INTRODUCTION The LOreal Group is the world's largest cosmetics and beauty company.

With its registered office in Paris and head office in the Paris suburb of Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, France, it has developed activities in the field of cosmetics. Concentrating on hair color, skin care, sun protection, make-up, perfumes and hair care, the company is active in the dermatological, tissue engineering and pharmaceutical fields and is the top nanotechnology patent-holder in the United States. Before the facial cosmetics, LOreal was known as a hair-color formula developed by French chemist Eugene Schueller in 1907. It was then known as "Aureole". Schueller formulated and manufactured his own products which were sold to Parisian hairdressers. It was only in 1909 that Schueller registered his company as "Societe Francaise de Teintures Inoffensive pour Cheveus, "the future LOreal. Scheuller began exporting his products, which was then limited to hair-coloring products. LOreal got its start in the hair-color business, but the company soon branched out into other cleansing and beauty products. LOreal currently markets over 500 brands and many thousands of individual products in all sectors of the beauty business: hair color, permanents, hair styling, body and skin care, cleansers, makeup and fragrances. The company's products are found in a wide variety of distribution channels, from hair salons and perfumeries to hyper - and supermarkets, health/beauty outlets, pharmacies and direct mail. There were 3 chemists employed in 1920. In 1950, the research teams increased to 100 and reached 1,000 by 1984. Today, research teams are numbered to 2,000 and are still expected to increase in the near future. Through agents and consignments, Scheuller further distributed his products in the United States of America, South America, Russia and the Far East. The LOreal Group is present worldwide through its subsidiaries and agents. LOreal started to expand its products from hair -color to other cleansing and beauty products. The LOreal Group today markets over 500 brands and more than 2,000 products in the various sectors of the beauty business. Such includes hair colors, permanents, styling aids, body and skincare, cleansers and fragrances. Indeed, the LOreal Group has reached the peak that all cosmetic brands sought after. Many factors contribute to the success of the Company.

SWOT ANALYSIS 1. Strength The ongoing success of the LOreal Group is without if not for the ingenuity of the concept of their vision as a team. LOreal Chairman and CEO Lindsay Owen -Jones consider passion as the key to the well-renowned accomplishment of the said Company. The primary strength of the Company is the continuing research and innovation in the interest of beauty which assures that the LOreal Cosmetics offers the best to their consumers. Their dedication to their continuous research makes them the leader in the growing cosmetics industry despite the competition in the market. Strength of the LOreal Groups is the developed activities in the field of cosmetics as well as in the dermatological and pharmaceutical fields in order to put more concentration their particular activities. The cosmetics activities of LOreal are divided into five groups. First is the Consumer Product Division which encompasses all the brands distributed through mass markets channels, ensuring that LOreal quality is available to the maximum number of consumers. The Luxury Products Division includes the prestigious international brands selectively distributed through perfumeries, department stores and duty-free shops. The Professional Products Division offers specific hair care products for use by professional hairdressers and products sold exclusively through hair salons. The Active Cosmetics Department creates and markets products for selective distribution through pharmacies and specialist health and beauty outlets. The LOreal Groups dermatological activities are linked with Galderma, which is basically a dermatological firm that contributes to the innovation of the LOreal Groups products. The pharmaceutical activities of LOreal are also handled by Sanofi-Aventis. These divisions and subdivisions ensure the quality that the LOreal Group offers to its customers. To further add to the e numerated strengths of the company, LOreals advertising strategy also plays a major part to its growth. Through adapting to the culture of their target market as the main tool of their advertisement, the Company brought LOreal products within reach of o ther women from different parts of the world.

2. Weaknesses Perhaps one of the weaknesses that a big company faces is the decentralized organizational structure. This is also part of the difficulties that LOreal is facing. Due to the many subdivisions of the Company, there is also the difficulty in the control of LOreal. This slows down the production of the Company because of the need of giving reference to the other Board members and directors of the Company. LOreal will also have a difficulty in finding out what division is accountable for the possible pitfalls of the Company. Another weakness that LOreal faces is their profit. The profit margin of LOreal is comparably low than that of the other smaller rivals. While LOreal projects certain rise in digits as their profit, the result does not usually meet the expectations. Perhaps, this is also due to the high-end advertising and marketing as well as the width of the Company. Finally, the coordination and the control of the activities and image in the worldwide market are also viewed as a weakness in the part of LOreal. Due to its worldwide marketing strategy, there are also dissimilarities brought about in the campaign of LOreal products as to what image they are to project. One of the weaknesses that are in the LOreal is Slow revenue growth. L'Oreal's long term

revenue growth has been low. Its nearest competitor, Estee Lauder, reported a higher revenue growth of6.7% during 2002-2006.Slow revenue growth relative to the industry average and the revenues of competitors such as Estee Lauder indicates a decline in competitiveness and lack of revenue driving products

3. Opportunities The LOreal Company concentrates on cosmetic products that enhance women of all ages. The growing demand for beauty products gives LOreal the opportunity to focus in their field of specialization, particularly on hair styling and color, skincare, cosmetics and perfumeries. Being the leading cosmetic brand gives them the edge for their well-known image. Opportunity also emanates from their growing market that ranges from the affluent, the aging and also the masses of the developed countries. Another opportunity that LOreal must take advantage of is their greater market share because of the numerous patents registered by the Company. This enables them to have the top of the line products only to their name and therefore would lead costumers only to them for they could not find any of the said cosmetics in other brands.

Among of their opportunity is a demographic trend in the US. Growing beauty consciousness especially among the aging baby boomers is an important trend for all cosmetics companies In the US, the elderly are seen to be increasingly using beauty enhancing/revitalizing lotions and cosmetics. Hence, LOreal, with leading products marketed for this segment could look to benefit from this trend.

Next is cosmetics market in emerging nations the importance of emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil on the rise for cosmetics companies due to increasing popularity of beauty contests and increasing disposable incomes. China is the second largest cosmetics market in Asia after Japan. LOreal already has a strong foothold in these markets and hence is well positioned to benefit from the ensuing demand for beauty products in these markets.

4. Threats A threat to the LOreal group is also the growing competition within the field of cosmetic brands. Due to the ongoing addition to the field of cosmetics, there is still the danger that other brands could surpass the profit of LOreal. Another threat to the Company is the economic downturn that is quite evident in other countries. Such could thus hurt the possibility of higher profit for the company. Most products of LOreal are within the reach of the citizens of developed countries, but LOreal may have pr oblems reaching out even to the average people from the underdeveloped countries. Also a threat to the LOreal Group is the spending habits of consumer and the economic crunch that most countries are experiencing as of present. While the LOreal Group may be producing the best of its line, people may find that their products are not of their basic needs and would skip buying LOreal products. However, with the growth of the market, the damage could be far from taking place. First of all, the treats of LOreal are growing popularity of cosmetic surgery. Beauty consumers are increasingly taking refuge in new technologies such as advanced dermatology, cosmetic surgery, hair and organ transplant and other treatments to enhance their beauty. Not only are the results from these treatments instant, but they are also long lasting. This could reduce dependence on traditional beauty aids such as creams and lotions, which could lead to a fall in demand for the skin and hair care products of LOreal. Next is an intense competition. The skin care, makeup, fragrance and hair care businesses are characterized by intense competition throughout the world. The company competes in selected product categories against a number of multinational manufacturers. In addition to products sold in the mass-market and demonstratorassisted channels, the company's products also compete with similar products sold in prestige department store channels, door-to-door or through mail-order or telemarketing by representatives of direct sales companies. Brand recognition, quality, performance and price have a significant influence on consumers' choices among competing products and brands.

Summary: Using ISO 14000 Certification to gain strategic Advantage This insert discusses the use of ISO 14000 certification to gain strategic advantage. The ISO is based in Ganeva, Switzerland and represents a network of the national standards institutes for 147 countries. Its standards are voluntary but widely accepted worldwide. ISO 1440 is a series of voluntary in the environmental field. This family of standards addresses the extent to which a firm minimizes harmful effects on the environment caused by its activities and continually monitors and improves its own environmental performance. The U.S Environmental Production Agency offers a guide on becoming ISO 14001 certified. The major requirements of an EMS under ISO 1401 including, identifying all aspects of the organizations activities, products and services that could have impact on the environmental. Set the performances objectives and targets for the managements. Implement an EMS to meet environmental objectives also should audit the operation of the EMS. Lastly, take corrective actions when deviations from EMS occur. Hence, from that we can conclude that the ISO 14001 standards on air, water, and soil quality, and on emissions of gases and radiation, contribute to preserving the environment in which we all live and work and not being ISO 14001 certified can be a strategic disadvantages for towns, countries, and companies as people today expect organizations to minimize or, even better to eliminate environmental harm they cause.