority businesses should take advantage of corporate supplier diversity programs and initiatives, and use the corporate representatives as their advocates. Most large multinational corporations provide resources to assist minority businesses in navigating the complexities of their procurement processes.
Understanding and utilizing these four tactics will give business owners an increased likelihood of success in competing in a global market.
We invite all of you to get a discussion going. Please submit your comments at the end of this article, Thanks.
Brian Tippens is Director of HP’s Global Supplier Diversity Program. In this role, Brian is responsible for managing and setting the strategic direction for a program which works to ensure that under-represented businesses have an equal opportunity to become suppliers of goods and services to HP. He has over 15 years of IT industry experience and holds a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems Management from the University of San Francisco, and a Juris Doctor from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. |
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Last Updated on Saturday, 07 November 2009 14:31 |
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