skip to product and services directory
skip to content
skip to footer
Living Values

2008 Corporate Social Responsibility Report

 

Diversity and Inclusion

 

Marketplace Diversity and Inclusion

Marketplace diversity at OfficeMax means taking into consideration our customers, investors, vendors and suppliers and our approach to going to market. It is one of three major Areas of Influence identified to help us fulfill our Diversity and Inclusion objectives,
and one in which we made meaningful progress during 2008.

Community Outreach

In 2008, our Community Affairs function cooperated with a number of other internal groups to launch and continue a number of initiatives, all of which support Diversity and Inclusion. Brief reviews of these initiatives are provided below, with more detail available in the Community and Education section of this report.

Kids in Need – In September 2008, OfficeMax began donating new merchandise, which has been discontinued, to The Kids in Need Foundation a charitable organizaton whose mission is to ensure that every child is prepared to learn and succeed, by providing free school supplies nationally to students most in need.

A Day Made Better – In October 2008, this event surprised 1,300 teachers at 1,300 elementary schools with a donation of classroom supplies made to the school on behalf of the teacher gift recipient. A majority of the schools were classified under Title I of the U.S. Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which is designed to improve the academic achievement of the disadvantaged. A Title I school is defined as an in-need school where 40 percent or more of its student body are subsidized with a free lunch program.

OfficeMax Volunteer Program – The OfficeMax Volunteer Program continued to support the volunteer efforts of OfficeMax associates in improving K-12 education in our communities. In support of our Diversity and Inclusion strategy, we focus, when possible, on helping schools-in-need as classified under Title I of the U.S. Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Supplier Diversity Restructuring

After our approach to supplier diversity was restructured in 2007, one of our first major initiatives was to review the way in which we report our supplier diversity performance and how well it aligns with major diversity advocacy and certification organizations. This has been a successful effort in 2008 and will continue.

Our 2008 Diverse Supplier Spend totaled $123.9 million, representing Diverse purchases, Minority and Women Business Enterprises purchases and Disability/Veteran Business purchases.

Multicultural Market Analysis and Retail Store Profile

With the goal of gaining greater market share, in 2007 our Office of Diversity and Inclusion and our Marketing department partnered on an innovative research project entitled “Multicultural Market Analysis and Retail Store Profile.” More detail on the methodology, findings and recommendations resulting from this study can be found in the Customer Value section of this report.