Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Type
Private
Industry
Direct selling
Founded
1959
Founder(s)
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Amway Home, glister, G&H, Nutrilite, Products Artistry, AmwayQueen, eSpring, ATMOSPHERE... US$ 10.9 billion (2011)[1]
Revenue
Employees
20,000[2]
Parent
Alticor
Website
Amway.com
Headquarters in Ada, Michigan Amway is an American multinational direct-selling company that uses multi-level marketing to sell a variety of products, primarily in the health, beauty, and home care markets.[3][4][5] Amway was founded in 1959 by Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos. Based in Ada, Michigan, the company and family of companies under Alticor reported sales growth of 9.5%, reaching US$9.2 billion for the year ending December 31, 2010.[needs update][1] Its product lines include home care products, personal care products, jewelry, electronics, Nutrilite dietary supplements, water purifiers, air purifiers, insurance and cosmetics. Amway conducts business through a number of affiliated companies in more than a hundred countries and territories around the world.[6][dead link] Amway was ranked No.114 among the largest global retailers by Deloitte in 2006, and No.39, 32 and 28 among the largest private companies in the U.S. by Forbes in 2009, 2010 and 2011 respectively.[7]
Contents
[hide]
1 History o 1.1 Founding o 1.2 International expansion o 1.3 Quixtar 2 Global markets o 2.1 Amway Australia o 2.2 Amway China 3 Brands o 3.1 Household cleaners o 3.2 Health and beauty 3.2.1 Artistry o 3.3 Nutrilite o 3.4 eSpring o 3.5 Atmosphere 4 Ditto Delivery 5 Business model
6 Commercial sponsorships o 6.1 Orlando Arena naming rights o 6.2 San Jose Earthquakes o 6.3 Los Angeles Sol o 6.4 Detroit Red Wings 7 Politics and culture o 7.1 Political causes o 7.2 Religion o 7.3 Chamber of Commerce o 7.4 Environmental initiatives 8 Controversy o 8.1 Pyramid scheme accusations 8.1.1 FTC investigation 8.1.2 Amway India (Andhra Pradesh and Kerala) 8.1.3 Class action settlement o 8.2 Canadian tax case o 8.3 RIAA lawsuit o 8.4 Procter & Gamble o 8.5 Amway UK o 8.6 Welcome to Life (Poland) o 8.7 Dr. Phil and Shape Up o 8.8 Dateline NBC o 8.9 Other issues 9 See also 10 References 11 Books 12 Documentaries 13 External links o 13.1 Government documents o 13.2 Profiles
[edit] History
[edit] Founding
Amway Japan Head Office. Amway Vietnam (H Ch Minh since 2008). Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos, friends since school days, had been business partners in various endeavors including a hamburger stand, air charter service, and a sailing business. In 1949 they were introduced by Neil Maaskant (Van Andel's second cousin) to the Nutrilite Products Corporation. Nutrilite was a California-based direct sales company founded by Dr. Carl Rehnborg, developer of the first multivitamin marketed in the United States. In August 1949, after a night-long talk, DeVos and Van Andel signed up to become distributors for Nutrilite food supplements.[8][page needed] They sold their first box the next day for $19.50, but lost interest for the next two weeks. Shortly thereafter, at the urging of Maaskant, who had become their sponsor, they traveled to Chicago to attend a Nutrilite seminar. The meeting was at a downtown hotel, with over a hundred people in attendance. After seeing promotional filmstrips and listening to talks by company representatives and successful distributors, they decided to pursue the Nutrilite business opportunity with enthusiasm. They sold their second box of supplements on their return trip to Michigan, and rapidly proceeded to develop their new business further.[8][page needed] In 1949, DeVos and Van Andel had formed Ja-Ri Corporation (abbreviated from their respective first names) for importing wooden goods from South American countries. After their trip to the Nutrilite seminar, they dropped[clarification needed] this business and Ja-Ri became their Nutrilite distributorship.[9] In addition to profits on each product sold, Nutrilite also offered commission on the sales of products by new distributors introduced to the company by existing distributorsa system today known as multi-level marketing or network marketing. By 1958, DeVos and Van Andel had built an organization of over 5,000 distributors. However, following concerns about the stability of Nutrilite, in April 1959 they and some of their top distributors formed The American Way Association to represent the distributors and look for additional products to market.[10] Their first product was called Frisk, a concentrated organic cleaner developed by a scientist in Ohio. DeVos and Van Andel bought the rights to manufacture and distribute Frisk, and later changed the name to LOC (Liquid Organic Concentrate).[11] They subsequently formed Amway Sales Corporation to procure and inventory products and to handle the sales and marketing plan, and Amway Services Corporation to handle insurance and other benefits for distributors (Amway
being an abbreviation of "American Way").[12] In 1960 they purchased a 50% share in Atco Manufacturing Company in Detroit, the original manufacturers of LOC, and changed its name to Amway Manufacturing Corporation.[13] In 1964 the Amway Sales Corporation, Amway Services Corporation, and Amway Manufacturing Corporation merged to form a single entity, Amway Corporation[14] Amway bought control of Nutrilite in 1972 and full ownership in 1994.[15]
[edit] Quixtar
Main article: Amway Global In 1999 the founders of the Amway corporation established a new holding company, named Alticor, and launched three new companies: a sister (and separate) Internet-focused company named Quixtar, Access Business Group, and Pyxis Innovations. Pyxis, later replaced by Fulton Innovation, pursued research and development and Access Business Group handled manufacturing and logistics for Amway, Quixtar, and third party clients.[16] The main difference was that all "Independent Business Owners" (IBO) could order directly from Amway on the Internet, rather than from their upline "direct distributor," and have products shipped directly to their home. The Amway name continued being used in the rest of the world. After virtually all Amway distributors in North America switched to Quixtar, Alticor elected to close Amway North America after 2001. In June 2007 it was announced that the Quixtar brand would be phased out over an 18 to 24 month period in favor of a unified Amway brand (Amway Global) worldwide. In 2006, Quixtar published The Quixtar Independent Business Owner Compensation Plan, in which the company reported that the average monthly gross income for "Active" IBOs was $115.[17]
[edit] Brands
Amway's product line grew from LOC, with the laundry detergent SA8 added in 1960, and later the hair care product Satinique (1965) and the cosmetics line Artistry (1968). Today Amway manufactures over 450 products, with manufacturing facilities in China, India and the United States, as well as Nutrilite organic farms in Brazil, Mexico and the United States (California and Washington State). Amway brands include: Artistry, Atmosphere, Body Blends, Body Works, Clear Now, eSpring, Fulton Street, Glister, iCook, Kahve, Legacy of Clean, Nutrilite, Peter Island, Perfect Empowered Drinking Water, Personal Accents, Ribbon, Satinique, Tolsom, XS, and Zsenso
Amway's health and beauty brands include Artistry, Beautycycle, Time Defiance, Artistry Essentials, Pure White, Satinique, Tolsom, Body Series, Glister, Moiskin (South America),[29] Nutrilite, Nutriway (Scandinavia and Australia/New Zealand), eSpring, Attitude (India), Atmosphere and iCook as well as XL and XS Energy drinks. [edit] Artistry Main article: Artistry (cosmetics) Amway's Artistry products include skin care, cosmetics, and anti-aging creams and serums.
[edit] Nutrilite
Main article: Nutrilite Amway's largest selling brand is the Nutrilite range of health supplements (marketed as Nutriway in some countries), and in 2008 Nutrilite sales exceeded US$3billion globally.[30] In 2001, five Nutrilite products were the first dietary supplements to be certified by NSF International.[31] Surveys by independent group Consumerlab.com since 2002 have rated Nutrilite as having the highest customer satisfaction rating (96% in 2006) in the direct selling/MLM brand category.[32][33] In 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 in the nutrient and health food category, Nutrilite won "Platinum" and "Gold" awards in Malaysia, China, Taiwan, Thailand, and Asia overall in the Reader's Digest "Trusted Brands of Asia" survey.[34] In 2008 Nutrilite scientists, in partnership with Alticor subsidiary Interleukin Genetics won the 12th John M. Kinney Award for Nutrition and Metabolism for their research into the interaction between nutrition and genetics.[35] In January 2009, Amway announced a voluntary recall of Nutrilite and XS Energy Bars after learning that they had possibly been manufactured with Salmonellacontaminated ingredients from Peanut Corporation of America. The company indicated that it had not received any reports of illness in connection with the products.[36]
[edit] eSpring
Amway's eSpring water filter, introduced in 2000, was the first home water treatment system to incorporate a carbon block filter and Ultraviolet disinfection unit, becoming the first home system to achieve certification for ANSI/NSF Standards 42, 53 and 55.[37] The unit was also the first commercial product to include sister company Fulton Innovations eCoupled wireless power induction technology. Fulton Innovation introduced the technology in other consumer electronic products at the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show. Companies licensing this technology include General Motors, Motorola and Visteon.[38][39] In 2006 eSpring was named Product of the Year by the Poland-based non-profit World Foundation of Health, Heart and Mind.[40] eSpring has won numerous Gold and Platinum awards in the Reader's Digest Most Trusted Brand Asia surveys.[41]
[edit] Atmosphere
In 2008 Amway's Atmosphere Air Purifier became the first air cleaner certified Asthma and Allergy Friendly by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.[42][43]
In a column published in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram newspaper in August 1997,[54] reporter Molly Ivins wrote that Amway had "its own caucus in Congress...Five Republican House members are also Amway distributors: Reps. Sue Myrick of North Carolina, Jon Christensen of Nebraska, Dick Chrysler of Michigan, Richard Rombo of California, and John Ensign of Nevada. Their informal caucus meets several times a year with Amway bigwigs to discuss policy matters affecting the company, including China's trade status."[55] A 1998 analysis of campaign contributions conducted by Businessweek found that Amway, along with the founding families and some top distributors, had donated at least $7 million to GOP causes in the preceding decade.[53] Political candidates who received campaign funding from Amway in 1998 included Representatives Bill Redmond (R-N.M.), Heather Wilson (RN.M.), and Jon Christensen (R-Neb).[51] According to a report by the Center for Public Integrity, in the 2004 election cycle, members of the Van Andel and DeVos families were the second, third and fifth largest donors to the Republican party.[55] Dick DeVos, son of Amway founder Richard DeVos and past president of the company, served as Finance Chairman of the Republican National Committee,[56] and his wife Betsy DeVos served as chair of the Michigan Republican Party from 1996 to 2000 and 2003 to 2005.[57] In May 2005, Dick DeVos ran against incumbent Governor Jennifer Granholm in Michigan's 2006 gubernatorial election. DeVos was defeated by Granholm, who won 56% of the popular vote to Devos' 42%.[58] In August 2012, gay rights activist Fred Karger began a movement to boycott Amway in protest of the contribution from a private foundation of Amway President Doug Devos to the National Organization for Marriage, a political organization which opposes legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States.[59]
[edit] Religion
Several sources have commented on the promotion of Christian conservative ideology within the Amway organization.[51][60][61][62] Mother Jones magazine described the Amway distributor force as "heavily influenced by the company's dual themes of Christian morality and free enterprise" and operating "like a private political army."[51] In The Cult of Free Enterprise, author (and former Amway distributor) Stephen Butterfield wrote [Amway] sells a marketing and motivational system, a cause, a way of life, in a fervid emotional atmosphere of rallies and political religious revivalism.[60] Philadelphia City Paper correspondent Maryam Henein stated that The language used in motivational tools for Amway frequently echoes or directly quotes the Bible, with the unstated assumption of a shared Christian perspective.[61] Businessweek correspondents Bill Vlasic and Beth Regan characterized the founding families of Amway as fervently conservative, fervently Christian, and hugely influential in the Republican Party, noting that Rich DeVos charged up the troops with a message of Christian beliefs and rock-ribbed conservatism.[53]
High-ranking Amway leaders such as Richard DeVos and Dexter Yager were owners and members of the board of Gospel Films, a producer of movies and books geared towards conservative Christians, as well as co-owners (along with Salem Communications) of a rightwing, Christian non-profit entity called Gospel Communications International.[51][61][63][64][65] Rolling Stone's Bob Moser reported that former Amway CEO and co-founder Richard DeVos is connected with the Dominionist political movement in the United States. Moser states that DeVos was a supporter of the late D. James Kennedy, giving more than $5 million to Kennedy's Coral Ridge Ministries.[66][67][67] DeVos was also a founding member and two-time president of the Council for National Policy, a right-wing Christian-focused organization.[68] Sociologist David G. Bromley calls Amway a "quasi-religious corporation" having sectarian characteristics.[69][70] Bromley and Anson Shupe view Amway as preaching the Gospel of Prosperity.[71] Patralekha Bhattacharya and Krishna Kumar Mehta, of the consulting firm Thinkalytics, LLC, reasoned that although some critics have referred to organizations such as Amway as "cults" and have speculated that they engage in "mind control", there are other explanations that could account for the behavior of distributors. Namely, continued involvement of distributors despite minimal economic return may result from social satisfaction compensating for diminished economic satisfaction.[72]
[edit] Controversy
[edit] Pyramid scheme accusations
Amway has several times been accused of being a pyramid scheme. Harvard Business School of Leadership, which described Amway as one of the most profitable direct selling companies in the world", noted that Amway founders Van Andel and DeVos: "...accomplished their success through the use of an elaborate pyramid-like distribution system in which independent distributors of Amway products received a percentage of the merchandise they sold and also a percentage of the merchandise sold by recruited
distributors. DeVos was an extremely charismatic speaker and used this ability to mobilize and motivate Amway distributors."[75] DeVos responded to the pyramid scheme accusations about Amway in a 2009 interview with Grand Rapids Press reporter Chris Knape.[76] Knape: "Amway has been accused of being a pyramid scheme, of tax evasion and a host of other things. How much of the problems Amway has had over the years can you attribute to the decisions that you made or Jay Van Andel made?" DeVos: "We failed to come down hard enough, quick enough, to stamp that sort of thing out. That was a sin of omission. We failed to discipline the organization." [edit] FTC investigation Main article: In re Amway Corp. In a 1979 ruling,[14][77] the Federal Trade Commission found that Amway does not qualify as a pyramid scheme because distributors were not paid to recruit people and had to sell products to get bonus checks, and the company was committed to buying back its distributors' excess inventory.[78] The FTC did, however, find Amway "guilty of price-fixing and making exaggerated income claims";[79] the company was ordered to stop retail price fixing and allocating customers among distributors and was prohibited from misrepresenting the amount of profit, earnings or sales its distributors are likely to achieve with the business. Amway was ordered to accompany any such statements with the actual averages per distributor, pointing out that more than half of the distributors do not make any money, with the average distributor making less than $100 per month. The order was violated with a 1986 ad campaign, resulting in a $100,000 fine.[80][81] [edit] Amway India (Andhra Pradesh and Kerala) In September 2006, following a public complaint, Andhra Pradesh state police (CID) initiated raids and seizures against Amway distributors in the state, and submitted a petition against them, claiming the company violated the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (banning) Act.[82] They shut down all offices of firm Amway. The enforcement said that the business model of the company is illegal.[83][84] The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had notified the police that Amway in India may be violating certain laws regarding a "money circulation scheme" and the IB Times article writes that "some say ... Amway is really more about making money from recruiting people to become distributors, as opposed to selling products."[84] The complaint was initiated following a dowry dispute between a local man and his wife, an Amway distributor.[85] Following a petition by Amway, the state High Court issued an injunction against the CID and stated the Act did not prima facie apply,[86] however after Amway requested the CID petition be dismissed the High Court declared that if police allegations were true, Amway's Indian subsidiary would be in violation of the act and the investigation should continue. On August 14, 2007, the Supreme Court of India ordered the state police to complete the investigation against
Amway in 6 months.[87] In 2008, citing the High Court decision, the Andhra Pradesh state government enacted a ban on Amway media advertisements.[82] Amway challenged the ban and in July 2009 the AP High Court refused a petition the ban should be enforced.[88] As of June, 2009 the original 2006 CID case was still pending at the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Hyderabad.[89] On August 6, 2011 Kerala Police sealed the offices of Amway at Kozhikode, Kannur, Kochi, Kottayam, Thrissur, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram following complaints.[90][91][92] Amway stated that "it had been receiving complaints from distributors over the past one month that they were being called to police stations and being 'harrassed' to give complaints against the company". The distributors faced tough time because of the lack of proactive steps and slow actions from the company management. The Kerala High Court on November 9 directed the DGP, Kerala Police to file a statement regarding the status of the investigation initiated against the multi-level marketing companies.A Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice C N Ramachandran Nair issued the directive while considering a petition challenging the government order regarding the Kerala direct selling regulations.[93] [edit] Class action settlement On November 3, 2010, Amway announced that it had agreed to pay $56 million $34 million in cash and $22 million in products to settle a class action that had been filed in Federal District Court in California in 2007.[94] The class action, which had been brought against Quixtar and several of its top-level distributors, alleged fraud, racketeering, and that the defendants operated as an illegal pyramid scheme. While noting that the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing or liability, Amway acknowledged that it had made changes to its business operations as a result of the lawsuit. The settlement is subject to approval by the court, which is expected in early 2011.[95] The economic value of the settlement, including the changes Amway made to its business model, totals $100 million.[96]
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), as part of its anti-piracy efforts, sued Amway and several distributors in 1996, alleging that copyrighted music was used on "highly profitable" training videotapes.[100] Amway denied wrongdoing, blaming the case on a misunderstanding by distributors, and settled the case out of court for $9 million.[101] In a related lawsuit initiated by the distributors involved, the Court established that Mahaleel Lee Luster, who had been contracted to make the videotapes, had violated copyright without the knowledge of three of the five of those distributors.[102]
[edit] Amway UK
In May 2007, the UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) accused Amway and distributor organizations Britt WorldWide and Network TwentyOne UK of "objectionable practices" and petitioned to wind up the companies.[109] The case against Amway was dismissed in 2008[110] on the condition that a full earnings disclosure is published publicly, no registration or renewal fees are charged and that the sale of business support materials are prohibited. The case against Network 21 was dismissed in 2009.[111]
In 2001 a regional court ruled in favor of Network 21; however, in 2004 the Warsaw Regional Court dismissed Amway's civil lawsuit. On appeal Amway won the case and the producers were ordered to pay a fine to a children's charity and publish a public apology.[116][117] As of 2009 the film was still banned due to an ongoing case brought by "private individuals" ridiculed in the film.[118]