Keele Management School
MAN-20062 Assignment: Semester 2, 2014/15
CASE STUDY: CHRIS AND THE NATUREA CLINIC
Introduction.
The trend for bodily “self-improvement” has gathered pace in recent years. In sports centres and gymnasia around the world, people sought not only to improve their fitness but also to sculpt their bodies to perfection. For many, however, this is no longer enough and gyms have failed to deliver the desired levels of physical attractiveness to some participants. Many men and women now are considering, or have already undertaken, cosmetic surgery to achieve the required level of body improvement.
A large number of surgical cosmetic techniques can now be offered, and they are available worldwide via independent clinics and even chains of clinics. Cosmetic surgery has become normalised where once it was exceptional.
A major influence on the person-next-door, in terms of the perfect body, comes from actors and celebrities. Celebrities of all kinds are subjected to intense scrutiny by the media and the public. Their clothing choices, their style, their weight and their faces are constantly being appraised, evaluated and rated. There is a particular speculation as to whether actors have had “work” done on their faces. For example, the actress Renee Zellweger hit the headlines recently when her face seemed to have undergone considerable and unexplained changes in its appearance (Lambert, 2014).
Of course, Hollywood actors have long since experimented with cosmetic surgery in an effort to stay young-looking, and to keep working as long as possible, and their efforts have usually attracted the attention of traditional media such as newspapers, magazines and websites. Now however, there is added pressure from social media and from the ever-critical social media trolls. Private individuals do not have to face the cameras in the same way as celebrities, but they do have to negotiate the potentially negative opinions of their family, friends and workmates, and many are active users of social media, hence there are some parallels.
Industry trends in cosmetic surgery
The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons(BAAPS) represents the vast majority of the UK’s consultant plastic surgeons in private practice today, who trained under the National Health Service (NHS). BAAPS data reveal that the number of cosmetic operations in 2013 increased 17% on average compared to 2012. No single procedure decreased in its popularity over this time period.
According to the BAAPS, the top tensurgical procedures for men & women in the UK for 2013 (total 50,122 – an increase of 16.5%) were as follows, in order of popularity:
• Breast augmentation: 11,135 – up 13% from last year
• Blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery): 7,808 – up 14%
• Face/Neck Lift: 6,380 – up 13%
• Breast Reduction: 5,476 – up 12.5%
• Rhinoplasty: 4,878 – up 17%
• Liposuction: 4,326 – up 41%
• Abdominoplasty: 3,466 – up 16%
• Fat Transfer: 3,302 – up 14.5%
• Browlift: 2,138 – up 17%
• Otoplasty (ear correction): 1,213 – up 14%
Data from the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery(ISAPS) indicates that in 2009, South Korea became the country with the world’s highest per capita rate of cosmetic plastic surgery, that is, the greatest number of procedures per person. Closely following South Korea were Greece, Italy and the Unites States.
A relatively recent trend is the growth of cosmetic surgery tourism (Holliday et al, 2014) where people get their cosmetic surgery done in a foreign country either because it is cheaper or because the surgery and recovery can be combined with a holiday in a scenic part of the world.Clearly this represents a form of consumerisation of the surgery experience as it becomes a bundled experience rather than a significant, singular, free-standing experience.
Chris’s story
Chris’s prominentnose was a feature that had been the cause of unhappinessand dissatisfaction for a long time. Chris spent four or five years thinking about getting it fixed through surgery before actually going ahead and choosing a clinic to do an operation. There was no medical need for the nose to be operated on – it was done purely for cosmetic reasons but Chrisfelt it was very important to look better. Many people are self-conscious of a beakynose, and at the age of 30, Chris decided to act.
Once the decision to proceed was made, Chris conducted extensive research on the internet and read relevant news journals, also reading up on many websites and in discussion forums to get a feel for who might be the primary candidates for nose surgery.In the end, a private clinic, the Naturea Clinic, was chosen to do the cosmetic surgery.
Chris then went through the process of meeting with the clinic’s surgeon, getting a consultation and viewing before and after photos of previous patients. Overall, the consultation was very easy and relaxing – an important factor for Chris. There was no pressure and the surgeonpatiently listened, thenanswered all questions. Chris’s internet research had shown that some doctors do not take much time with patients and pressure them into making a decision. This was not the case atthe Naturea Clinic.
According to Chris, the nose surgery itself was fairly easy to endure and everything went well. Naturally there was some pain and discomfort after the surgery, as would happen with any operation, but Chris had expected this. After a couple of weeks Chris found that life was back on track, and the pain was receding, so the overall impression was that it was a relatively simple process. However, a second operation was necessary at the six month stage to correct a minor problem, and this operation was successful.
Chris now says:“I have to say I love my new nose! My surgeon did a great job. It’s almost like I never had it done and my new nose always looked this way. It’s natural and looks great – you really can’t tell I’ve had it done. I’m tempted to have my eyelids lifted now as well.”
Chris’s mother’s view of the surgery
“I was dead set against Chris having this surgery. You never know what will happen when you have an operation…….what the dangers are. I kept thinking about the story of the famous footballer’s wife, the one who kept going for cosmetic surgery and died of complications after yet another operation……….. Makes you think! I thought Chris’s nose looked just fine without the operation…… I really tried to talk Chris out of it”
Chris’s friend’s view of the surgery
“Another friend of ours had a cosmetic procedure done last year…..wasn’thappy with the shape of his nose. He’d seen a picture of some work that a Hollywood actor had done. Quite impressive results………The celebrities – they’re all going in for procedures, these days, aren’t they? Botox, fillers, liposuction, the lot.Men and women.Can’t see the harm in it, myself. …………It’s risky of course, but my circle of friends is pretty relaxed about all this. It’s what people do nowadays. Mind you I wouldn’t do it myself. Scared of needles.……………One of my friends are even talking about combining some surgery with a holiday – somewhere hot, like Singapore or Malaysia. Makes the recovery period much nicer. And it’s much cheaper and easier to do it there, apparently”.
Chris’s father’s view
“It was Chris’s decision – no-one else’s. I was a bit worried, though, about all this advertising bumf, all the stuff you find on websites, all of it saying ‘go ahead….no problems whatsoever’. I guess they wouldn’t be allowed to say that if it wasn’t true, right?…….. And doctors must all be OK with it, or they wouldn’t do it, right? ………I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that somebody somewhere is making a lot of money out of this. They’re not doing it out of the goodness of their heart, that’s for sure…….But if a simple operation can fix someone’s nose or sticking-out stomach, then why not? There’s thousands, millions, who’ve had the operations. They can’t all be wrong.”
The Naturea Clinic
The Clinic was first established twenty one years ago, in 1994, by two eminent cosmetic surgeons, one from the UK and the other from Malaysia, who originally met as students being trained under the NHS in the UK. They became friends and subsequently established a chain of 18 clinics across Europe and S E Asia, growing steadily at first, then swiftly as the cosmetic surgery culture gathered speed in more recent years.
The Clinic prides itself of employing well-qualified surgeons, although one of the clinics was recently embroiled in a legal battle with a dissatisfied customer over a failed procedure. Surgeons undergo a rigorous selection procedure before being appointed. The company’s code of ethics is due to be updated and revised, according to the Operations Manager, “….just as soon as someone can be released to do it. We are extremely busy at the moment”.
The Marketing team within Naturea is relatively small, with the Brand Manger claiming “people say we’re lean and mean”. The Brand Manager is a key figure in the organisation, and spends a lot of time travelling around the clinics to encourage the surgeons to become more business-minded. Meanwhile, no real analysis has been done regarding brand values, brand position and brand strategy.
The Natureamedical team members complain amongst themselves that the company has been hijacked by the team of managers who run the clinics, and that they (the medics) are under too much pressure to hit targets regarding the number and nature of operations they are expected to do. The surgeons feel that they are the ones who mustsafeguardstandards, practices and procedures, as well as protectingtheir own reputations. Their training makes them proceed in a cautious and measured way, but they are being chivvied by the management team to be more dynamic and market-facing, in order to make the company more profitable.
Sources[Online sources accessed February 24, 2015]
British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (2014)Britain sucks, February 3 at http://baaps.org.uk/about-us/press-releases/1833-britain-sucks
Holliday, R et al (2014)“Sun, Sea, Sand and Silicone: Mapping Cosmetic Surgery Tourism – Final Report, 2014”, ESRC report online at: http://www.academia.edu/7768861/Sun_Sea_Sand_and_Silicone_Mapping_Cosmetic_Surgery_Tourism_-_Final_Report
International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery(2009).Data at:http://www.asianplasticsurgeryguide.com/news10-2/081003_south-korea-highest.html).
Lambert V (2014) Renée Zellweger: why does her face look so different?The Telegraph online, October 23, at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11180225/Renee-Zellweger-why-does-her-face-look-so-different.html
The Economist (2013) Plastic makes perfect, economist.com,January 30, http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2013/01/daily-chart-22
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ASSIGNMENT BRIEFING
Tasks/questions
Q1 Analyse Chris’s decision to have surgery, taking into account the perspectives of the various interested parties. Use ethical theory to structure your arguments and to explain your logic.
Q2 Use Carroll’s classification to explore the way in which the Naturea Clinic should/could perform its corporate social responsibilities.
Q3 Explore the ethical arguments for and against consumers engaging in cosmetic surgery tourism.
Q4 Should the advertising of cosmetic surgery by clinics such as Natureabe banned? Explore the arguments for and against a ban.
Requirements
• Write up your response to the tasks/questions in essay format
• You should answer each of the questions separately in sub-sections of your essay
• Your work should draw in a wide range of academic sources, chosen by you for their interest and relevance to the case and the questions, and to help you to build up your arguments
Use a minimum of FOUR JOURNAL ARTICLESFROM THE COURSE READING LIST, carefully selected to provide academic and theoretical support to your essay. (Journal of Macromarketing
Marketing Theory
Business Ethics: A European Review
Journal of Business Ethics
Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organization Studies
Journal of Public Policy & Marketing
Journal of Consumer Policy
The Social Marketing Quarterly
Journal of Health Care Marketing
Also mainstream marketing journals carry special issues/papers:
Journal of Marketing
European Journal of Marketing
Journal of Marketing Management )
• You may use books as sources of knowledge, of course, but note that books do not count as journal articles – they are a different category. Do not confuse the two.
• Your work must be fully referenced, and the word limit is 2000 words
• This assignment has a 50% weighting towards your overall grade in this module
• The assessment criteria can be found at the end of this document
Procedure for submission of assignment: Submit your work via TURNITIN, plus one print copy to the School Office by 12 noon on March 26, 2015.
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
Fail
Not focused on the questions, and/or does not answer all the questions. Has not used the required four journal articles to provide academic grounding. Very poorly written and/or poorly argued. Not properly referenced. Provides little relevant evidence or data for the assertions made.
Pass
A reasonable focus on the questions. Presents basic but sensible arguments, supported by some relevant evidence, and/or theory.
Merit
As for “pass” plus: Well focused on the questions. Arguments are well structured and supported by relevant evidence and theory. Explores the tasks from a variety of perspectives.
Distinction
As for “Merit” plus: Well written and well focused on the questions. Shows the ability to use and apply knowledge in relation to the case study. A relevant selection of journal articles and theory is made to support the arguments. Provides a rounded and balanced analysis of the situation, exploring the perspectives of a number of different stakeholders in the case study in an effective way. Excellent work overall.
