Abstract
Mary Kay Cosmetics (MKC) is an American company that deals directly with selling of cosmetics and toiletries products.
It has existed for 15 years since 1992. It is implanted in 21 countries and planning to market 4 or 5 new markets.
It is a “feminine firm” which promotes a strong philosophy of self fulfillment and woman charisma through the way of using and selling MKC products. Indeed, MKC proposes middle-line products, accessible for all American women, and promotes business opportunities for them… for both clients and beauty consultants.
Mary Kay Cosmetics focuses not so much on how much profit the company could make, but rather on giving women opportunity to make real, noticeable income while maintaining balance with family life. Using the direct sales model, consultants continually seek out new customers, but they present the products in customers' homes. Its estimated retail sales in 1992 are $1 billion. MKC sold a range of skin care, personal care, and cosmetics products through approximately 275,000 independent salespeople worldwide, known as “beauty consultants”.
In early 1993, the United States was still emerging from the recession of 1991-1992, one that was different from all of those preceding it. All of American business had undergone dramatic structural changes during the 1980s, and that shift was still in progress in the early 1990s. China had been conducting an economic experiment in its southernmost province and represented at that time the new Eldorado for American firms which were in bad shape.
In the early 1990s, Mary Kay Cosmetics was contemplating whether expansion into China and Japan would be beneficial for the company. The purpose here is to assess this question, as well as identify the key elements of Mary Kay's expansion strategy.
