Dr Christopher A Johnson
Business news. Since 2008, ethnic monitoring has almost ‘gone off the boil’, as officials lump business owners under the rubric of either ‘British Whites’ or pejoratively, ‘BME, BAME’ and ‘EMGs’.
Stereotyping minorities extends to business and the professions and this is creating uncertainty and is a cause for concern. Those who’re keen to understand the national business landscape, find difficultly obtaining accurate information on ethnic firms.
One presumption is that the enactment of the Equalities Act 2010 may have stymied ethnic monitoring as a device for ‘tracking’ injustices experienced by minorities. Yet it is fairly easy to obtain statistics on minorities within the prison population, using illicit drugs, unemployed, in mental health institutions, suffering from obesity, indulging in binge drinking or other unhealthy lifestyle practices, as well as others deemed to be underperforming in education, training and other areas of life.
Monitoring the ethnic landscape. Photo courtesy Ethnic Monitoring of Firms
Principally, ethnic monitoring facilitates transparency, fostering the appreciation of cultures and values, whilst imbuing tolerance and enlightenment as against typecasting. Ethnic monitoring is vital too, in light of the diversity of firms in Britain.
It can aid in determining owners’ true heritage when investigating firms’ inaccessibility to investment capital and procurement opportunities in markets controlled by multilateral institutions. Current estimates indicate that minority firms contribute over £32 billion to the economy, with market share pegged at 7% and 27% – for firms managed by owners from African, Bangladeshi, Caribbean, Chinese, Indian, Nepalese, Pakistani and Sri Lankan backgrounds. Compared to the 20th century, the first, second and third generation of minorities are integral to a distinctive range of industry sector representation (ever imaged).
If the NHS, the Legal Services Commission, the General Medical Council and other key state agencies can conduct routine ethnic monitoring, then enterprise strategists can do likewise. Minorities like others, should be treated with the utmost dignity, honour and respect they deserve not because of ‘physical differences’, but because it is the right thing to do.
Rt Hon. Nick Clegg, MP. Photo courtesy no.wikipedia.org
The cause for diversity and equality is best served when minorities’ labours are properly acknowledged and rewarded.
Using the principle of ‘numerical power’ as a comparative advantage over one ethnic group or others experiencing inequalities, is unwise and counterproductive. Among other reasons, ethnic monitoring can impact on the following:-
a) Quality information and data on underperforming firms in key industry sectors.
b) More effective provision of customised technical help and enterprise support.
c) Increases in minorities’ economic and social mobility chances and actual levels.
d) Consumers’ awareness of the geographical composition and type of firms by industry.
Moreover, ethnic monitoring can improve race relation practices rather than pitting ‘majorities’ against ‘minorities’. In July 2013, Deputy Prime Minister, the Rt Hon. Nick Clegg, MP, in addressing an audience of senior banking figures and entrepreneurs from minority ethnic communities, said, “It is vital that all businesses have fair access to viable finance as the country looks to rebuild the economy.”
Therefore, the time is opportune for innovative leadership in this arena of social justice. Far from being a ‘progressive agenda’, ethnic monitoring is perhaps a more strategic option than purely, an expedient tool of, and for ‘Political Correctness’.
(The writer is an award-winning author, publisher and business management consultant; and be contacted at [email protected])
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