Behaviors, Actions, and Communications of L’Oreal Rhetorical Essay

The global cosmetics market is on the verge of growth given that the planet will always call for beauty. Owing to the effects of urbanization, growth in GDP, and population growth, the populace with access to modern-day beauty cosmetics is augmenting immensely. L’Oreal is the leading international business vending beauty products¹. For many decades, the company has invented in beauty, offering all people with the best cosmetics².

It has not merely given people access to beauty but it has also endowed them with products that are in accord with their expectations, culture and requirements. In this context, L’Oreal’s actions, behaviors, and communications portray the true meaning of the company’s activity. Although the company’s performance is highly inclined toward fulfilling societal needs, some aspects call for improvement, a concern that this entry explores comprehensively.

L’Oreal’s performance pertaining to fulfilling the needs within society

Dedicating itself exclusively to the business of beauty, L’Oreal has made cosmetics the hub of its expertise and energy. L’Oreal’s mission is to proffer all people with cosmetics, which are superior in safety, efficacy, and quality³.

The company commits to utilizing its overall research and knowledge resources for the well-being of both women and men within the entire universe, regardless of their multiplicity. To attain this objective, it works toward meeting the vast range of beauty desires and needs. Equally, it embraces an inimitable research arm that facilitates its continual exploration of novel territories as well as invention of future products.

L’Oreal embraces both external and internal communication networks that enhance the company’s effectual relations with its consumers and stakeholders. The communication team endeavors at disseminating the company’s identity and image to the society since communication is a significant tool in building global images for brands⁴.

The brand communications panel ensures a coherent and steady brand image. Through communication, the society attains maximum exposure to L’Oreal’s products. Likewise, corporate communication keeps employees totally informed on the latest competitor news and industry trends.

Sustainability remains part of L’Oreal’s design process. L’Oreal is cautious of the impacts of its activities on the natural surroundings. Consequently, the company seeks to reduce these impacts. The company constantly focuses on supporting its local communities by trimming down its negative impacts on the environment. It progressively invents novel techniques of sustainable consumption; an aspect that Epstein emphasizes is effectual in environmental sustainability⁵.

To achieve this, L’Oreal has realized that it ought to enforce sustainability standards across its project portfolio. Therefore, being sensitive to biodiversity, L’Oreal observes sustainability throughout the life cycle of its products. It assesses the upshots of the ingredients, production, distribution, consumer use, and final disposal of the products⁶.

Indeed, a company’s sustainability is measured in terms of profitability, people, and planet⁷. In this milieu, L’Oreal has established that its ambition to increase its consumer base is attainable through a sustainable approach.

L’Oreal aims at respecting local customs, political systems, laws, and cultures within every society. The company’s fundamental rule is to respect the laws of every country within which it operates. L’Oreal shares its values with its business partners to ensure that these partners respect the regulations and laws of different societies. Likewise, L’Oreal devotes to conducting its activities in a way that is perceptive to the social and cultural traditions of the communities it meets.

For instance, it has portrayed devotion to respect of human rights. Its chief endeavor is to put an end to forced labor as well as children exploitation within the workplaces, and to stop animal testing within their industry. For instance, L’Oreal endeavors at collaborating with EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) in the pursuit of superior techniques of chemical testing to avert use of animals⁸.

L’Oreal is strongly committed to safety and social responsibility. Product quality and safety remains paramount at L’Oreal. The company has a special program that not only incites its suppliers to be responsible but also performs meticulous monitoring of their suppliers’ loyalty.

The prime aim is to aid suppliers in improving the safety standards plus the social and environmental performances. L’Oreal uses local suppliers whose commitment is in favor of societal minorities such as workers emerging from underprivileged communities and disabled workers.

To meet the needs and expectations of the consumers, L’Oreal embraces a diversified team⁹, which consents to greater creativity as well as enhanced understanding of the consumers. Furthermore, the unprejudiced facet of L’Oreal reflects in the company’s products. The diversity and harmonizing nature of the products portray the company’s dedication to developing well-being and beauty, whilst revering differences among individuals.

L’Oreal’s loyalty to diversity is broadly communicated internally via the code of ethics. As Means explicates, the code of ethics states how teams ought to treat their employees, members, or clients¹⁰ since it serves as a conscience whilst endowing team members with a universal ethical reference point¹¹. Hence, in this context, L’Oreal’s dedication to its consumer expectations is deeply ingrained in the company’s code of ethics.

Areas of Achievement

L’Oreal has portrayed immense achievement especially in the sector of sustainable development. The environmental policy has proven effectual in making significant advances in protecting the environment.

Equally, the health, environment, and safety policy has not only been effective in protecting the environment but also in improving health conditions and industrial safety. Similarly, L’Oreal’s achievement manifests in its loyalty to good corporate citizenship. The company has adopted doctrines allied to principles of labor, environment protection, and human rights.

Areas requiring Improvement

The management team at L’Oreal takes up a decentralized organizational structure. Specialist staff operating at the division level controls all the brand units¹². This structure deems it intricate to exercise power over the company. Similarly, it makes it difficult to synchronize activities from top management. Owing to this decentralization, co-ordination amongst departments has dwindled.

Accordingly, the company’s production is decelerating since there emerges a necessity to give reference to auxiliary board members within the company. Furthermore, L’Oreal encounters complexities in determining which division is responsible for the probable drawbacks of the company. As Kapferer asserts, the problem with decentralized organization is that most top managers do not perceive how brand decisions are different¹³. Consequently, all these pitfalls affect the company’s consumers, especially in meeting consumer demand.

Implications of the company’s actions on society and stakeholders

L’Oreal’s provision of access to beauty products has boosted individuals’ well-being. In this context, L’Oreal has marshaled its inventive strength, thus sustaining local communities as well as preserving the global beauty. Through enhancing superior performance as well as safe and quality products, L’Oreal has boosted its respect and allegiance to the consumers since routines that reduce risks enable firms increase their reputation¹⁴.

L’Oreal’s commitment to socially and environmentally responsible values has drawn thoughtful consumers to its products¹⁵. The company has earned consumer trust and has strengthened its brands reputation deeming it a leader in the field of beauty.

The diversified team within L’Oreal has enabled the company to generate products that correspond to the clients’ expectations. The unbiased team members have rebuffed practices and ideas of discrimination. Ultimately, L’Oreal has managed to generate an optimistic contribution to the present nations and societies by respecting local cultures.

Conclusion

L’Oreal has portrayed significant performance in the society. Its immense commitment in employee and consumer well-being, high esteem for human rights, biodiversity protection, fair trade, and environmental protection produces positive implications to the society.

Moreover, the company’s competence in developing sustainably and sensibly aims at meeting communal challenges along with augmenting environmental performance. Indeed, the company devotes to avoiding compromising the future for the sake of the present. Hence, L’Oreal observes keenly sustainable development, which is the principal driver for its responsible growth.

Bibliography

Assenmacher, Katja. The bodyshop-an analysis of the companys actions towards sustainability. Santa Cruz: GRIN Verlag, 2012.

Autorite des Marches Financiers. “L’Oreal 2011 registration document: annual financial report.” France, 2012. Web.

Colins, Denis. Essentials of business ethics: creating an organization of high integrity and superior performance. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2009.

Dringoli, Angelo. Corporate strategy and firm growth: creating value for shareholders. Massachusetts: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012.

Epstein, Marc. Making sustainability work: best practices in managing and measuring corporate social, environmental, and economic impacts. California: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2008.

Giudice, Manio Maria Peruta and Elias Carayannis. Knowledge and the family business: the governance and management of family firms in the new knowledge economy. Washington, DC: Springer, 2010.

Hopkins, Johns. “U.S. EPA L’Oreal announce research collaboration in San Francisco that may help end animal testing.” Bloomberg, 2012.

Kapferer, Jean-Noel. The new strategic brand management: advanced insights and strategic thinking. Philadelphia, PA: Kogan Page Publishers, 2012.

Means, Thomas. Business communication. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning, 2009.

Mooij, Marieke Global marketing and advertising: understanding cultural paradoxes. California: SAGE, 2009.

O’Lear, Shannon. Environmental politics: scale and power. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Project Management Institute. “The bottom line on sustainability”. Project Management Institute, Inc, 2011.

Sherrow, Victoria. Encyclopedia of hair: A cultural history. Westport: Greenwood Publishing, 2006.

Turner, Tyya. Vault guide to the top consumer products employers. Florida: Vault Inc., 2005.

Wustenhagen, Rolf. Sustainable innovation and entrepreneurship. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2008.

Footnotes

1. Victoria Sherrow, Encyclopedia of hair: A cultural history (Westport: Greenwood Publishing, 2006), 253.
2. Autorite des Marches Financiers, “L’Oreal 2011 registration document: annual financial report”. (France, 2012), PP. 5.
3. Manio Giudice, Maria Peruta and Elias Carayannis, Knowledge and the family business: the governance and management of family firms in the new knowledge economy (Washington, DC: Springer, 2010), 63.
4. Marieke Mooij, Global marketing and advertising: understanding cultural paradoxes (California: SAGE, 2009), 36.
5. Marc Epstein, Making sustainability work: best practices in managing and measuring corporate social, environmental, and economic impacts (California: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2008), 213.
6. Project Management Institute, “The bottom line on sustainability” (Project Management Institute, Inc, 2011), 2.
7. Katja Assenmacher, The bodyshop-an analysis of the company’s actions towards sustainability (Santa Cruz: GRIN Verlag, 2012), 17.
8. Johns Hopkins, “U.S. EPA L’Oreal announce research collaboration in San Francisco that may help end animal testing,” Bloomberg, 2012.
9. Tyya Turner, Vault guide to the top consumer products employers (Florida: Vault Inc., 2005), 228.
10. Thomas Means, Business communication (Mason, OH: Cengage Learning, 2009), 52.
11. Denis Colins, Essentials of business ethics: creating an organization of high integrity and superior performance (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2009), 2.
12. Angelo Dringoli, Corporate strategy and firm growth: creating value for shareholders (Massachusetts: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012), 169.
13. Jean-Noel Kapferer, The new strategic brand management: advanced insights and strategic thinking (Philadelphia, PA: Kogan Page Publishers, 2012), 342.
14. Rolf Wustenhagen, Sustainable innovation and entrepreneurship (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2008), 41.
15. Shannon O’Lear, Environmental politics: scale and power (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 163.