CORPORATE STRATEGY
EXECUTIVE ANALYSIS
THE BODY SHOP

The following analysis investigates how the organization assesses its own business whilst taking into account its different key stakeholders and their various interests and expectations by looking deep into a case study of The Body Shop. On the final note, it will determine what learning benefit the case of The Body Shop provides as well as whether its principles can apply to other situations.

Introduction: The Body Shop
In 1976, The Body Shop was established in Brighton by Dame Anita Roddick. The Body Shop International now has over 2,900 stores across 63 markets with a range of over 1200 products. The Body Shop story is not only of an eminently successful market-oriented manufacturer and retailer of toiletries and cosmetics. Like its founder, the whole organization is committed to issues such as respect for human rights, animal and environmental protection. The organization has arranged and supported national and international campaigns on animal testing in the cosmetic industry and women’s rights. All business organizations need to make a profit to survive but the emphasis at The Body Shop is on profit with a wider social responsibility.
The Body Shop Mission Statement * “Dedicate our business to the pursuit of social and environmental change. * Creatively balance the financial and human needs of our stakeholders employees, franchisees, customers, suppliers and shareholders. * Courageously ensure that our business is ecologically sustainable, meeting the needs of the present without compromising the future. * Meaningfully contribute to local, national and international communities in which we trade, by adopting a code of conduct, which ensures care, honesty, fairness and respect. * Passionately campaign for the protection of the environment, human and civil rights and against animal testing within the cosmetics and toiletries industry. * Tirelessly work to narrow the gap between principle and practice, whilst making fun, passion and care part of our daily lives.”
The Body Shop Five Core Values
In order to make sure that the business continues to live by the mission statement, The Body Shop created five core values. These values act as a practical guide to decisions making at all levels of the company. * Defend human rights. * Support community fair trade. * Protect our planet. * Against animal testing. * Activate self esteem
Stakeholder’s interests
Traditional economic theory suggests that the primary reason for a company’s existence is to expand its profitable business. Assessing the company’s performance becomes simply a question of comparing profit levels with forecasts and targets. The owners’ prime objective is to maximize their wealth. However, expectations of stakeholders for The Body Shop are greater as the company is communicating strongly through its value. * Employees
The employees’ aspirations include job security and diversity, a fair income, promotion and training opportunities. Workers’ rights, including a safe, healthy working atmosphere, fair wage rates and no discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, creed or sexual orientation. * Franchisees
The Body Shop is a multi-local business, built on franchising. Around haft of 2900 stores it fully owns, the other half are run by its franchise partners. This has allowed the phenomenal growth rates of the firm over the last 21 years. Franchisees have the benefit of an easily recognized, proven product and brand name, guaranteed supplies, training and advice and the use of the company livery. Franchisees own their businesses and are dependent on them for income. This will, therefore, The Body Shop business are determined that its franchisees are commercially and ethically successful. * Customers
Customer care therefore has become a crucial part of the trading policy. The Body Shop customers demand not only for trustworthy brand at reasonable price, but also recognize the need for environmental responsibility. It has been shown in the marker research of The Body Shop in 2011 that 83% of its loyal customers are more likely to choose retailers that take social and environmental issues seriously and 64% are prepared to pay more for an ethical product. Moreover, 75% of its regular customers believe it is important to a retailer to have a clear position on current issues such as responsible sourcing and human rights. It means that all interests and expectation of its customers have been successfully expressed in core values statement of The Body Shop. * Suppliers
The Body Shop has hundreds of suppliers, all of whom have their own stakeholders to satisfy. Suppliers expect for predictable demand and long-term relationship with the company.

* Shareholders
The Body Shop is a Public Limited Company and its shareholders are the legal owners. Individuals and institutions buy shares in order to make a return on their investment. Although shareholders may recognize the importance of social and environmental issues, the share price remains important.
How the value activities of The Body Shop satisfy the interests and expectations of key stakeholders? * No 1 value commitment: ACTIVATE SELF ESTEEM
For the Body Shop, activating self-esteem means running a business that makes people who encounter in the company feel good about themselves. It’s the reasons for the company to run The Body Shop Foundation which is the charitable arm of the body shop international, funding innovative global projects that are working for social and environmental change. The foundation began in 1989 in order to support small charities and projects focusing on unconventional issues that struggle to get access to traditional funding such
as Village Water, the Foundation for Women’s Health Research and Development (FORWARD), and the Environmental Investigation Agency. Most remarkably, campaign to stop sex trafficking of children and young people from September 2009 to march 2012 which raised around £1.8million for End Child Prostitution and Trafficking International and their global network through sales of the “Soft Hands Kind Heart”
 hand cream. * No 2 Value Commitment: AGAINST ANIMAL TESTING
Believing in a humane approach to cosmetics safety, The Body Shop guarantee that none of products are tested on animals and that ingredients come only from suppliers who do not test their ingredients on animals for any cosmetic purpose. Moreover, for two years cruelty free international, supported by
 the body shop has been campaigning for a global ban on animal testing in cosmetics. Thanks to customer’s support a great deal has been achieved: * On 11th March 2013, the European Union banned the sale and import of animal tested products and ingredients, ensuring repercussions around the world. * In October 2013, Cruelty Free International received one million signatures from
The Body Shop customers and presented them to the regulators of cosmetic products in Southeast Asia, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), generating debate and the potential for change. * No 3 Value Commitment: COMMUNITY FAIR TRADE
Community Fair Trade (CFT) is The Body Shop’s own independently verified fair trade program. It launched in 1987 on the premise that ‘trade not aid’, could best help marginalised communities improve their lives and alleviate poverty.
It is still our commitment to trade fairly with our suppliers. The Body shop buy the finest ingredients and handcrafts directly from small-scale producers around the world and in exchange, the company offer them good trading practices and fair pricing.
By 2013, CFT program was working with 25 suppliers in 21 countries and directly helping to support 25000 workers and benefiting 320000 members of their wider communities. In 2013, the Body Shop spent over 9milion pounds on CFT ingredients, gifts and accessories with over 90% of products containing at least 1 community fair trade ingredient.

* No 4 Value commitment: DEFEND HUMAN RIGHT
The Body Shop has worked to promote and defend human rights ever since the company started out three decades ago. In 2011, The Body Shop developed an ethical trade strategy with five steps for improving our own staff and suppliers’
working conditions:
1. EXPANDING THE BOUNDARIES: Reaching more of our own workers, such as transport and temporary warehouse staff, and other workers across the supply chain.
2. IMPROVING THE PROCESS: Ensuring our monitoring process provides an accurate picture of the conditions of our supply chain and ensuring workers have a voice, by developing participatory methods for collecting information.
3. MOVING BEYOND MONITORING: Developing capacity-building programs to address employment issues that suppliers are struggling to resolve.
4. SPREADING THE WORD
: Publishing dedicated Ethical Trade pages on our website with guidance for suppliers; organizing events such as Chinese Ethical Trade Supplier Day; improving supplier communication; and training.
5. WALKING THE TALK: 
Ensuring that we achieve external verification of our standards by the independent Institute of Market Ecology (IMO). * No 5 Value Commitment: PROTECT THE PLANET
The Body Shop was an early pioneer in green, ethical business and it still has strong environmental credentials to back up its reputation. However, the company is never complacent, and constantly explores ways to reduce our carbon footprint.
The company tries to reduce CO2 emissions including emissions from electricity, gas and diesel consumption, transporting product from distribution centres to stores, and business travel. Freight movements contribute to CO2 emissions, so increasingly the company is manufacturing our products locally. The company has moved a sizable amount of production to Asia, and it is also planning to open a distribution center there. Both initiatives will help to reduce the distance our products need to travel to reach customers in that part of the world. Also, The Body Shop reduces the emissions from business travel by encouraging video-conferencing, and by choosing company cars with low emission levels. * In additional, having many solutions to reduce electricity consumption because it's a key contributor to CO2 emissions such as installing wind turbine and solar panel system. * The company is constantly seeking to minimize the amount of packaging they use to transport their products to stores. In 2010 they eliminated six per cent of transport packaging through careful review and engineering. They're also increasing the amount of recyclate we use in product and transport packaging.
Last but not least, the company creates wildlife areas at all corporate sites as they believes it can lead the way in improving biodiversity on corporate sites.
Conclusion
As reviewing the company mission and value statement and analyzing its value activities, it is obvious to see that The Body Shop values and their stakeholder’s need are matched well. Moreover, it is necessary for an organization to commit with their values, work and live with their value everyday to prevent conflict between different stakeholders.