Challenges and Strategies in International Business: A Case Study of Unilever

This report discusses the challenges faced by multinational companies in international business and how Unilever overcomes them. It includes a case study on Unilever's progress in the Asian market, focusing on its export and import activities. The report also analyzes the specific challenges in operating within emerging markets and evaluates Unilever's strategies and functional strategies. Recommendations are provided for Unilever's future business expansion in Asian markets.

International
Business Module

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY.............................................................................................................................3
TASK1.......................................................................................................................................3
Challenges facing multi-national companies and how to overcome them.............................3
TASK2.......................................................................................................................................5
The organisation (case study).................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS............................................................................8
REFERENCES...........................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Unilever it is a British multinational consumer goods organisation which
headquartered in London UK. Company provide various kinds of products including food
energy drinks baby food candies soft drink ice cream the cleaning agent and many other
household as well as consumer goods which are directly related to daily and basic needs of
customers (Hamilton and Webster, 2018). Company on shore 400 brands and annual turnover
of the organisation is 53.7 billion euros. In the present report, there is discussion about the
export and import international activities of the organisation where the specific target market
of Unilever is Asian market where company want to increase its export and import activities.
The present report is consists of various challenges which are faced by the organisation
while using these international icing approach as well as a study related to the organisation
any form of case study and some specific challenges.
MAIN BODY
TASK1
Challenges facing multi-national companies and how to overcome them
What is the problems MNEs face?
There is different kind of problems which a multinational company face while opting
internationalisation process. In context of Unilever, organisation also faces multiple
challenges while internationalising its operations some of these are mentioned below:
 Cost calculation and global pricing strategy: The major issue which is faced by
Unilever while trading cross-border is that organisation fees because with calculation
issues as well as global pricing strategies issues where company has to decide the
price according to the nation where it is trading as well as identify all the cost
implemented in the product while manufacturing product.
 Currency rates: Changing currency rate is also an important factor which impacting
the performance of Unilever and cross border trades. This is because due to some
economic changes within the business environment there is continuous changes in
currency of different nations which will impact trade between two nation as well as
profitability of the organisation (Tian, 2016).
How can they overcome problems?

There are various measures which are taken by Unilever to solve these issues related to cross
border trading. Some of these are mentioned below:
 Hiring local employees: Unilever follower cross cultural management organisations
hire local employees from the area where the form is going to trade for reading
currently in an international process. Help organisation in identification of the cost as
well as managing the global pricing strategy according to the area where the trading
and selling its business products (Paul, 2020).
 Contingency account: This is helpful account to the organisation which help
company in overcoming from the shortcomings related to changing currency. this type
is useful to minimise the negative impact of currency rates changes within trade
between two Nations.
What are the risks of operating across borders? How can they mitigate risks?
In relation to the Unilever, the major risk faced by the organisation is political risk.
This is because in Asian countries majority of the government are unexpected the change
continuously which arise different kind of political changes as well as trade barriers to the
organisation and firm has to prepare itself according to these changes. For saving the interest
of the organisation as well as earning at folder level Unilever use a strategy of building good
relation with different political parties as well as legal authorities because political parties can
change but legal authorities never. Help organisation in maintaining its international business
in different Asian countries (Jackson and Horwitz, 2018).
Apply some international theory
Economic approach
Important theory which directly related to the state of the organisation within the
market by using the monopolistic advantages within the driving force and help the firm in
making decisions according to the location of the product facilities and implementing their
product within the market. Under this approach economic system will be followed by the
organisation so that it can easily compete with other drivers in the market by increasing its
entry in the market at international level.
What specific challenges are there in operating within emerging markets?

In relation to Unilever, the major issue with organisation face while operating in
emerging market is related to the economic factor within Asia. The purchasing power of the
customer in Asia is low but because of high population organisation can use economy of
scale so that it can produce at larger levels and can increase the chances of success by
providing a cost effective products.
TASK2
The organisation (case study)
Assess the progress made by the organisation in establishing itself in the market from
first planning its entry strategy until now.
Unilever is a global performing organisation where organisation has its functioning in
various Nations. Company always prefer a proper strategy so that it can easily international is
its products as well as increased its market share in a new market. In relation to the Asian
market, is continuously following is related to marketing. This organisation uses a proper
plan which is discussed below:
 Market research: in beginning unity was started a proper market research according
to the pattern of customer as well as their behaviour target is customer within the
market (Narula, 2019).
 Identification of competitors: Market research Company used to identify it remain
competitive in the market of Asia where it found that there are no major competitor to
the organisation because of uniqueness within the product of the form as well as
proper research and development.
 Market plan and strategy: After completing market research and competition
analysis Unilever form a proper marketing plan by building different strategies so that
it can increase its product market as well as eliminate the competition.
Analysing emerging market
Analysis of the emerging market Unilever use pest analysis. PEST analysis
Framework which is used by the organisation to identify different factors related to the
external environment and can impact in future of the organisation for decision making ability.
Political: in relation to the emerging market, there are various political factors which
impact on the Unilever performance. The major political factors which impact on

performance of Unilever for international transactions is the changing governments. Due to
regular changes in in Asian governments organisation has to face change in policies and
procedures related to each and every government which will impact on the structure of
Unilever (Furusawa and Brewster, 2018).
Economic: Economic factors are those factors which are directly related to the
functioning of the firm within the economy. It includes factor like exchange rates,
employment ratio and many more. In relation to the Unilever, changing exchange rates is a
current factor which impact economic to the organisation and has to be keep in mind while
performing different transactions related to inventory.
Social: Social factors are also important part of the analysis related to the external
environment because it includes the changing trends which has to be filled by the Unilever in
Asian countries. Organisation has to make amendments in its products so that it can remain in
the competition by analysing the changes within the trend of social economy.
Technology: factors are those which are related to the changes in the technology in a
current working environment of the organisation. In relation to the Unilever, various kind of
technological change in the Asian market because of involvement of Chinese products as
well as due to implementation of heavy machinery in production because of large-scale.
Functional areas:
In relation to Unilever, different kind of functional area where it mainly perform
communication functions, customer development, finance, general manager, human
resources, information technology, legal and marketing functions. Management within the
Unilever always ensure a proper coordination between all the functional areas so that it can
perform at fuller level of resources by combining efforts of different individuals.
Supply chain:
Unilever follow proper supply chain management within the organisation where it
takes supply chain management as a centralised approach. offer internationalising the product
company include approximately 1 lakh employees with working over 70,000 suppliers so that
it can easily manage its supply chain functions and can increase the availability of the product
within the different markets of the Asia Pacific (Doh, 2019).
Evaluate the organisation’s strategies:

First international entry: For making international entry within international markets
of Asia, Unilever adopted strategy where it is to develop new and innovative products in the
market so that form can achieve its objectives by eliminating the competition within the
market and using various products related to development.
Organising and structuring its global operations: For this organisation follow
internationalisation structure their company maintain full flexibility within its different
functions so that it can manage each and every department by managing the work as well as
providing the theory in an appropriate. Rules and regulations are also adopted where
company follow a proper operational structure so that accountability of each and every
individual can be decided.
Finally for maintaining competitive advantage in the face of new challenges and
changing conditions: For maintaining the competitive advantage organisation used as we
approach where it segmented targeted and positioned it product to the customers as well as
use different kind of marketing tools and techniques like advertisement and promotion
activities so that it can attract the customers throughout the organisation product. This also
adopted a proper research and development programs which help in attracting large number
of customer by offering innovative products.
Evaluate how effective their international functional strategies
Operations: Unilever always adopted different strategies for operations, for
managing it cooperation organisation use a proper structure where flow of authority goes
from top to bottom level so that it can manage each and every individual by assigning them
proper roles and responsibility according to their skills and abilities.
Marketing: Unilever always used marketing strategy is a base for achieving its goals
and objectives by and attracting the large number of customer. Company always adopt the
policy of branding and merchandising. Help form in achieving its goals and objectives related
to promotion of different products (Wrana and Diez, 2016).
HR: Human resources are the important resources of the Unilever Therefore, Unilever
follower proper strategy which is directly related to the development of human resources
management by providing them effective training and development programs. This helps
Company in managing resources as well as the maximum competitive advantage in the
market of Asia where organisation is going to trade and start its business.

CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS
It can be concluded from the above mentioned study that there are various option
available to the unit lever for adopting the international market as well as selling its product
to the international level in cross borders. there are some recommendations which are
mentioned below and can be used by the manager of Unilever while starting their business in
Asian markets.
 It is recommended to the organisation that it has been used a proper strategy where it
can achieve its business objectives by using this strategy organisation can analyse the
behaviour of customers with the Asian markets and take decision by using the
resources effectively.
 One more recommendation to the organisation is that, you can use a proper strategy to
attract investor within the firm so that it can easily use its export and import policies
for expanding its business to different Asian countries like China India Pakistan and
many others.

REFERENCES
Hamilton, L. and Webster, P., 2018. The international business environment. Oxford
University Press.
Tian, X., 2016. Managing international business in China. Cambridge University Press.
Paul, J., 2020. Five decades of research on foreign direct investment by MNEs: An overview
and research agenda. Journal of Business Research.
Jackson, T. and Horwitz, F.M., 2018. Expatriation in Chinese MNEs in Africa: an agenda for
research. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29(11),
pp.1856-1878.
Narula, R., 2019. Enforcing higher labor standards within developing country value chains:
Consequences for MNEs and informal actors in a dual economy. Journal of
International Business Studies, 50(9), pp.1622-1635.
Furusawa, M. and Brewster, C., 2018. Japanese self‐initiated expatriates as boundary
spanners in Chinese subsidiaries of Japanese MNEs: Antecedents, social capital, and
HRM practices. Thunderbird International Business Review, 60(6), pp.911-919.
Doh, J.P., 2019. MNEs, FDI, inequality and growth. Multinational Business Review.
Wrana, J. and Diez, J.R., 2016. Can Multinational Enterprises Introduce New Institutions to
Host Countries? An explorative study about MNEs' training programs with
educational institutes and their potential influence on Vietnam's vocational education
sector. Geographische Zeitschrift, 104(3), pp.158-182.