1. Based on figures from the Direct Selling Association, an industry trade group, the direct sales market is growing at a steady rate. Revenues increased from $13 billion in 1991 to $18 billion in 1995. The industry sales force grew from 6.1 million in 1991 to 7.2 million in 1995. About 70 percent of direct sales people are women, and about 89 percent do direct sales part time.
The sales force continues to grow, because many workers are seeking more flexibility, better earning potential and more control over their work lives, said Liz Doherty, spokeswoman for the industry trade group. [Florida Today. Kathy Hagood. October 1, 1996: S12]
Moreover (for MLMs): Comprising about 70% of the direct selling industry, estimated to include 7.2 million salespeople who sold $17.94 billion in goods in 1995, the multilevel marketing industry has grown dramatically in the last decade, according to the Direct Selling Association.
And according to the Multi-level Marketing International Association, the industry has a strong history, an estimated 10 million participants...[Arlington Morning News Edition. Tamara Chuang. Aug. 17, 1997: Business;9A]
2. "Most of them, such as Amway, Herbalife, Shaklee, Nu Skin, Mary Kay Cosmetics, A.L. Williams, and the Fuller Brush Company....sell personal-care, health, or dietary products, although Amway also sells telephone services, dog houses, and televisions, and A.L. Williams sells insurance. [Home Office Computing. Smith, Aug. 1992:56-]
3. See [Biggart 1989; Butterfield 1985; Bromley 1995; Byker 1984; and Juth-Gavasso 1985]. For a more detailed list please refer to the Endnotes where I have compiled a list of lawsuits that have come to my attention in the process of research.
4. Refer to [Amway Japan Limited-1996 Annual Report: The Power of Partnership], [Amway Asia Pacific Ltd.-1996 Annual Report: A Spirit of Partnership], and [Vlasic, 1998: 65].
5. It should be noted that the level at which recruitment/recruiting affects various distributors (and their family/kin networks) doubtless varies a great deal depending upon the level of involvement and participation in the company itself.
6. I included this variable Support (see first graph) because association between Amway distributors is repeatedly and strongly encouraged. I was somewhat surprised to find that both men and women equally discussed the importance of this relationship. That is, associating with your Upline (those distributors above you--people who sponsored you and their sponsor's sponsors, etc.). However, I suspect this plays a role in not only perpetuating the Amway "image," but indeed in recruiting others to it. This would also seem to contribute to the "clone-like" quality and consistency of the various "successful" Amway distributors.
7. However, the "team" arrangement is not necessarily indicative of stable and beautiful relationships. The image we are presented with is one of happy, beautiful, rich (white) couples who seem to have everything together. As the ideal nuclear family arrangement holds such a prominent place throughout Amway media texts, one would think that the family, or more specifically the couple, would then hold first place over the business. Curiously, this apparently is not always the case. The following taped excerpt is drawn from a "motivational" tape recorded by one the 20 Amway distributors profiled on "Profiles of Success." The excerpt speaks for itself--it is truly quite "motivational." (It should be noted that the tape was recorded not in 1950, rather in the 1990s):
He came to me and said, "Bill, my wife said it's either her or the business?" I said, which one you gonna take?{a short pause}
Now some of you aren't going to like what I'm going to say. And I've been criticized for it, but I'm going to keep on saying it. If Peg [Bill Britt's wife--refer to the first "Profile of Success"] would come to me and say to me "It's either her or the business", I'd help her pack her bags.
{6 second pause}
Now is Peg worth more to me then the business? Yes, Peg is worth more to me than the business. But my manhood is worth more to me than Peggy. And I'm not gonna become a wimp and make my wife happy. Cause I can't make her happy being unhappy. Now if she said, "Look, we're a family, we're going to fight about this thing". I'd say "I'm 240 [Britt's weight] what are you". (My emphasis)
[www.teleport.com/~schwartz/articles.htm]
8. "Multilevel marketing is a form of direct selling in which manufacturers authorize independent contractors to sell their products directly to consumers, bypassing middlemen and retail stores. Using the garage or a spare bedroom as a warehouse and a home office as a business hub, a distributor makes a profit by buying wholesale from his or her company and selling to customers at retail prices. MLM is also a recruiting business. A distributor is permitted to sign up other individuals to become part of his company's distribution force--and is paid a commission on the wholesale product purchases made by recruits." [Home Office Computing, Smith, Aug. 1992:56-]
9. Received on Nov. 11/25/97, 12:03:36 AM from the Amway Corporation. (I have chosen to keep the name of the person who responded to my inquiry confidential).
10. This "mental map" was formed primarily from information gathered from the correspondence with the Amway Corp. and the following two Internet websites. www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech/geewhiz/machine.htm www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech/tour.htm
11. I was able to find some indirect information regarding this subject. That is, I searched through the various patents that Amway holds (there are 99 since 1976). However, as they do not use specific product names on the patents I cannot be sure to which product a patent refers. But, even though this information is not provided it is reasonably clear to which product a particular patent refers (This is also apparent by clicking onto the highlighted numbers regarding what type of patent it is)-- Please refer to the following websites [http://patent.womplex.ibm.com/ibm.html AND http://patents.uspto.gov/cgi_bin/search4?INDEX+0] with the following patent numbers:(#5635467, 5514295, 5458799, 5456854, 5429765, RE33646, 4686254, 4659496).
12. Grand Trunk Western Railroad is a owned by Canadian National. For further information on this railroad, Canadian National Railroad, as well as a Grand Trunk Western Railroad's Freight Train Schedule as of February 1, 1997, REFER to the following respective Internet sites: [http://www.rrhistorical.com/gtwhs/mission.html] [http://129.93.226.138/rr/CNR/Cnlines.htm] & [http://www.rrhistorical.com/gtwhs/Data/gt_frt.html]
13. [http://www.amway.com/usa/progress/fastfact/ffrail.htm OR http://www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech/self.htm]
14. Personal correspondence with Amway Corp.
15. The trademark of Gradex* belongs to Rotex, Inc. Cincinnati, OH. [see www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech/geewhiz/machine.htm]
16. [www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech/geewhiz/machine.htm]
17. The trademark of X-Rite* belongs to Foresight Enterprises, Inc., Grand Rapids, Michigan. [see www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech/geewhiz/machine.htm]
18. [www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech/quikpow.htm) or (www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech/selfpow.htm]
19. I was able to find information from www.amway.com on 3 investments the company has made in the last few years. A $10 million 64,000sq.ft Research and Development building was added in 1980, this year they will/have added a $9 million "high-tech annex." (R&D hires over 400 people). In addition, Amway recently constructed a new $41 million, 640,000 sq.ft., Catalog Distribution Center.
20. I was able to find some information on this, but there were only a few indications here and there about how many people work in each department. Amway states there are 5000 employees working at the Amway World Headquarters Complex (80 buildings with approx.4.2 million sq.ft. of "physical plant and office space"--SEE www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech/quilkhead.htm) located in Ada, MI. Of these 5000 employees Amway's own homepage indicates that there are over 400 in R&D, 300 in Cosmetics Mfr., 123 in Powder Mfr. (as of 1994), and 300 in Order Processing. I was not able to find additional information on the jobs of the other 3,877 employees.
21 Stephen Butterfield, however, commented on this issue in his book entitled Amway: The Cult of Free Enterprise (1985). While the following discussion is quite lengthy, Butterfield's remarks are quite informative (indeed quite disturbing) in regard to labor relations at the Amway Corporation:
The wage employees of the Corporation are centered in the home plant headquarters in Ada, Michigan. According to Mike Johnston, in "The American Way--Really" (Grand Valley Labor News, Dec. 1981), Amway employees have been asking unions for help since the firm began. Several attempts have been made to unionize the Company. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union AFL-CIO (RWDSU) tried in the middle '60s. DeVos nipped that effort in the bud by holding weekly in-plant meetings which everyone was required to attend; he ran them like Rallies, preaching to the multitude on the Company's virtues and the evils of unionism. Anti-union workers stood up and gave testimonies on what Amway had done for them. The International Chemical Workers AFL-CIO (ICW) tried again in 1967, and was receiving bunches of signed authorization cards from Company employees, when a pro-union worker was transferred to nights, and Amway "filed charges with the NLRB accusing the ICW of forcing three people to join the union against their will." The Board later found that there were no such people. Rumors and half-truths circulated: workers would no longer receive their uniforms free if they joined a union, activists would lose their jobs. Several departments "suddenly received unexpected pay raises." Both foremen and shop-floor workers were pressured to wear the "vote no" buttons that were freely distributed throughout the plant. DeVos and Van Andel called all employees together during working hours and read them a six-page letter, according to union files, giving the impression that, if the union won, the Company would not work with the employees. The RWDSU tried again in 1971, but several pro-company lead people formed a "Committee Against the Union" and were allowed free run of the plant during working hours. "The Committee was allowed to hand out flyers attacking the union while asking people to sign petitions showing their support for the company." One union supporter was intimidated when she refused to sign.The class and sex divisions maintained by the Company make further organizing efforts highly difficult. Much work is done by temporary job services, like Manpower and Kelly Girls. These employees are used often for 40-hour weeks, without benefits, over periods of months. Johnston writes. About 300 workers are employed in "pools" when every new person must start.....To get out of the "pool," you have to bid on a posted job, but "the decision on when a person leaves to fill that position is up to the company." Amway has an "incredible" employee turnover rate: a five-year employee is an old-timer, honored with a pin and a dinner. Wages vary greatly from job to job. Amway leaders boast that employees don't need a union, because the Company gives benefits and wages that top union shops. But this is true only for a few long-term employees.
Apparently, if Johnston's information is accurate, the approximately 7000 workers in the corporation are organized like the distributors: a great deal of turnover on the bottom, class and sex divisions, and carefully groomed loyalty at the top. There is not much free enterprise to be found here.
The "entrepreneurs" who market the products are, as we have seen, totally dependent on the Corporation for supply, research, development, commissions, policies, rules and regulations, wholesale price. Even the fantasy Amway-World lifestyle is supplied by the Company. There is not much free enterprise to be found here. [Butterfield 1985: 151-152] (Emphasis added)
22. [www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech/quikdata.htm]. Note that all subsequent references in this chapter refer to materials found at www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech
23. Interestingly consumer reports of the product have failed to substantially prove the unquestioned superiority of SA8® LC when compared with other laundry detergents. However, as far as price is concerned, it proved to be on the high end. I have included the following section regarding SA8® LC. However, for additional consumer information regarding other selected Amway products refer to the following web page: http://www.teleport.com/~schwartz/cr.htm.
- SA8 Concentrate, powder and liquid (2/95)
- 35 products were tested, 17 liquids and 18 powders/ The SA8 powder was rated #5 overall and #4 among the powders. The cost/load of the top five products tested were as follows:
- Tide with Bleach Alternative (liquid)............... $.52
- Cheer with Color Guard Bleach Ultra (powder...$.41
- Tide with Bleach Ultra (powder)......................$.41
- Gain w/Odor Removing Ultra Bleach (powder)..$.32 (recommended
- Best Buy)Amway SA8 Concentrate (powder)...........$.41
The difference in effectiveness between the Amway and the Tide Ultra seems fairly minimal, with the SA8 in the low end of "Excellent" and the Tide in the high end of "Very Good." At distributor pricing, including shipping, the cost /load of the SA8 would be about $.38. The SA8 liquid was rated #32 out [of] 35 products tested and #13 out of 17 liquids tested. At $.35 per load (dist.cost), it was not the most expensive of the liquids on a cost-per-use basis, but of the 12 liquids that were rated as more effective, 6 were less expensive to use. The SA8 liquid was a full 40% more expensive on a cost-per-use basis than Arm&Hammer Double Power Fresh Free Concentrated, only $.25 per use.
Chapter 4
24. Refer to [Lester, 1974; Green, 1977; Scheible, 1981; Steiker, 1984; Juth-Gavasso, 1985; Butterfield, 1985; Johnston, 1987; Biggart, 1989; Harris, 1992; Bromley, 1995; Frye, 1996]
25. It should be noted that all subsequent images are drawn from the website, www.amway.com/usa/products/house/. In addition, all commentaries which will accompany these images have also been drawn from this same website.
26. The name of this particular product continues to intrigue me. On the one hand it could be interpreted as something satin-like, perhaps indicating what it will do to your hair. However, in French the word literally means "satanic, fiendish, wicked" [See The Collins*Robert French-English Dictionary, 2nd Edition. Harper & Row: New York, 1990: 646]. Maybe this is meant to refer to the hair condition this shampoo prevents? One can only wonder!
27. This seems a bit odd as the names of other members of this "Amway family" are divulged on numerous occasions, if not explicitly in the collage of family portraits located on the far wall of the Master Bedroom.
28. Alvesson and Billing's comments I believe may provide valuable insight into this issue. They write:
A central aspect here is what degree cultural definitions of 'femininity' have been internalized by the person concerned. A most significant part of male domination and gender inequality is maintained through the results of socialization processes affecting women's feelings, thoughts, identities, and general functioning. Gender relations and differences thus are relatively deeply anchored in the subjectivity of women and are not just social structures or beliefs, prejudices and norms that are easy to change. The depth aspects of socialization must be taken into account in order to understand domination and discrimination. The forces creating the latter do not just exist 'out there', in an organizational environment of men and other women, 'outside' the women concerned. [Alvesson, 1992: 93]
The scripts of Today's Children can be seen as efforts to affirm the status of the housewife. During the more than five years of the soap opera's broadcast, female and male characters alike constantly noted the importance of homemaking tasks&emdash;and most particularly cooking&emdash;and the program heroines who carried out those duties were rewarded with faithful husbands and exemplary children. For their part, many in the listening audience seem to have readily accepted this depiction of the role of married women. In fact, the "A cake to bake" verse [see first page]that clearly defined the scope of the housewife's world to be home, child, and husband was so popular among listeners that Pillsbury repeatedly reprinted the verse in its "histories" of Today's Children and in the program's other premium offers. [Lavin, 1995:86]
30. Over 250,000 listeners responded to a book offer detailing the "history" of the fictive Moran family - the main characters of the radio soap opera Today's Children. [Lavin, 1995: 82]
31. Lavin further remarks about this by noting the following:
At least one actress reportedly complained, "For heaven's sake, do I have to read this glop?" when rehearsing the following copy for a costume jewelry premium: "Why it [the broach] gleams like virgin gold, and just look at those gorgeous colors - exactly like a rainbow and sunset coming together in a resplendent display of almost unimaginable beauty" (LaGaurdia 1974, p.72). Nonetheless, premium offers tied to soap opera plots and requiring the purchase of the sponsor's product flourished in the 1930s. Pillsbury, in fact, considered such selling efforts so important that the company reported its mail offer results to its salesmen who, in turn, shared the information with retailers (Hutchinson 1935). [Lavin, 1995: 84]
32. Indeed, growing up in the Democratic Republic of Congo, my parents used one such machine to wash clothes.
Chapter 5
33. However, even a true convert is not guaranteed success. Only the top 1% of distributors will make it to Direct distributor - the first level on of the Amway hierarchy of distributors. Each new level is equally challenging and exclusive. Refer to Butterfield (1984), Juth-Gavasso (1985), Bromley (Roberts ed., 1995).
Chapter 5, part 2
34. The following graphs are meant only to illustrate how the process might "look", but cannot not necessarily all aspects of the actual process of conversion (it is by no means a linear process but one encompassing and referencing multiple contexts and identities resulting in a diversity of experience). I wish simply to highlight the different levels of involvement, which may exist within the Amway distributor network force.
35. This is a stunning interpretative move, to say the least. While their are numerous references to faith and belief in the Bible, these concepts are distinctly different from that of 'Dream". The referencing of Jesus to wealth is also rather fascinating given the fact that the New Testament and Christ consistently speak against the gross accumulation of wealth and advocate concern and solidarity with the poor. An interesting example of selective reading of a text at its best.
36. However, even a true convert is not guaranteed success. Only the top 1% of distributors will make it to Direct distributor - the first level on of the Amway hierarchy of distributors. Each new level is equally challenging and exclusive. Refer to Butterfield (1984), Juth-Gavasso (1985), Bromley (Roberts ed., 1995).