TBS, Inc.'s Commitment to Diversity

All award functions have one award that gets everyone's attention.  At the Academy Awards, its the Best Picture of the Year Award.  At the Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council's Awards Gala, it's Corporation of the Year.  This year, more than 900 people packed the Grand Ballroom of the Omni Hotel in Atlanta to see who would win this year's top honor. The field contained only two contenders, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. and Georgia Power.  After the names of the nominees were read, a rush of anticipation fell over the crowd.  Then, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.) was declared the winner.  Exuberant cheers rose from the crowd as Turner Group Services Vice President, Andrea Schaffell, rose to accept the award from GMSDC's Chairman of the Board Ken Hilderbrand and Executive Director George Lottier.  

The GMSDC's decision to recognize Turner Broadcasting as its Corporation of the Year is an inevitable outcome of Turner's proactive commitment to supplier diversity.  For Turner, supplier diversity is not an obligation, but an opportunity, one that is pursued with a strategic focus.  This focus is consistent with a company committed to success and growth.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., which is now an AOL Time Warner company, is the leading provider of programming for the basic cable industry and a major producer of news and entertainment product around the world.  Over the past 31 years, the company has experienced phenomenal growth.  The seeds for TBS, Inc. were planted in 1970, when R.E. Turner, then owner of a successful outdoor advertising firm, purchased a small struggling UHF station in Atlanta, and renamed it WTCG, for parent company Turner Communications Group.  In December 1976, WTCG became the first "superstation" by transmitting its programming via satellite to cable systems throughout the United States.  

In 1978, the company changed its name to Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. and the call letters of its flagship entertainment network to the now familiar WTBS.  In 1980, the company established CNN as the first 24-hour all-news network.  Today, CNN reaches nearly one billion people around the world. 

TSB, Inc. consists of many networks and businesses around the world, including three professional sports franchises: the Braves, Atlanta's Major League Baseball club; the Hawks, Atlanta's National Basketball Association team; and the Thrashers, Atlanta's National Hockey League team. The company employs more than 10,000 people in more than 30 cities on six of the seven continents.

As with all successful initiatives, Turner Broadcasting's commitment to supplier diversity begins at the top, with James Kellner, Chairman and CEO for Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.  Kellner credits the city of Atlanta for providing a fertile environment for Turner's growth into a multi-billion dollar company.

The commitment to supplier diversity by Turner's top executive is sustained by a procurement structure and process that promote performance and accountability.  Buyers for Turner's various business entities have been trained to promote supplier diversity within their procurement activities, and their efforts are closely monitored.  Corporate buyers regularly report their supplier diversity efforts to Turner's Director of Supplier Diversity Program, Greta Davis.  Schaffell credits Davis for much of Turner's success with supplier diversity. "She single-handedly transformed the supplier diversity program form an idea on paper to a top-touch and meticulously run corporate program," said Schaffell.  

______________________________________________________

Supplier diversity is a major part of every construction project undertaken by Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., including Phillips Arena, which is home to the Atlanta Hawks and the Atlanta Thrashers, and also Turner Field, shown left, which is the home the Atlanta Braves. 

______________________________________________________

One aspect of Turner's program that makes it top-notch is the company's efforts to involve its strategic partners in supplier diversity.  At a November 2000 breakfast for minority suppliers, Turner invited many of its prime contractors to explore opportunities to subcontract with the company's minority suppliers.  Included among the 15 prime contractors that participated were Aramark Sports and Entertainment, Central Parking System, Delta Airlines, Levy Restaurants, Turner Construction and United Parcel Service.

TBS, Inc. is also forging unique relationships through its professional sports teams.  TBS, Inc. enjoys a model relationship with Major League Baseball, which in 1998, began requiring clubs to report their supplier diversity efforts to the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball.  Each year, the Atlanta Braves submit their procurement activities to Greta Davis at Turner Broadcasting and to Wendy Lewis at Major League Baseball.  

Dual reporting and monitoring is a growing phenomenon as corporate entities merge and form strategic alliances across industries.  The process is proving beneficial for the reporting entities as well as for the minority business community.  Dual reporting gives the reporting entity support from two corporate monitors.  It also reinforces the level of commitment to supplier diversity held by the two monitoring entities.  

______________________________________________________

Pictured from left to right are Greta Davis, Chairperson of the Annual Programs Committee of GMSDC and Director of Supplier Diversity, TBS, Inc.; Wendy Lewis, Vice President of Strategic Planning for Recruitment and Diversity for Major League Baseball, and Andrea Schaffell, Vice President, Turner Group Services, TBS, Inc. 

______________________________________________________

In March of this year, Major League Baseball held a conference for club managers who administer the sport's Diverse Business Partners Program.  Greta Davis was invited to present an overview of Turner's program.  "We are impressed with the depth of Turner's commitment to supplier diversity," said Lewis. The Braves are among a handful of professional baseball clubs owned by media and entertainment giants.  "We are fortunate to have Turner as a partner in supplier diversity," observed Lewis.  "Our program is strengthened by their commitment."

Across industries, American businesses are recognizing that supplier diversity is an important tool to form new relationships and achieving growth.  The value of recognizing corporate leaders is that it provides minority communities and the public-at-large with an important window into the changing face and pace of business in America.  

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. has gained recognition as a leader in supplier diversity because it has distinguished itself in four critical areas.  1) Turner makes supplier diversity a strategic initiative, one that is supported by its most senior managers and sustained by an office adequately staffed to monitor and pursue supplier diversity on a full-time basis.  2)  Turner extends supplier diversity to all internal units with major procurement responsibilities.  3)  Turner is proactive in making minority businesses aware of major procurement opportunities and the requirements to fulfill those opportunities.  4)  Turner is aggressive in partnering with its prime contractors and strategic partners to advance supplier diversity.

The awards issued by the GMSDC are only emblematic of much greater achievement and consequence.  Turner is enjoying the momentary spotlight that comes with winning GMSDC's 2001 Corporation of the Year Award. But everyday, Turner's commitment to supplier diversity is helping to build businesses in Atlanta, across Georgia, and throughout the United States.  This makes us all winners. 

__________

Special Thanks to Phillip Evans of TBS, Inc. for assisting with the development of this story.  

Click mouse around graphic below to see related stories.