Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Anita Roddick: A Different Kind of Business Leader

Love her or hate her, Body Shop founder Anita Roddick had an outsized effect on how many companies conduct business and on how many consumers view corporate power.

Much of her impact came from her way with an epigram. In person, on television, and in her many books—including her last, Business As Unusual: My Entrepreneurial Journey, Profits With Principles—she was a master of distilling her business philosophy to a pithy, memorable sound bite.

That sometimes came back to bite her, as critics scolded her for not living up to her well- and often-expressed business values. A decade ago, for example, one group asserted that so-called "fair trade" ingredients, a pillar of Roddick's "Trade Not Aid" philosophy, accounted for a tiny fraction of Body Shop's sales.



Full Article

No comments:

Google