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HBR.ORGAPRIL
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HOW I DID IT
Amways Presidenton Reinventing the
Business to Succeedin ChinaThe Idea: After the Chinese government outlaweddirect selling, Amway repeatedly revised itsbusiness model to build a reputation as anhonorable corporate citizen. In 2006 it receiveda new license, and China is now its largest market
by Doug DeVos
This article is made available to you compliments of Doug Devos. Further posting, copying, or distributing iscopyright infringement.
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Amways President onReinventing the Businessto Succeed in China
PHOTOGRAPHY:COURTESYOFAMWAY
When the Chinese government
outlawed direct selling, in 1998,
Amway was already well estab-
lished in China and had built a large-scale
factory there. The company faced a big de-cision: Should we pull up stakes, or could
we find a new way to sell?
We chose the latter course, and in the
decade that followed, Amway China re-
vised its sales model five times to meet
changing regulations. Today China is our
biggest market, accounting for more than
a third of Amways sales.
To understand Amways business in
China and the lessons weve learned by
operating there, its helpful to know some
of our history. My dad, Richard DeVos, and
his longtime friend and business partner,
Jay Van Andel, founded Amway in 1959.
The company was started with the idea of
providing entrepreneurial opportunity foranyone who wanted to own and run a busi-
ness. Amway doesnt discriminate. We wel-
come everyone, regardless of age, race, re-
ligion, gender, or geography. In some parts
of the world this has been a breakthrough
concept.
Dad and Jay were adventurers and
liked to travel. Thirty-eight years ago they
were visiting places like Hong Kong, main-
land China, and the Middle East and ask-
ing themselves, What would it take to
After the Chinese
government outlawed direct
selling, Amway repeatedly
revised its business model
to build a reputation as an
honorable corporate citizen.
In 2006 it received a new
license, and China is now its
largest market.
THE IDEA
by Doug DeVos
Doug DeVos is thepresident and co-CEOof Amway.
DeVos, above right,at the 2012 China
Development Forum
April 2013 Harvard Business Review 2
How I Did ItFOR ARTICLE REPRINTS CALL OR , OR VISIT HBR.ORG
COPYRIGHT HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL PUBLISHING CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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bring Amway here? What would the busi-
ness look like? How would it fit with thisculture?
Patience and CooperationThat last question has been especially im-
portant. One of the biggest lessons weve
learned as weve grown around the world
is that a true understanding of the market-
place, including the culture, the econom-
ics, the politics, and the people, is essential.
Our strongest resource is always our local
leadership team. Thats the first lesson we
applied to our business in China.
Amway first entered Asia in 1974, withthe opening of our Hong Kong affiliate, and
then went into Malaysia in 1976. In 1979 we
began operations in Japan, which quickly
became one of our top markets and re-
mains so today. By the late 1980s more than
half of Amways revenues were coming
from outside the United States. So when
we began operations in the Peoples Re-
public of China, in 1995, wed already been
doing business in that part of the world
for more than 20 years. I was running Am-
ways Asia Pacific business at the time, and
by 1998 China was a $200 million operation
and growing fast.Then we heard rumors that the Chinese
government was becoming unhappy with
the actions of some direct sellersor, more
accurately, scammers disguised as direct
sellers. These unscrupulous companies
damaged the reputation of the fledgling in-
dustry and of legitimate direct sellers like
Amway, Avon, and Mary Kay. Issues related
to product quality, reliability, and trust
were rampant. Chinese officials needed
to protect consumers and to put a stop to
unethical practices. But the action the gov-
ernment pursued was extreme: outlawingdirect selling and punishing legitimate as
well as unethical sellers.
The idea that direct selling could be out-
lawed was incomprehensible to us. This
method of marketing was the foundation
of Amways businessit had been tested
and proved over time and across borders.
And now it appeared that we could be put
out of business, despite our commitment
to and investment in our China operation.
When Eva Cheng, who ran Amway
China at that time, called me in the middle
of the night to report that the ban was like
she advised that we not lose sight of an oportunity: We could cooperate with t
government to help it understand the pro
lems and find solutions to them. Worki
with the Chinese to create good dire
selling legislation would be the right thi
to do for consumers, our industry, and o
business.
A Chinese proverb, loosely translate
says, If you are patient in one moment
anger, you will escape a hundred days
sorrow. Eva was right. We could be patie
We could be cooperative. We could se
solutions to strengthen our industry anprotect consumers. And we could pa
ner with the Chinese government and o
competitors to create reforms that wou
set the stage for our industry to grow an
flourish in China.
A day or two later we had a board me
ing. My family and the Van Andel fami
who remain Amways primary shareho
ers, were all present. Eva reported on wh
we were facing. My father stood up aft
the presentation and said that he approv
of her recommendation to work with t
A New Model in China
Today China isAmways largestmarket, with more than
billionin annual sales.
Tianjin, China
HOW I DID IT
3 Harvard Business Review April 2013
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-
5/21/2018 Amway China
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government and that he wanted to stay the
course. Everyone else agreed.
A Nearly Complete OverhaulThat was the second major lesson in our
China experience: It was essential that we
remain true to our mission and our core
purpose. We had to remember that Amway
isnt simply about the products or the sales
channel; its about opportunity.
The regulatory changes China required
forced us to ask some hard questions about
our business model. The government
wanted Amway and other foreign direct
sellers to establish stores in Chinas con-ventional wholesale-retail channels. But if
we shifted from a network selling model to
traditional retail stores, would we still be
Amway? The more we considered this, the
more we realized that the essence of the
companyproviding a business opportu-
nity based on core values of partnership, in-
tegrity, and personal responsibilitywould
never change. But even as we preserved
those essentials, we could change our
operations to accommodate Chinas new
regulations.
We chose not to go to Beijing to com-
plain. Instead we asserted that Amway and
the Chinese government were in the same
boat, that we fully understood the prob-
lems that unethical direct-selling compa-
nies were creating, and that we supported
the governments need to create tough
new measures. We let government officials
know that Amway wanted to help find a
solution that would demonstrate to the
world that China cared about the interests
of consumers and legitimate foreign inves-
tors alike.There was almost an art to addressing
these challenges. We would have to cre-
ate physical storessomething wed never
done before. That meant selling products
to people who came in off the streetagain,
not our usual way of doing business. Typi-
cally, when we enter a new country, we im-
port products from the United States. But
for China we would manufacture goods
there. We had to change our entire distribu-
tor compensation system. And because we
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couldnt rely on the word-of-mouth mar-
keting that drives direct sales, we chose todo brand advertisingsomething else wed
never done up to that point.
In short, we had to overhaul nearly ev-
erything we did.
Honorable CorporateCitizenshipTrust was vital, both internally and exter-
nally, and this was an important third les-
son. Trusting relationships would allow us
to move quickly to adapt to changes. With
our own distributors we sometimes had to
say, Trust us on this. There wasnt alwaystime to walk everybody through every
detail.
During and after the regulatory transi-
tion, we worked closely with the Chinese
government. We felt we needed to prove
ourselves to its officials. We wanted them
to know that we operated an honest busi-
ness that was creating economic opportu-
nities for Chinese families. We believed in
direct selling, and we believed in our busi-
ness model, but we knew we needed to
demonstrate that Amway would be a long-
term honorable corporate citizen in China. I
give the government officials a lot of credit:
They listened earnestly and they recog-
nized that we wanted to create a mutually
beneficial opportunity. They also judged us
on the actions we took, not just the words
we spoke.
As all this was going on, however, it
was clear that China was becoming more
and more interested in establishing closer
ties with other economic powers. Its lead-ers were talking about joining the World
Trade Organization. People in our industry
believed that the government would relax
the prohibitions on direct selling as part of
that process. And, in fact, in late 2005 legis-
lation was passed that would allow Amway
to return to a direct sales business model.
We received our new license to do business
in China in 2006.
We Stayed the CourseLooking back, I see how important it is to
build a business by taking the long-term
viewthe fourth lesson we learned. Were
in this business for generations. That a
plies not just in China but in all our marke
As my dad suggested, we stayed the cour
We did what was necessary, even if it som
times felt like taking a step backward. W
were humble without becoming weak. An
we kept working hard, because providi
opportunity to people all over the wor
from all walks of life, is the right thing to dThe rules in China are still unique. T
way we operate our business and compe
sate our sales force there is very differe
from what we do in other parts of the wor
But weve learned a lot, and our revis
business model is working. It has esta
lished our industry as a respectable part
the Chinese economy. And today China
our largest market, with more than $4 b
lion in annual sales.
Although the changes we made to
main in China seemed like a big leap at th
time, weve since exported some of tho
ideas to other Amway markets. For exa
ple, physical locations are now a strateg
initiative for us in many regions. Althou
we dont have traditional stores in t
United States or Latin America, we do ha
what we call mobile brand experience
in those markets, in which we showca
the Artistry (skin care) and Nutrilite (
tamins and dietary supplements) bran
with customized tour buses on display
various events. In Europe we have Amw
brand and training centers. Being forcedchange our model in China helped us re
ize that we need to regularly adapt to su
ceed in different markets.
By understanding the market; stayin
true to our mission; building strong, tru
ing relationships; and taking a long-ter
view, Amway weathered the storm of
direct-selling ban and emerged as the m
ket leader. My father and Jay saw that p
tential, and were very glad they did.
HBR Reprint R
Our revised business model is working. It has
established our industry as a respectable partof the Chinese economy.
HOW I DID IT
5 Harvard Business Review April 2013
This article is made available to you compliments of Doug Devos. Further posting, copying, or distributing iscopyright infringement.
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