Successful women in business: the case of Avon in South Africa

Women’s empowerment is proven to benefit society and business. Susan Heaney gives one clear example of this with Avon in South Africa.

Corporate responsibility (CR) is a term applied to a wide range of endeavors, as varied as the companies and sectors that focus on the concept.  Across all, important for success is the integration of CR within the enterprise.  CR cannot be “an island off the coast of the business.”

This may simply require viewing what the company already does through a new lens and recognizing- and maximizing- the inherent positive impact.  At Avon Products, Inc. our CR includes three pillars: empowering women, philanthropy and sustainability.  Through our philanthropy we are global leaders for the causes of breast cancer and violence against women, and our sustainability efforts are driving greater environmental focus worldwide, but our advancement of women starts right at our core.

Since 1886, when the company was founded, Avon has been built on direct selling- one person selling products through a personal network. From the start, Avon’s direct sellers were women, providing them with accessible economic opportunity where little or none existed.

Fast forward to 2012. In more than 100 countries, Avon remains committed to being “the company for women,” and the vast majority of the more than six million independent Avon Sales Representatives are women.  Our business model and commitment to women are two sides of the same coin.  And the need remains great.

Despite progress, women still fall behind men financially, and current economic and political upheaval are especially difficult for vulnerable populations, including women. According to UN Women, “women bear a disproportionate burden of the world’s poverty… because of the systematic discrimination they face in education, health care, employment and control of assets… According to some estimates, women represent 70%of the world’s poor.”

One small part of the solution:  the Avon opportunity.  A three-year research study from the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, led by Professor Linda Scott and Dr. Catherine Dolan, focused on South African women working as Avon Sales Representatives.  The title of the study, which was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in the UK, says it all:  Avon in Africa: Reducing Poverty Through Global Exchange.  By the model of our business and a deep commitment to women, Avon is making it possible for South African women to escape the cycle of poverty.

The study found that three quarters of the Avon Sales Representatives achieved financial autonomy through Avon, and they ranked in the top half of black females in their community for income and had earnings on par with male peers. Just as meaningful, 90% of the Sales Representatives said they learned skills from Avon that could be transferred to other opportunities, including business and social skills, increased confidence and the respect of family members and the community.

Similar stories can be told in Asia, Europe, North and South America. On any given day, Avon extends $1 billion in credit to Sales Representatives, including women from every demographic- from corporate executives to first-time entrepreneurs. The Oxford study’s co-researcher, Dr. Catherine Dolan, noted that “in the past, many have viewed the global marketplace as hostile to women’s interests, but the example of Avon in South Africa shows this need not be the case.”

More companies are finding the “sweet spot” where their business already intersects with CR, whether for the benefit of people or the planet, or both.  Avon is fortunate that CR is imbedded in our business.

Susan Arnot Heaney is Executive Director, Corporate Responsibility at Avon based in New York.