A Brief Biography of Andrea Jung

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Andrea Jung was born in 1959 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and raised in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Jung graduated magna cum laude at Princeton University and planned to continue to law school afterwards. Jung had gotten a job training her to be a manager at Bloomingdale’s, allowing her to step into the field of law. She did so exceedingly well at this job that she continued to a different job and began her debut at I. Magnin & Company as senior vice president, general merchandising manager. Next, she handled issues concerning accessories, cosmetics and apparel as the executive vice president of Neiman Marcus. Law quickly vanished as the fashion world approached Jung. In 1993, Jung joined Avon Products, Inc. as a consultant and she was soon promoted for her hard work in 1994 as the product marketing group president for U.S. operations. Jung worked on introducing more modern lines while continuing the company’s traditional branding efforts. She introduced successes such as the Avon Apparel line and suggested getting rid of a large number of Avon’s old fragrances to make way for new ones. Jung spent time getting to know the company and thrived rapidly at the top. In 1996, she became the global marketing president and in 1997 became the executive vice president and president of global marketing and new business. Jung’s major responsibilities were centered on market research, joint ventures and strategic planning. Soon after, she became president and chief operating officer, with responsibility for all business units of Avon worldwide. Since 1998, Jung has been on Avon’s board of directors and in 1999, when the company wasn’t doing so well, Jung was named CEO of Avon Products Inc. at 43 years old and the first female CEO in the history o...

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... worst 5 CEOs by Bloomberg Businessweek. Regardless of her fizzle out, Jung introduced new technology to Avon as well as a new line of make-up. Avon cosmetics are now being sold in 143 different countries with a profit upbringing of 41 percent. Jung gave Avon a renovation when she took over and used a low-cost business level strategy to gain competitive advantage. Avon has used new technology to go worldwide and became more profitable through Jung’s hard work and passion. Jung, 53, helped Avon to expand internationally and increased its support of women's causes such as the fights against breast cancer and domestic violence. In recent years, though, she had to deal with high-profile financial and legal issues, such as declining U.S. sales, falling stock value and an investigation into the alleged bribery of foreign officials, leading to her downfall and resignation.

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