Every year tens of thousands of Amway distributors earn trips as part of our incentive programs, which combine business and reward for our top sellers.
As a global company operating in more than 80 countries and territories, we’ve hosted incentive trips everywhere from Africa to the Virgin Islands.
This month Amway distributors from Thailand visited Perth, Australia, for an incentive trip. Last fall Australian distributors traveled to Tokyo for an event. And Amway Japan’s distributors visited Bangkok a few years ago.
These trips not only provide an exciting and valuable reward for our distributors, they also boost local economies. The trips, ranging in size from hundreds to thousands of distributors, translate to millions of dollars, yen, and baht in spending in host cities for everything from hotel rooms to transportation.
It’s all part of a world of recognition for Amway distributors.
Cleaning agents are substances used to remove dirt. Change agents cause or accelerate change.
In Singapore, a couple of Amway products are doing both.
From now through 2012, Amway Singapore will donate a portion of sales for every purchase of L.O.C. Multi-Purpose Cleaner and SA8 Premium Laundry Concentrate to the Singapore Children’s Society. The funds will be used to bring music, drama, math and computer curriculum to disadvantaged children, allowing them to acquire or enhance skills and discover their own interests and talents.
The mission of the Singapore Children’s Society is to bring relief and happiness to children, youth and families in need. The organization is a true change agent for the 46,000 children it serves each year.
Every team needs an advantage over the competition.
For the players of AC Milan, one such advantage is MilanLab, an interdisciplinary research center dedicated to preventing injury and optimizing the performance of team members.
Since 2008, Nutrilite has been the institutional sponsor and official dietary supplement brand of AC Milan and has worked with MilanLab to create individual nutritional profiles and recommendations for players. It’s all part of a philosophy of creating a personalized program for each player to help them achieve optimal health and performance.
Last week MilanLab invited international media to learn how Nutrilite has been a part of the center’s efforts. MilanLab’s Daniele Tognaccini talked about how “Nutrilite perfectly met our need” as a partner in the centre’s work. Team Nutrilite spokesperson and AC Milan star Ronaldinho shared how important what MilanLab and Nutrilite is doing to improve the health and well being of athletes and people from all walks of life.
That’s in addition to helping provide a competitive advantage for the world’s most successful soccer team.
Our business is about recognizing the achievement of others - notably those of our distributors. We’re used to doing the recognizing rather than being recognized.
So when Amway affiliates around the world are recognized by their industries, communities, governments and partners, we’re always proud of their hard work to do the right thing.
Here are just a few of our affiliates who have been recently recognized in their markets for everything from helping children to setting quality standards:
Amway China was recognized by the All-China Women’s Federation and China Children and Teenager’s Fund for its One by One Campaign for Children efforts.
The Hong Kong Council of Social Service named Amway Hong Kong one of its top caring companies for cultivating corporate citizenship.
Amway Indonesia was recognized by the Children Oncology Foundation for its contributions to children’s well-being.
Amway Korea was given the Ministry of Health and Welfare award for work with under-fed children through the Seoul Association of Social Welfare Centers.
Amway Taiwan was awarded the Outstanding Foreign Firms Award from the General Chamber of Commerce for demonstrating excellent quality and values in corporate management.
Amway Thailand received the world’s first ISO 14001 certification for a direct selling company. ISO 14001 ensures quality control and environmental preservation throughout all business processes.
While our focus is on recognizing others, sometimes it’s nice to see the “recognizers” get a little recognition of their own.
The list is comprised of companies with the highest quality human resources initiatives in categories such as employee communication, community initiatives, compensation and benefits, diversity, employee development, retention and commitment to work-life balance.
On Thursday, May 6, winners in individual categories will be announced. We’ll be there, and it will be an honor to stand alongside 100 other companies that inspire, reward, challenge and strengthen West Michigan’s workforce.
Much has been written about sophisticated Japanese consumers and their legendary high standards.
Despite some shift in spending habits due to the economy, brand still matters in Japan, says John Parker, president of Amway Japan. John was one of three Japanese execs interviewed for a video about Japanese consumers just posted to McKinsey Quarterly.
“Consumers today don’t want to be told about a brand or product—they want to discover it. In fact, there’s a certain amount of cachet for a consumer that discovers a cool product or maybe a new or unknown brand and shares it with others,” says John. “And the digital form allows that to happen in a way that’s so much faster than in the past.”
The Japanese consumer is often online sharing their “finds” and opinions about brands—and listening to the views shared by others. Which means “heard it from a tomodachi” — a friend — carries heavy weight when it comes to building brands in Japan.
Two Amway talent development programs have been recognized by leading organizations for excellence and innovation.
LeAP (Leadership Acceleration Program) is an action-learning process that brings a select group of our top-performing execs from around the world together to tackle real business challenges. This program has been honored as an executive development learning leader by Bersin & Associates. And our Global Leadership Certificate Program, a partnership with Davenport University and Harvard Business Publishing, was cited as a best practice in corporate-academia partnership by Corporate University Xchange.
It’s well-deserved recognition for programs that are helping us grow our talented workforce by leaps and bounds.
Today our parent company announced annual sales for Amway and its sister companies, and it was another record year.
Alticor sales of US$8.4 billion for 2009 represent a 2.3 percent increase over 2008. We’ve posted sales increases nine out of the last 10 years, and our growth rate would have been higher if not for currency fluctuations. Without the negative currency impact, we would have grown nearly 6 percent. Our China, India, Southeast Asian and Korean affiliates posted strong sales and our reinvented Latin American affiliate grew more than 60 percent.
We believe a focus on innovation is what’s propelling our business forward. A big part of our strategy is reaching consumers where they are – whether through an iPhone app in the United States or sachets of shampoo in South Africa. Or launching new product lines to meet the needs of consumers, like beautycycle in Europe and Ertia in Latin America. We’re even bringing in new talent and expertise to help us grow.
These investments in transformation and innovation are paying off in increased sales and market share. And another record year.
Yesterday’s Amway Cup final match was a nail-biter, with Yu Ram Cha of Korea facing off against Taiwan’s Shu-Han Chang. In the end, Yu Ram Cha came from behind - way behind - to take home the 2010 Women’s 9-ball World Championship trophy.
Yu Ram’s nickname on the Women’s Professional Billards Association Tour is “Little Lightning”, and she says a “killer instinct” is her advantage when playing the game. In 2008, at age 21, she was named Billiards Digest’s ‘Breakthrough Player of the Year.’ At 22, she has placed as high as fifth in women’s world rankings.
It’s quite the list of accomplishments for this petite professional, and we hope to see her back next year - Amway’s fourteenth of sponsoring this stunning competition.
