Whitepaper

Executive Summary: Business Value Through a Broader Supplier Base

A growing majority of executives continue to stand behind supplier diversity. Even as market conditions shift, 87% of leaders still support these programs, and nearly 80% have increased spend with small and diverse suppliers.

This executive summary provides the proven, measurable business case for how supplier diversity and small supplier engagement programs reduce costs by up to 12%, improves resilience by up to 20%, and fosters innovation by up to 2x; all while strengthening brand credibility.

This report gives procurement leaders a grounded, defensible narrative for why expanding the supply base matters now more than ever.

How Supplier Diversity strengthens cost, resilience, innovation, and impact

What’s inside:

A fact-based business case leaders can trust: Clear evidence showing why supplier diversity and small-supplier engagement remain critical strategies.
Proof of measurable financial and operational value: How small and diverse supplier reduce cost, improve retention, and brings specialized capabilities that strengthen enterprise performance.
The resilience and innovation advantages: Why local and agile partners offer higher responsiveness, better continuity in lower-tier disruptions, and outsized innovation that large incumbents often can’t match.

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Key findings include:

Small and diverse suppliers consistently lower total cost.

Independent research from leading institutions shows that organizations working with these suppliers achieve meaningful, repeatable cost advantages, contradicting the belief that small suppliers cost more.

Small and diverse suppliers strengthen continuity and responsiveness.

Analyses show these suppliers retain relationships longer, respond faster to change, and provide critical redundancy in the tiers where most disruptions occur.

Smaller suppliers unlock innovation that larger incumbents often miss.

National data shows small businesses generate the vast majority of patents and bring specialized capabilities that accelerate design, problem-solving, and product improvement.

Economic impact reporting is becoming the new expectation.

More organizations are translating supplier spend into measurable community outcomes, including jobs, wages, and taxes generated through their spend, strengthening internal credibility.

Supplier diversity can be executed with full transparency and compliance.

Modern programs expand access to qualified suppliers through competitive, objective processes that hold up under audit and regulatory scrutiny.