Essay/Term paper: Management and the body shop

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Society

Management and The Body Shop

In this paper I will be taking a look at basic management functions. The
approaches, and the synthesis of two views of management. I will attempt to
take an overview of culture and its effect on a company.

In today's changing global environments many companies have joined the open
trade policies, and existing foreign opportunities available to growing
companies with positive views and socially responsible attitudes.

It all sounds like a lot to cover in a short essay so I will introduce a company
that has in its short, yet very successful existence transformed through all the
levels and practices mentioned above. The company is called "The Body Shop", I
hope you have heard of it for that would make our journey through it's
development even more enjoyable.

Management is described as the process of getting activities with and through
other people. This philosophy has been so widely examined that there are
literally millions of opinions and differing views on the subject. We will only
be examining the functions of management where the basics of planning,
organizing, leading, and controlling apply to The Body Shop. In 1976 an
inexperienced Anita Roddick got tired of unsubstantiated Management and The Body
Shop

claims of the cosmetics industry that their products couldn't deliver. She
decided to make a decision that would change her life forever. Anita became a
manager of her own small business in Brighton England. Selling the natural
secrets found throughout the world; learned from extensive travel while employed
as a teacher with the U.N., she created a cottage industry of exotic personal
body care products.

Planning proved to be the first big obstacle to learn in the road to efficient
management. Taking care of buying from around the world for her special products
had plunged Anita into a frightening and difficult role that she needed help
with. Anita organized her financial burdens by taking on an investor Ian McGlinn,
in turn giving him a 50 percent stake in the business.

Furthermore she sold the name The Body Shop to personal recruits, carefully lead
and controlled by her own philosophies and ideals. Anita had become an ideal
example of the classic top level manager taking on the responsibility of
decision, communication, and information needed to project her company as a
serious competitor, ready for today's global market. Management and The Body
Shop

The Body Shop follows the original general administrative theory of Henry Fayol.
That is a sort of utopian environment that everyone involved in the company
shares the same opinions as Anita Roddick, and tried to achieve harmony, one
might say, within their own franchise of The Body Shop. Achieving this was done
by personal interviews of potential franchise owners and continual monitoring of
the application bureaucracy's intended to find only the right people for the job.
Establishing these bureaucratic procedures meant asking questions such as: "what
kind of car do you drive?", "what kind do you want?", "how would you like to
die?", and "who are your favorite literary heroines?". Based on the answer to
questions like these she would either not give them franchise rights or move
them along the way towards a business of their own with The Body Shop. The
applicants are backed up due to the bureaucracies in place, as often is the case
in any bureaucratic environment.

The Body Shop has successfully combined the two traditional management views one
of which is the omnipotent view. That is the view that management must take
charge as in the executive rule of accountability and direct responsibility. She
as coordinating manager of Management and The Body Shop

The Body Shop has total control over the propaganda and merchandise to be
displayed and sold within all the shops that carry the name, The Body Shop.

AS well as maintaining the omnipotent role she has synthesized with the symbolic
views that her management is has only a limited affect on the individual sales
of each separate store. Anita has faith in her franchise owners that they will
maintain the integrity of the name and conduct business according to the
philosophy determined at the beginning of development and traditions of the
original store. In keeping with the symbolic views of management owners are
encouraged to create systems that make the employees feel more important and
effective. Such systems include day cares for employees with children and even
paid hours of work for local charities and community projects.

Anita does keep abreast of the changing attitudes and social conditions of each
culture that effects individual store around the world. Through addressing
globally sensitive environmental concerns in each store and by management
training programs Anita alone has kept the public image of The Body Shop one of
a socially responsive and socially responsible Management and The Body Shop

company. This has proven to be a very successful style of managerial ethics
within her employees rank and also with her customers needed and wants. The Save
The Whales campaign and her addressing AIDS has been only a couple examples of
the company philosophy and ethical position. These are areas wherein all major
transnational and multinational companies could make notes on the programs of
The Body Shop.

The Body Shop operates in my opinion, as a multinational company only because
the major changes are dictated from England and Anita Roddick has control of
each promotion and product that each store carries. All the bureaucratic systems
are formed to send information and data respecting new owner applications and
informational material directly to Anita Roddick herself and she operates in
England and makes decisions from that one country.

This form of company relies heavily on accurate transfer of communication which
has so far in this case proven effective. Who knows were the future will take
this organization but it seems to be always one step ahead of change. Management
and The Body Shop

Through Anita's passion and her belief that business can be fun, it can be
conducted with love and can be a powerful force for good, she had already had
the basic fundamentals of today's business ethics. Working within today's
rapidly changing business environments, it takes passion and ingenuity to stay
competitive.

When dealing with other countries in trade, The Body Shop has broken new ground
above and beyond the trade agreements established by governments such as:
N.A.F.T.A., U.S. - Canada free trade, and the maquiladoras of Mexico. Anita used
her belief that trade not aid is the positive solution to economic hardships in
the developing world. For instance, she pays above average wages to orphaned
boys and girls to make custom footrollers in India. This is only one example of
thousands that she has specially designed trade agreements with improved
countries.

The Body Shop is also on the Internet now. In today's shrinking global community,
is it essential to be available to whoever needs your services. By having The
Body Shop on the Internet, it gives access to anyone on earth to share their
products, services and ideas. I have looked through Management and The Body Shop

the Body Shop website and have printed out a few examples of what they have
there. The first page is the Body Shop Home Page. You can go to their "Ban
against animal testing", products, Skin Care, and News sections just by clicking
on the appropriate picture. The second page is when I clicked on the NEWS button
on the Home Page. They issue articles suck as this one whenever they need to
keep the public aware of what they are doing, which is a great idea. The final
two pages I have included are very interesting and handy. They have a build in
Store Locator. You first select which country you want to go to, and then in
applicable, your province or state. I have printed the locations for Canada - BC.
If interested, the Body Shop Web Site can be located at:

http://www.the-body-shop.com/contents.html

In conclusion, The Body Shop has a very effective style of management with Anita
Roddick still in control of the planning, leading, organizing, and making
decisions for all the franchise stores. The general management views and culture
are responsive to the needs of their employees and their customers. The Body
Shop is a multinational company that is a pioneer in the foreign trade
department.

Bibliography

Stephen P. Robbins and Robbin Stuart-Kotze
Management Canadian Fourth Edition (Prentice - Hall INC., ONT., 1994) pg.
15-142

Keegan, Moriarty, Duncan, Paliwoda
Marketing Candian Edition (Prentice - Hall INC., ONT., 1995) pg.
738-48

William G. Nickels, James M. McHugh, Susan M. McHugh, Paul D. Berman
Understanding Canadian Business (Richard D. Irwin, INC., 1994) pg. 199-
411

Dr. Kent E. Curran [kecurran@unccvm.uncc.edu]
MGMT 3140 - Management Concepts and Practices (http://unccvm.uncc.edu/~
~kecurran/lect-02.htm; August 25, 1996.)