Innovation Capabilities for Unilever: Action Plan Roadmap for Development and Implementation

Managing Innovation
in Business

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
It is discussed the report that an organisation can innovate through various processes and
ways so that it can achieve competitive advantage in the market. It is obtained that innovation is
very important in a constantly developing world because there is always the need for
improvement within the business so that they can sustain themselves in a highly competitive
world. The following report is demonstrating various innovative trends such as change in
technology and globalisation that are majorly impacting the innovation within the FMCG sector.
Moreover various models like Porter's 5 forces and PESTLE analysis are also provided for the
Unilever so that the need for innovation can be examined. Along with this it is investigating the
requirement for innovation within the organisation for improving future growth and development
activities. In this context the relationship between value chain and innovation is discussed along
with the innovation design and economic reality of innovation that are affected by organisational
culture. Furthermore, various innovation factors for success and failure within the organisation
are discussed along with the role of leadership in knowledge development and knowledge
transfer for innovation. Knowledge management matrix SECI model is also elaborated for
creating knowledge within the organisation so that higher competitiveness of the organisation
can be achieved. Finally various innovation strategies are discussed to improve supply chain
management within the organisation to meet future requirements of the business.

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION 250 W................................................................................................................1
The Future of the Industry 2020 and Beyond..................................................................................1
Innovative trends that are prevailing......................................................................................1
Range of models to assess the industry trends.......................................................................2
The Organisations Innovation Requirements 2020 and Beyond.....................................................4
Relationship between value chain and innovation.................................................................4
Innovation designs vs. economic realities and organisational culture issues affect the
innovative process..................................................................................................................4
Implementing innovation factors for success and failure within the organisation.................5
Leadership is managing knowledge development, knowledge transfer and innovative culture
development...........................................................................................................................5
Knowledge management Matrix and the Knowledge transfer framework............................6
Building the Future Innovation Capabilities for the Organisation...................................................6
Organisation’s innovative capabilities, the innovative strategy, technological orientation and
the market orientation.............................................................................................................6
Upstream and downstream supply chain significance for the organisation...........................8
How the organisation can improve supply chain agility and sustainability to meet future
requirements...........................................................................................................................8
Models that organisation can use to improve Supply Chain..................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION 250 W
Innovation is a very broad term that deals with the creation and development of new
processes, methods, concepts and ideas that can help to improve the performance of the
organisation. With the help of innovation the goals and objectives of the organisation can be
achieved easily because it can also lay an applied form for inventing, modifying and discovering
new things from given resources so that greater levels of productivity and performance can be
achieved. In today's constantly developing world it is very important that an organisation should
keep on evolving and inventing new processes, approaches, thoughts, ideas, etc. to sustain
themselves in the highly competitive world. It is integral for a business that they should use
certain techniques of innovation in a constant manner so that they can achieve better productivity
and competitiveness in the market (Daim, 2021). The constant innovation and development is
very necessary within an organisation that can be achieved through little enhancement and
advancement of the organisation on a continuous basis. Unilever has adopted imaginative efforts
and a greater level of innovation by which it stands customer demand by providing best quality
products and services that does not create negative impact on them. Unilever Plc is a British
multinational consumer goods organisation that was established in the year 1929 and is
headquartered in London. The company has adopted many innovative approaches throughout the
years but there are various trends that are impacting the innovation in the consumer goods
industry. This report will discuss various innovation trends in the consumer goods industry and
the innovations that are required within the organisation to stay competitive in the market. In the
end it will discuss future innovation capabilities that can be adopted by the organisation to
improve supply chain and achieve sustainable growth in the future.
The Future of the Industry 2020 and Beyond
Innovative trends that are prevailing
There are various trends that are affecting the future of the consumer goods industry that
are elaborated below.
 Changing technology is one of the biggest aspects that is leading innovation in the
consumer goods industry because of upcoming technologies like artificial intelligence,
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