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What is Supplier Diversity and why does it matter in Aotearoa?

Puna Awarau or Supplier diversity is a global practice to enable minority-owned businesses strategically and intentionally to be engaged in business-to-business (B2B) supply chains.The aim is to uplift marginalised communities excluded from the economic success of the country, by intentionally looking for ways to buy goods and services from minority owned businesses.Here in Aotearoa, we specifically focus on Māori and Pasifika businesses. A Māori business is a business that has at least 50% sh...

Triple Ripple Effect

The triple ripple effect of Māori businesses talks to the positive socio-economic impact Māori businesses create above and beyond delivering the goods, services and/or works they were established to provide.These additional positive impacts are the ‘ripple effects’ and there are 3 broader areas Māori businesses consistently impact that contribute to a prosperous and inclusive Aotearoa.Whānau - the positive impact on whānauCommunity - the positive impact on people through the daily opera...

The rise of the social procurement professional

Aotearoa has been slow to pick up on the need for innovative and equity focused procurement professionals, compared to the rest of the world. In Australia and the US, social procurement and supplier diversity roles are not unusual. The US is now at a stage where they have a ‘Chief Equity Officer’ as part of Executive Leadership Teams (how cool is that job title?So now that we are starting to see a number of large government organisations recruit specifically for ‘social procurement’ role...

The happy by-products of supplier diversity

Supplier Diversity is a global practice that is slowly growing in Aotearoa. Internationally it is buying from minority owned suppliers, but in a local context it’s specifically buying from Māori and Pasifika businesses.Some people read this and scratch their heads asking “but why?”. A supplier is a supplier right? Does it matter that the owners are Māori and/or Pasifika? Well, it turns out some suppliers aren’t getting a fair slice of the pie and those suppliers are Māori and Pasifika...

The Excuses

Having worked with a LOT of ‘Buyers’ (organisations that procure services like government agencies, councils, and corporate organisations) we hear and see the good, bad and the ugly.Don’t get us wrong, most of the organisations we work with are amazing and there are some fantastic initiatives going on to embed supplier diversity. Most understand “what supplier diversity is and why it matters in Aotearoa”.But, on the odd occasion we do come across those that don't share our enthusiasm a...

Smart Contractor VS Dumb Contractor

We can't take credit for the great title and theme of this korero, for that we need to acknowledge Heath Nelson, from Fortescue Metals Group Australia.Smart contractors win work, dumb contractors don’t. In 2019, we had a contingent of Australians come over to NZ to share some of their learnings around supplier diversity. This was because Australia is way ahead of Aotearoa when it comes to supplier diversity and indigenous procurement.They’ve had an indigenous procurement target for 6 years, ...

Doing the same thing and expecting a different result

Many organisations look at their spend with Māori and Pasifika businesses and think ‘oh crap, we really don’t spend a lot of money with these businesses’. We must do something to change this.But, often ‘doing something’ usually turns into doing the same thing as usual and somehow expecting things will change. That's generally not how this works.If a government agency has always put opportunities up on GETS and has experienced very low uptake (if any) from Māori and Pasifika businesse...

Puna Awarau: What does it mean?

Puna Awarau is the Māori word used in Aotearoa to describe Supplier Diversity.Gifted by Te Mete Lowman, it is not a transliteration but a translation of the intent of supplier diversity.Ko te wai te oranga o nga mea katoa, water is the life-giver of all things. It has mauri, a vitality, an energy that has the power to give life. Water is also about connection, flowing between people and place. This is the inspiration behind the name Puna Awarau.Puna, a spring of waterAwa, a river or streamRau, ...

Open the door from the inside

If we had a dollar for every time a business told us they’ve tried knocking on a ‘Buyers’ door and can’t get their foot in it, we’d be rolling in it.Trying to get a foot in the door with Buyers can be hard work and the doors often seem like they are absolutely bolted shut. There are plenty of capable Māori and Pasifika businesses that cannot seem to catch a break.The thing is, Buyer doors can only be opened from the inside so as procurers, we need to intentionally open the door.‘Ope...

Buying from Māori businesses is good for the ‘Buyer’

When a large public or private organisation intentionally spends money with a Māori and/or Pasifika business (supplier diversity) it helps grow those businesses which has enormous flow on effects (read more about the triple ripple effect).It has the power to boost the Māori and Pasifika economies and is good for Aotearoa as a whole. What is often overlooked are the benefits for the Buyer. There can be direct benefits to the procuring organisations that buy from Māori and Pasifika businesses.I...

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Papaki kau ana ngā tai ki uta.He puna waioraHe puna wānangaHe puna awarauKua parahia te huarahi e ngā manukuraMe whanake tōnuHei mana tauriteHei mana pāporiHei mana whakahekeKia hora te marinoKia whakapapa pounamu te moanaKōkiri!...