SWOT Analysis of Unilever: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats

This report analyzes the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of Unilever, a global leader in the consumer products industry. It also examines the impact of key drivers on the marketing and HRM functions of the company.

Global Business
Environment

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
SWOT Analysis...........................................................................................................................3
Operational Impact Analysis.......................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Unilever is a global leader in the consumer products industry. Unilever's SWOT analysis
displays the company's current state as well as its external environment. Long-term success may
be boosted by strategies based on corporate strengths and market possibilities (Susilowati, 2018).
The aim of this report is to analyse the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and also the threats of
the Unilever Company. This report also aims at analysing the impact of the key drivers
concluded from the SWOT analysis upon the functional or operational areas of the company
namely: Marketing and HRM (Human resource management).
MAIN BODY
SWOT Analysis
Strength
 It offers a diverse product offering and
a wider and deeper inventory of brands,
making it well suited to engage into
shifting market tastes throughout the
globe.
 The most important strength of the
company is their skilled workforce
which allow them to sever the evolving
needs and demands of their potential
customer (Shetty and Shreenidh, 2018).
 Along with its flexible pricing & skill
in transmission lines that cover every
minute detail of the world, Unilever
seems to have a significant competitive
edge over its closest competitors.
Weaknesses
 Unilever's main flaw has been that it
plays in a hyper-competitive market
wherein rival strong competitors
including P&G, Nestle, etc., are
constantly challenging its supremacy
and raising the bar in the trillion-dollar
FMCG industry (Lang, 2020).
 Another drawback though is that the
goods are frequently substituted,
particularly in growing asian and
african Countries, wherein rural
customers in the backcountry
frequently adopt natural and traditional
replacements to Unilever's goods.
Opportunities
 Potential customers in developing
markets have all been desiring to
westernization as a due to globalization
Threats
 As previously stated, Company is
operating in a business segment within
which local products and alternative

as well as the expansion of public
sphere, which signifies Unilever really
does have a huge opportunity ahead of
that as it delves in with this wide and
complex target consumers that needs to
enter the top division of western people
in terms of lifestyle for goods and
services.
 The rise of the fitness and wellness
customer in the developed countries
implies that Unilever may take
advantage of the chance to sell to this
group from its established yet still to be
launched products relating to health.
 With the advent of the reform and
rehabilitate customer who wants cheap
and enjoy items and goods that have
been sustainably created and
sustainably produced, Unilever has an
excellent reputation of social and
environmental responsibility.
options to it's own brand products are
abundant, particularly in developing
markets, and therefore faces
competition from fairly small, more
flexible local newcomers capable of
providing the most value for far less
money even without costs associated
which big companies like Unilever
must bear.
 The arrival of Asian corporations into
the competitive environment has
increased the stakes in the worldwide
fight for supremacy in the FMCG
market sector for Unilever (Feng, Chen
and He, 2019). This means Unilever
will have to contend with not just the
recessionary blues, but also developing
dangers from a modern generation and
growing number of competitors in the
form of Asian giants that are preparing
to broaden their horizons globally.
Operational Impact Analysis
The key drivers of the Unilever Company have huge impact upon the operations and
functions of the company. They are discussed below with respect to two of the functional areas
of the company, such as:
 Marketing: It basically is described as the activities of the human which is geared at
fulfilling the needs and desires to exchange procedures while meeting the needs and
desires of the consumers (Murphy and Murphy, 2018). It also includes an analysis of
product mix pricing promotion and various distribution networks. There are various types
of techniques and procedures which are considered by the company Unilever so as to
promote and market their product to reach out potential customers and targeted

audiences. In the Modern era there have been many ways with the help of an audience of
potential customers being targeted by the company. One such example of it is social
media platforms. The company offers a wide range of products and services to its
customers keeping in mind their changing needs and demands. The company also
provides training to its workers so that they can market their product to the potential
customers in an effective manner. Skills of the workforce are utilised by the company so
as to market their product and help the company in reaching out to potential customers
and accomplish their desired target.
 HRM: The centralised administration of staff, their activities, growth as well as the
control for the whole organisation are all part of the human resource management
functions. Personnel are viewed as resources in today's corporate world and they are used
to develop and implement various plans (Tsourvakas and Yfantidou, 2018). HRM has a
significant impact on the success of an organisation. This has been proved very beneficial
for the company Unilever as the HRM helped a lot in achieving the target of the company
specially by employing such employees in the company which are killed and qualified.
Employment development of Human Resource remuneration relations with human and
Industrial Relations are the major five strategic decision areas that are dealt with by the
HRM. This department also provides training to the Employees employed in the
companies so that their skills are utilised by the company in a positive manner which in
result provide the company with success and profits.
CONCLUSION
It is concluded from the above report that to analyse the internal functioning and understand
the management of the company in a better and effective manner, it is important to perform
SWOT analysis so that the company eliminate threat and weaknesses and work upon the
available opportunities with the help of its strengths. These factors also helps in analysing
various functional areas of the company like marketing, R&D, Finance, HRM, etc.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Feng, Y., Chen, H. and He, L., 2019. Consumer responses to femvertising: a data-mining case of
dove’s “campaign for real beauty” on YouTube. Journal of Advertising, 48(3), pp.292-
301.
Lang, M., 2020. From Watts to Wall Street: A Situationist analysis of political violence.
In Cultures of Violence (pp. 16-39). Routledge.
Murphy, P.E. and Murphy, C.E., 2018. Sustainable living: Unilever. In Progressive Business
Models (pp. 263-286). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Shetty, T.S. and Shreenidhi, B.S., 2018. A Case Study on Corporate Social Responsibility
Initiatives with Special Reference to Hindustan Unilever Limited. Anveshana, 8(2),
pp.59-76.
Susilowati, K.D.S., 2018. Creating economic value through multi-stakeholder partnership (case
study on the black soybean farmers development programme of Unilever
Indonesia). International Journal of Monetary Economics and Finance, 11(3), pp.289-
297.
Tsourvakas, G. and Yfantidou, I., 2018. Corporate social responsibility influences employee
engagement. Social Responsibility Journal.