Business as Unusual

The founder of an upscale English cosmetics company well established on these shores, Roddick fervently believes that companies should be more than simply profitable: they ""must actively do good"" in the environment and for labor, serving as ""incubators of the human spirit."" Roddick has put her money where her mouth is by making the Body Shop one of the first companies to integrate recycling into its daily operations, and committing time and money to various environmental causes. In this rambling autobiography/ management tome, she tells how she founded her companyDone of the first to introduce a mix of organic products now offered by many (most notably Bath & Body Works). She also describes her successful court challenge to the BBC and ABC documentaries that nearly destroyed her company by suggesting that, contrary to her claims, her products were tested on animals. Roddick can be hard to take when she soapboxes about the need for businesses to change the world. Her keenest insights are on how passion and opportunism can launch a business; she also has much of value to say about how she refashioned her business in order to survive. (Jan.)