Group Corporate Social Responsibility Project

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Kaitlyn Jones, Danny Jones, Andy Isom, Trey Knowles, Robert Hums, Shelby Tagge
For Business Management 390 - Luke Peterson

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Nu Skin History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .4
Nu Skin Current CSR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Nu Skins Areas of Success. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .6
Nu Skins Lacking Areas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
dTERRA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 7
Dove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Recommendations . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Initiative #1: #FindBeauty in Others & Ourselves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Initiative #2: #FindBeauty in Environment. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Initiative #3: #FindBeauty Together. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

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Executive Summary
Nu Skin is a personal care products company with their headquarters in Provo, Utah. They are a
one billion dollar enterprise that takes pride in offering unique products to customers around the
world. They consider themselves the premier anti-aging company in the market today. Nu
Skins mission statement is the following:
Our mission is to be a force for good throughout the world by empowering people to improve
lives with rewarding business opportunities, innovative products, and an enriching, uplifting
culture.
As a personal care product company, Nu Skin is in competition with a local company called
dTERRA, as well as other international brands such as Dove. For these kinds of companies,
corporate social responsibility is becoming increasingly important. Eliminating waste and
pollution, and making a positive impact on the environment and society can have a huge impact
on the brand image. As a group we have researched Nu Skins CSR strategy and compared it to
the competitors dTERRA and Dove. Our purpose is to discover what Nu Skin is doing well in
CSR and what they can learn from their competitors CSR.
Nu Skin has some very respectable CSR strategies, which include Vita Meal, health and child
literacy, community based initiatives, and recycling programs. Through the Vita Meal program,
Nu Skin has donated over 400 million meals to children in need since 2002. They are also a
proud supporter of BYU athletics. However, none of Nu Skins CSR strategies relate
specifically to their products.
dTERRA and Dove have some impressive CSR strategies as well. dTERRA is focused on
getting 100% green materials from responsibly managed farms throughout the world where
growing, harvesting, and distilling methods meet dTERRAs strict internal standards for purity.
Dove focuses on their Real Beauty Campaign and Girls Self Esteem Project. These programs
are aimed at helping women have higher self-esteem about themselves and widening their
definition of beauty.
After analyzing Nu Skin, dTERRA, and Dove, we have come up with a few recommendations
for Nu Skins CSR strategy. We feel that it is important for Nu Skin to develop a CSR strategy
that positively influences its public perception, is highly visible, and relates to its core business
products and competencies. With those purposes in mind, we created the following initiatives for
Nu Skin to improve its CSR strategy: #FindBeauty in Others and Ourselves, #FindBeauty in our
Environment, and #FindBeauty Together. By implementing these three initiatives in the
community we feel that Nu Skin can create a more impactful CSR strategy that will improve
their brand image and increasing the overall success of their company.

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Introduction
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a commitment by businesses to stimulate
growth in the economy and improve the quality of life in the workplace, families, and
community surrounding an organization. In the corporate world, most companies choose to put
little emphasis on CSR. However, Companies who take the time to fit CSR into their business
model, seem to be more successful. Through our semester of Business Ethics, we as a team have
learned what kind of CSR strategies truly benefit the company, its employees and the greater
world around them. Our team sought out to analyze the current strategy and suggest
improvements in the CSR of the local company, Nu Skin. As we researched Nu Skins current
initiatives, we found three recommendations to help Nu Skin create a better-rounded CSR plan.
We believe that by implementing these three strategies, Nu Skin will grow more successful as an
organization. Because as we have learned from Professor Peterson, the brands that survive will
be the brands that make life better for the world and for consumers (Peterson, 2015).

Nu Skin History
Nu Skin is a direct selling company that specializes in skincare and nutritional products.
Nu Skin was founded in 1984 by Blake Roney, Sandie Tillotson, and Steve Lund (Nu Skin,
2015). It started with one product that the founders made in their homes. Today Nu Sin has over
200 products that can be found in households around the world. Although founded and
headquartered in Provo, Utah, Nu Skin products can be found in over 50 countries around the
world. Today they employ about 4,000 employees around the world. Their product lines are
known for all of the good, none of the bad, and feature all-natural products. Today Nu Skin is
a billion dollar company that is continually expanding (Nu Skin, 2015). While they are growing
monetarily, Nu Skin also focuses on growing as a Force for Good in the world. While they do

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put an emphasis on corporate social responsibility, we believe that they can improve, and make
their force for good more personal. (Nu Skin, 2015)

Nu Skin Current CSR

Nu Skins current CSR strategy hinges on three main areas: Nourish the Children, Nu
Skin Force for Good, and Community Based initiatives. Nu Skins aim with the Nourish the
Children effort is to provide some sort of a solution for the kids in the areas of the world that
need it most. Nu Skins model begins by selling VitaMeal, a highly nutritious food packaged in
large bags, and then helping buyers donate their purchase to third-party charities that specialize
in administering these meals to the malnourished and famine-ridden parts of the world. The
initiative is seeing great success, and at their current rate are nourishing nearly 100,000 children
daily. The Force for Good programs goal is to improve the health, literacy, and economic
situation of kids living in all parts of the world (Nu Skin, 2015). With roots in over 50 countries,
Force for Good has provided heart surgeries in China and Philippines, created micro-finance
funds for families to receive loans to rebuild homes after natural disasters in Asia, and has built
schools and raised funds through donations and fundraisers throughout the years. All of this with
the intention to give the children a chance to better their lives (Nu Skin, 2015).
With their Community Based campaign, Nu Skin is leading efforts to take care of the
surrounding environment through a recycling effort, and give to the community by making large
donations to BYU. The recycling program is aimed at reducing waste by recycling reusable
materials, and is rewarding peoples efforts to do so by giving ADR points as people turn in
recyclables. The company is trying to make a difference for the Earth, one bottle or jar at a
time (Nu Skin, 2015). Another large part of their Community Based campaign, Nu Skin is one
of the most prolific donors to BYU Athletics. Recently, they have made large donations to the

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program by way of giving gigantic, state-of-the-art video boards to LaVell Edwards Stadium and
at South Field (the Womens Soccer Stadium). The goal of the companys sponsorship is to
enhance the game day experience of fans, and the video boards prominently feature the company
logo to ensure maximum exposure.

Nu Skin CSR areas of success

There are a few specific aspects of Nu Skins current CSR strategy that are seeing
success. First, their VitaMeal initiative has built a lot of public goodwill after having
donated over 400 million meals since 2002 (Nu Skin, 2015). This aspect of their strategy
is in line with the company aim to better the lives of people, and nourish and uplift
children around the world. The second area of success in their current strategy is with
their local recycling initiative and donations to BYU Athletics. The reason that these
initiatives create success for Nu Skin is because these activities are local, in an area near
their headquarters where people actually know what Nu Skin is when they hear they are
generously donating their resources. This is a huge factor, because some other companies
CSR strategies (along with some of Nu Skins) are carried out in a location that has
absolutely no tie with the Nu Skin business. Having your CSR strategy so far away
makes it very difficult to have an impact on the company perception or the bottom line.

Nu Skin CSR lacking areas

One major area where Nu Skins current strategy is lacking is that they are mostly
deploying a cut the check approach. While it is great that they are donating so many
financial resources to good causes, they are lacking in two major ways. One way they
are lacking is by donating their resources to far away countries (like VitaMeal in Africa)
that have never heard of their company, instead of sending their money to causes that are
closer to home. This really minimizes the visibility of their work, and as a company we
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are trying to build a highly visible strategy. If they did it that way, their donation efforts
would have a much bigger impact on their company perception, and thereby a bigger
impact on their bottom line as well. The second way they are lacking is in sitting back
and not getting their employees involved in the CSR strategy. This cut the check
mentality does not marry the employees to the spirit of their CSR aims, and they could
see many more benefits if they were to get employees more involved than just cutting
the check.

dTERRA
dTERRA International LLC effectively incorporates their CSR strategy into many
different aspects of their organization. As mentioned in their mission statement, dTERRA seeks
to provide simple, safe, and empowering solutions that enhance well-being (dTERRA, 2014).
The core purpose of the products produced by dTERRA is to benefit the lives of those who use
the products. Other than providing products for improving the well-being of individuals,
dTERRA focuses its CSR strategy on three different areas: the dTERRA Healing Hands
Foundation, individual charity projects, and strategic partnerships with nonprofit organizations.
The dTERRA Healing Hands Foundation is a nonprofit organization funded by
dTERRA. The purpose of the Healing Hands Foundation is to fight disease, reduce poverty, and
provide growth opportunities for developing communities. The overhead costs of the Healing
Hands Foundation are covered by dTERRA International LLC, thus ensuring that all donations
go directly toward aid. A variety of social impact projects have also been completed by
dTERRA in places such as places such as Ghana, Haiti, and Bolivia (dTERRA, 2014). The
nature of these projects vary from providing supplies for hospitals to building systems for clean
water.

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In order to further the social impact of the CSR strategy, dTERRA also forms
partnerships with other organizations such as Mentors International, a micro-credit organization,
and CHOICE Humanitarian, an organization that promotes principles of self-reliance
(dTERRA, 2014). These partnerships allow for dTERRA to donate to organizations that share
similar goals for social innovation.
While dTERRA has sought to truly make a difference, one apparent weakness in their
CSR strategy is the lack of real impact in the local community. Another limitation to the CSR
strategy of dTERRA is that the diversity of the projects performed by the organization reduces
the benefits from specialization in a specific project. Many of these projects do not relate to the
core business functions of the company.

Dove
Dove is a brand owned by Unilever that produces products for personal hygiene care similar.
Unilever has recently been implementing a variety of programs with it brand Dove to develop its
corporate social responsibility strategy and to promote Dove. The Dove brand focuses their
social efforts in two specific efforts, the Real Beauty Campaign and the Self Esteem Project.
The Real Beauty Campaign was implemented by Dove in 2004 in an effort to inspire
women around the world to feel more beautiful. According to Dove, only 4 percent of women
define themselves as beautiful and they seek to increase the number of women that truly feel
beautiful (Dove, 2015). Dove has conducted its Real Beauty Campaign mostly by created short
online videos that are shared through social media. The videos have been seen by millions of
people, including super bowl audiences.
To accompany its Real Beauty Campaign, Dove also created the Girls Self Esteem
Project in 2004. The Girls Self Esteem Project works to create partnerships with other

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organizations to combat the epidemic of low self-esteem among girls. Dove partners with
organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club, Girls Inc., and Girl Scouts. Dove donates
materials and funding to these organizations in an effort to make a life in the lives of girls around
the world. The Girls Self Esteem Project has reached over 11 million girls and Dove has a goal to
reach 15 million girls by the end of 2015 (Dove, 2015).
While Dove has made an impact in the lives of many women and girls all over the world,
some are critical of its corporate social responsibility strategy. Many feel that the Dove brands
efforts to combat issues of self-esteem are hypocritical when compared to the messages from the
advertising campaigns of AXE, another brand owned by Unilever (Kurtzleben, 2013). Dove has
not been very actively engaged in influencing the lives of individuals, but rather has remained
more of a funder of other organizations that work to solve issues of beauty and self-esteem.

Recommendations
After a careful analysis of the CSR strategy of Nu Skin and the respective CSR strategies
of its competitors, our group began to formulate specific recommendations for Nu Skin to
improve the impact of its current CSR strategy. We feel that it is important for Nu Skin to
develop a CSR strategy that positively influences its public relations, is highly visible, and
relates to its core business products and competencies. With those focuses in mind, we created
the following initiatives for Nu Skin to improve its CSR strategy: #FindBeauty in Others and
Ourselves, #FindBeauty in our Environment, and #FindBeauty Together. The following sections
describe these recommendations in detail.

Initiative 1: #FindBeauty in Others and Ourselves

We recommend that Nu Skin become involved in helping boys and girls in the
area develop a greater understanding of personal beauty and in recognizing the beauty of
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others as well. In order to accomplish this, Nu Skin could begin to conduct assemblies in
local schools about self-esteem, personal beauty, personal hygiene, and other relevant
issues that are related to their core products and mission. This initiative would focus on
boys and girls attending school in Utah County in grades 5-8, targeting lower income
students who could benefit from proper hygiene/beauty education, and could initially
influence the lives of over 35,000 students.
This focus on impacting the lives of local boys and girls would create a
competitive advantage for them in the local market. Families would be more likely to
choose Nu Skin products if the CSR strategy of Nu Skin more directly affected the
members of their families and others in their communities. This CSR strategy may not be
as visible to people in other markets, but Nu Skin could create media highlighting
examples of true beauty and self-esteem efforts of those served by their initiatives. They
could leverage the hashtag and social media to create an overall awareness for their
products and services.
Initiative 2: #FindBeauty in Environment

The second part of our recommendation is to tie the previously mentioned

#FindBeauty in Others campaign, being taught at school in the surrounding area, into
appreciating and taking care of the local environment. We will launch this initiative in the
surrounding environment of Nu Skins headquarters, initially targeting areas in the
Provo/Utah County area. This is one way that our new CSR strategy will outdo both our
old strategy and that of other firms; instead of building up the environment in some
random place that has no ties to our company, we are bringing the results closer to home.
Bringing our CSR initiatives closer to home will allow the activities to have higher
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visibility and much more impact, both on the perception of our company and in bringing
about additional revenues. We know that CSR strategies are, in fact, supposed to
positively affect our bottom line. By doing it this way, we can couple it with our local
#FindBeauty campaign, teaching kids to recognize natural beauty around them, and really
get the local community to participate in discovering this beauty in their everyday life.
We believe this CSR strategy is directly related with the aim of Nu Skins products,
which is why we are extremely confident it will lead to further success for the company.
This initiative is separated into two phases. Phase 1 has Nu Skin pouring their
financial resources into improving the local environment, with money going towards
planting trees and gardens, and re-landscaping local school grounds and parks. These
financial resources will also go towards supporting the #FindBeauty campaign being
taught at schools, helping people recognize and appreciate beauty in the environment.
The important thing about our recommendation for Nu Skin is that they are not just
cutting a check and sitting back and calling that their entire CSR strategy. Phase 2 of this
initiative involves employees getting out in the community and actively participating and
serving in the environmental makeover. This connects the employees working in their
offices to their Social Responsibility campaign perfectly, aligning everyones goals and
focus throughout the year. In order to tie them even closer together, we recommend Nu
Skin report the employees service and participation in their Objectives and Key Results
(OKR) meetings throughout the year. By setting the standards and expectations high for
their employees, we ensure that they have plenty of incentive to actively participate in
and internalize in the companys CSR policy.

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Initiative 3: #FindBeauty Together

The third and final part of our recommendation is that Nu Skin BRIDGE the first
two initiatives together by bringing the children from the #FindBeauty campaigns and the
employees of the company together to combine on service projects in the local
community/environment. This initiative would bring Nu Skins CSR strategy around full
circle, perfectly combining aspects of their first two initiatives to build an even stronger
tie between the company, community, and environment. This collaboration with
employees and the schools would really drive the essence of the #FindBeauty campaigns
home with both the students and the employees, which is exactly what Nu Skin wants to
have happen.

Conclusion
Nu Skin wants to be known as a Force for Good. As we analyzed the corporate social
responsibility strategies of Nu Skin and their Competitors we came to the conclusion that Nu
Skin has a lot of holes in the way they approach their CSR. While Nu Skin offers monetary funds
to a lot of wonderful charities, their CSR strategies dont tie into their product line and they dont
get their employees directly involved in greeting this greater good. We truly believe that our
three recommendations; #FindBeauty in others and ourselves, #FindBeauty in the environment,
and #FindBeauty together, will not only improve Nu Skins image in the community, but will
help improve their overall brand image and success as a company. We believe the brands that
survive will be the brands that make life better for the world and for consumers (Peterson,
2015), and we believe that our new strategy for Nu Skin will help them not only survive but
thrive in their industry.

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References
"DTERRA - Essential Oils." DTERRA - Essential Oils. January 1, 2014. Accessed April 1,
2015. http://www.doterra.com/#/en.
"Dove.com." Dove Skin Care, Hair Care, Body Cleansers, Lotions & Beauty Tips. January 1,
2015. Accessed April 1, 2015. http://www.dove.us/.
Kurtzleben, Danielle. "Do Dove and Axe Sell the Same Message?" US News. April 18, 2013.
Accessed April 5, 2015. http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/04/18/unilever-facescriticism-for-real-beauty-ad-campaign.
Luke Peterson, Ethical Leadership (Lecture, BUSM 390 Business Ethics, Provo, UT, April 7,
2015).
Nu Skin Company Website. Nu Skin. January 1, 2015. Accessed April 6, 2015.
https://www.nuskin.com

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