Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The STEP trials

A round-up of the STEP phase 3 clinical trials evaluating semaglutide for weight loss in people with overweight or obesity.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation

Open Access 05-04-2024

Disability Inclusion in Corporate Supplier Diversity Initiatives

Authors: Nanette Goodman, Fatma Altunkol Wise, Fitore Hyseni, Lauren Gilbert, Peter Blanck

Published in: Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation

Login to get access

Abstract

Purpose

Since the 1960s, federal and state governments and private-sector companies have used supplier diversity initiatives to ensure their supply chains include businesses owned by traditionally economically disadvantaged or underrepresented groups. Originally concentrated on racial and ethnic minority groups, programs have expanded to include businesses owned by women, veterans, LGBTQ+ individuals, and, in some cases, people with disabilities. This study investigates the extent to which disability is included in supplier diversity initiatives of Fortune 500 companies.

Methods

This paper uses a novel data set created by the authors with information on supplier diversity initiatives and Disability, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) statements in Fortune 500 companies extracted from public sources. This information is combined with data from Compustat, a corporate financial database published by Standard and Poor’s and additional variables from other sources.

Results

75% of the Fortune 500 companies have supplier diversity programs that express a commitment to diversity yet only 49% of those with such programs include disability-owned businesses (38% of all Fortune 500 companies). Among the largest 100 companies, 89% had supplier diversity programs that included disability, almost 6 times the rate Ball et al. reported in 2005. This study finds disability inclusion varies significantly by company size, industry, and whether the company is a government contractor.

Conclusion

Despite the growth in disability inclusion, the absence of disability as a diversity category in regulations mandating supplier diversity initiatives for government contractors impacts disability inclusion. If we want to align our supplier diversity programs with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the first step is to address the issue in the Small Business Administration and federal contracting requirements.
Footnotes
1
We do this because the values of marginal effects are contingent on how the values of the other variables in the model are set. In addition, marginal effects are non-linear functions of the estimated parameters. While they useful in interpreting the results, we are interested in testing the hypothesis about the function of all the coefficients, not just one, and as such rely on p-values from the main models.
 
Literature
1.
Ball P, Monaco G, Schmeling J, Schartz H, Blanck P. Disability as diversity in Fortune 100 companies. Behav Sci Law. 2005;23(1):97–121.CrossRefPubMed
2.
3.
Sordi A, Tate WL, Huang F. Going beyond supplier diversity to economic inclusion: where are we now and where do we go from here? J Purch Supply Manag. 2022;28(2): 100751.CrossRef
4.
Whitfield G. Culture and the effectiveness of supplier diversity programs: A test of predictors. Western Michigan University; 2003.
5.
Shah M, Ram M. Supplier diversity and minority business enterprise development: case study experience of three US multinationals. Supp Chain Manage: An Int J. 2006;11(1):75–81.CrossRef
6.
Worthington I, Ram M, Boyal H, Shah M. Researching the drivers of socially responsible purchasing: a cross-national study of supplier diversity initiatives. J Bus Ethics. 2008;79:319–31.CrossRef
7.
King ML. The relationship between management diversity and supplier diversity program development: a supplier diversity professional perspective. 2009.
8.
Wu J. The impact of corporate supplier diversity programs on corporate purchasers’ intention to purchase from women-owned enterprises: an empirical test. Bus Soc. 2010;49(2):359–80.CrossRef
9.
Blount IY. How do large purchasing organizations treat their diverse suppliers? Minority business enterprise CEOs’ perception of corporate commitment to supplier diversity. Bus Soc. 2021;60(7):1708–37.CrossRef
10.
Gould R, Harris SP, Mullin C, Jones R. Disability, diversity, and corporate social responsibility: learning from recognized leaders in inclusion. J Vocat Rehabil. 2020;52(1):29–42.CrossRef
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
Bates T. Minority business access to mainstream markets. J Urban Aff. 2001;23(1):41–56.CrossRef
25.
26.
Blanck PD, Sandler LA, Schmeling JL, Schartz HA. The emerging workforce of entrepreneurs with disabilities: preliminary study of entrepreneurship in Iowa. Iowa L Rev. 1999;85:1583.
27.
Renko M, Parker Harris S, Caldwell K. Entrepreneurial entry by people with disabilities. Int Small Bus J. 2016;34(5):555–78.CrossRef
28.
Phillips BN, Strauser DR, Ritter ES, Notaro SJ, Jones WD. The influence of social capital and social role on starting wage for people with and without disabilities. Rehab Counsel Bull. 2018;62(1):43–52.CrossRef
29.
Potts B. Disability and employment: considering the importance of social capital. J Rehabil. 2005;71(3):20.
30.
Mithen J, Aitken Z, Ziersch A, Kavanagh AM. Inequalities in social capital and health between people with and without disabilities. Soc Sci Med. 2015;126:26–35.CrossRefPubMed
31.
Tihic M, Hadzic M, McKelvie A. Social support and its effects on self-efficacy among entrepreneurs with disabilities. J Bus Ventur Insights. 2021;16: e00279.CrossRef
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
Miguel PL, Tonelli MJ. Supplier diversity for socially responsible purchasing: an empirical investigation in Brazil. Int J Phys Distrib Logist Manag. 2023;53(1):93–114.CrossRef
37.
Kemp JD, Dussault A. Obtaining disability-owned business enterprise certification: a lawyer’s guide to supplier diversity. Business law today. 2010;19(5):37.
38.
39.
40.
Shaewitz MD, Overton C, Smith D-M. A hidden market: The purchasing power of working-age adults with disabilities. 2018.
41.
Vairavan AK. Growing the pie: how supplier diversity can enable minority businesses to create stakeholder value. 2021.
42.
Worthington I. Corporate perceptions of the business case for supplier diversity: how socially responsible purchasing can ‘pay.’ J Bus Ethics. 2009;90:47–60.CrossRef
43.
44.
45.
Newman-Griffis D, Rauchberg JS, Alharbi R, Hickman L, Hochheiser H. Definition drives design: disability models and mechanisms of bias in AI technologies. First Monday. 2023.
46.
47.
Costa DL, Kahn ME. Energy conservation ‘nudges’ and environmentalist ideology: evidence from a randomized residential electricity field experiment. J Eur Econ Assoc. 2013;11(3):680–702.CrossRef
48.
Di Giuli A, Kostovetsky L. Are red or blue companies more likely to go green? Politics and corporate social responsibility. J Financ Econ. 2014;111(1):158–80.CrossRef
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
Edmans A, Flammer C, Glossner S. Diversity, equity, and inclusion. National Bureau of Economic Research. 2023.
54.
Scheiber N. Affirmative action ruling may upend hiring policies, too. New York Times. 2023.
Metadata
Title
Disability Inclusion in Corporate Supplier Diversity Initiatives
Authors
Nanette Goodman
Fatma Altunkol Wise
Fitore Hyseni
Lauren Gilbert
Peter Blanck
Publication date
05-04-2024
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation
Print ISSN: 1053-0487
Electronic ISSN: 1573-3688
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-024-10190-2