Customer Reviews

Business as Unusual: The Triumph of Anita Roddick

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Anita Roddick is an exceptional woman. She is also an exceptional business owner. This book contains a wonderful mix of shared personal experience - including the joys, wonders and pain of being on the front lines in a company dedicated to socially responsible values. Roddick is a true pioneer, alongwith a handful of other business owners throughout the world, blazing trails for businesses with a conscience. There are no maps for what she's done or what she is continuing to do, to make the world a better place.

Thank God for people like Anita Roddick!

A dynamic book, reflecting page by page a visually creative presentation that challenges the reader to step beyond the words to discover multiple layers of interrelationships and values. The book undertakes to demonstrate her life's purpose of protecting and valuing humanity and the environment whilst still developing a profitable business.

Roddick presents her story, "Business as Unusual" by modeling the same constructs that have underpinned the ethical, moral and business essences of "The Body Shop".

The sometimes humorous but always poignant captions, quotes and pictorial representations through out the writing, demonstrates the importance Roddick places on communication. The book also scaffolds the in depth discussion that is used to deconstruct "The Body Shop" story.

Roddick does ascribe and briefly describe basic no nonsense commonsense information and elements inherent for all business. She also explores a range of interesting anecdotes, practical problems and ethical values.

The reader is encouraged and dared to ponder and reflect on basic elements such as child care, gender discrimination and female beauty whilst being whisked away to analyse the heavier issues of the Amazon and Hemp.

Roddick concludes the writing by sharing ten lessons that describe practical information which she suggests may guide the reinvention of the "The Body Shop" of the future.

An "unusual" story; certainly worth a read; definitely challenges the creative mind and makes no bones about business responsibility to humanity and the environment.

....This is the story of that woman and the company she founded.

Today, with over 1,800 Body Shops worldwide, and many a dissenting corporate CEO cursing at the very mention of her name, she commands an empire that still stands for something of value in this world. Anita is one of the very few people I have read or studied, that truly "walks her walk". The others merely pay lip service to the environment or other cultures less 'civilized' than ours. Like Anita, this book really "tells it like it is."

This book should be mandatory reading for every MBA student in the world. Perhaps being exposed to Anita's philosophies, examples and case studies of how to build from a start-up to an international retailing empire, will help save a few of them from the "nothing matters but the quarterly bottom line" syndrome. Anita's book lays out a positive path and a myriad of methods one can use to identify, analyze and address business problems and opportunities in a sane manner.

It is a way of doing business that first takes into consideration people, not just profits.

It's a company with "attitude".

Body Shop is a household name and a corporation with an atttitude. Anita built the company on her beliefs and always stood for what she believed in.

I was a little disappointed with this book. I was expecting to read about how she started the company, what drove her to start, her fears, etc but what I found was a book filled with her philosophies mixed with her story on how she grew her business. If you're doing an MBA, yes by all means, this is a great book as it gives you different and fresh business perspectives but if you're looking for a "how I made it book", you may be a little disappointed.

I agree this book is incredibly inspirational and empowering. It is however a shame that Roddick fails to credit the Art Student (me) who was paid GBP25 in 1977 to design the now famous logo. I also printed the original product labels for the first shop. When I mentioned this to her in 2003 her only comment was; "That must have been a coup for you". Inspirational indeed.

I picked up the book during my xmas trip to Singapore, and it is a great book. The content is inspiring, with lots of personal view of one of the rare-type captain of industry. Think how bodyshop can be a household name without any advertising, this is a mixture of business, entrepreneurship, and self determination toward the betterment of the world. a crusade from a lady who genuinely love the -world-, an activist legend of her own. The book is full of Anita's journey and experiences (and the growing pains). It maybe just a buzz for bodyshop, it is still an enjoyable reading, and thus worth buying.

The way the book is presented is beautiful and enjoyable, one of the business-book-trend that i love, from the tom peters lots of pictures and wordings, to gary hamel new -leading the revolution-, this one comes with lots of -quotes- in GOLD COLOR pages. I beleive a book should have content and CONTEXT, the way the books is read, is now as important as the message. Design now play important roles in business books.

Yes, this is still a business book. I do not like the cover though.. ;-)

At a time when many companies are trying to be more socially responsible, my thoughts have been turning to Anita Roddick (sadly, no longer with us), who founded the first company of scale to really walk the walk. Not satisfied with mere social responsibility, The Body Shop actually stepped it up a notch by getting politically engaged--and encouraging its customers to, as well--often to harsh criticism and even threats. Roddick was uncompromising in her commitment, and the company culture she created was truly unique.

I expected this book to be a chronicle of The Body Shop's rise, and while Roddick certainly shares plenty of anecdotes, the telling is pretty disjointed. Reading this book was a bit like riding on a wooden rollercoaster. She could have benefited from a good editor.

In the end, Business As Unusual is really more of a raw glimpse into Roddick's psyche, which certainly informed nearly everthing she did at The Body Shop. Specific business examples are punctuated by plenty of soapbox moments, and her preachiness can get a bit distracting (and awfully redundant) at times. But if you want to get to know this extraordinary woman, it's worth a read.

Roddick is a very successful business woman, environmental advocate, socially responsible coporation builder, die hard worker, and outspoken renegade. Lots of hats for a woman who just thought that having a skin care shop with products from natural ingredients would help supplement her income. Roddick shaped the way that we look at business, she upholds the principal that businesses should alway give back to the people and land they were built on. Roddick cites many examples of the best and worst business practices, and the people (and areas) that have been affected. She cites as a CEO in a certain company's annual income is more then all the workers in their Haiti sweatship will recieve in their life. Yet they refused to give these workers a startling $0.54/ hr minimum wage. While Samsung gives much of its profit to helping fund schools, homes, and decent living conditions for its workers. Roddick gives one chapter on the effect that non-governmnetal groups ar having on changing business's outlook such as the popular rally against Nike for sweatshop activity.
Roddick includes more then just socially responsible purchasing, the effects of big businesses, and NGOs- she also includes business strategies that have helped make her successful, essential criteria for becoming an entrepreneur, emotional strains, spiritual beliefs, and a great chapter regarding the ethics and management of the Body Shop.
This book is unlike other stuffy "how to in business" books, because it includes notes, quotes, ads, lists, and photos. Its full of informative pieces that are easy to read and you really glean wonderful information about becoming successful yet compassinate in business.
I am anxoius to read her other book as well but this one was a really wonderful read that exceeded my expectations. This would be actually a great book for a young adult with consciousness for environmental needs. It really was revolutionary how the Body Shop was created back in the 1970s, but its rewarding to see how new shops are embracing natural products, and giving back to the people. Please enjoy.

Anita Roddick is the founder of The Body Shop and is a leading spokesperson for corporate social responsibility who has used her successful business acumen to demonstrate that business decisions based on moral leadership is a sound and profitable model for today's competitive and global marketplace. In Business As Unusual Roddick charts the ups and downs of her business, while sharing her vision of how all businesses can be about public good rather than private greed. Her own company, The Body Shop, is an example of her message concerning corporate responsibility and commitment to human rights and social issues with its 1500 stores serving 86 million customers in 47 markets and 24 languages. Highly recommended reading for MBA students, aspiring entrepreneurs, and corporate managers at all levels of responsibility.

It's an unusual book, of course. Being usual means to exploit others in the global economic system. Anita knows why we make the money and how we should spend our resource.

It's good, good for everyone. It's time for you to do something. To say something is not to do something.