The Cellar - Billion Dollar Roundtable

News Item

Quote:

Boeing on Wednesday in New York was introduced as a new member of the Billion Dollar Roundtable, an organization that recognizes and brings together major corporations that have achieved spending of at least $1 billion annually with minority- and woman-owned suppliers.

Hmmm, so I says to myself, self says I... what in hell is this Billion Dollar Roundtable about?

It seems Altria(Phillip Morris) Corporation seems to have started this club of AT&T Corporation, DaimlerChrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company, General Motors Corporation, IBM Corporation, Lucent Technologies, Philip Morris Companies Inc., SBC Communications Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., to pat each other on the back for good publicity.

From the 10 Charter members the club has grown to include a few others like Johnson Controls, Inc., Lockheed Martin Corporation, The Procter & Gamble Company, Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America, Inc., Verizon Communications, Inc and Boeing.

Applause, applause.
Now, it this the right thing to do? Not a level playing field, for sure.
I've heard of companies putting women and minorities at the helm to qualify for special consideration, but that's anecdotal and if true, I don't think a big enough problem to be an issue.

I don't know about other companies but Boeing makes a very big deal of this, generating as much awareness and press as they can. But is it fair?
What is at issue is, should this effort to give preference, be happening at all?
At what point should it stop and the field be made level again?