From my reading of the Closing Case “Avon Products” on page 404 (Hill, 2015), Avon was pursuing the strategy of direct sales with independent contractors until the mid-2000s. The advantages of this strategy were autonomy of the sales force where they could determine their own paycheck by how much effort they were wiling to give while the disadvantages were inconsistent effort across the sales area and difficulty in forecasting sales. In terms of the framework introduced in this chapter, Avon was pursuing the strategy of globalization with autonomous country directors by the late 2000s. Avon’s problems in 2010 and 2011 were not a result of the changes in its strategy but were due to other reasons such as corruption and bribes and more competition with companies such as Proctor and Gamble.

My mother sold Avon in the 70’s, a time where it was normal for men to be at work while the wives stayed home and tended to the household and the children. I realize there were both single parent families and some stay at home dads, but normal in 1970 was the man worked and the woman stayed home. Though not mentioned in the text, as our society changes the norms, the accessibility to client’s change. The direct sales still work in nations which have parent staying home but where both work, there needs to be a change in the marketing, such as stores/shops where the product can be found without waiting for a representative to show up and ring the bell.