Organizational Development [Merit] - Analysis of Unilever
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This report analyses the background of Unilever, priority areas of development, management strategies, proposed strategy for sustainable organizational development, and organizational structural design.
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Organizational Development [Merit]
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Executive summary: The aim of the report had been to analyse the background of the Unilever
TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4 MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................4 Company background.................................................................................................................4 Priority area of development.......................................................................................................5 Management strategies practices in organization.......................................................................6 Proposed strategy for sustainable organizational development..................................................7 Organizational structural design.................................................................................................9 Influence of organizational culture...........................................................................................11 Recommendations.....................................................................................................................12 CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13 REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14
INTRODUCTION Organizational development is considered to be the effort which is essential for an organization to be able to develop the organization's capability towards the alignment of the strategy, structure, people, metrics and the management process. In this report the selected organizationisUnileverwhichisaUKbasedorganizationthatiscompanywhichis headquartered in London. Unilever deals with products such as food, condiments, ice cream, cleaning agents, beauty products and personal care. This organization is also the largest producer of soap in the world. This organization is listed in the London Stock Exchange and is available around 190 countries worldwide. This project will analyse the major characteristics, activities, goals and key environmental influences on the organization. In this project there has been a critical analysis of the recommendation of the organizational structure that is the design which is based on challenges faced by the organization in the globalization of the market. Creation of the justification of the strategies for the sustainable organizational development will be made. In this project an evaluation over the influences of the organizational culture and its impacts on the multinational organization for the operation of increasing diversity environment has been made. MAIN BODY Company background Unilever is one of the most known companies that is specialized in offering varietyof goods to its various customers that are located in different parts of the world. Furthermore, the company is following the set of patterns that has helped in achieving certain long term goals in well-defined and systematic manner. Also, the firm had introduced range of personal, beauty care and personal care products that satisfiesthe needs of the large number of people. Furthermore, below are the detailed description of the company: Goals:The major goal of the company is to promote the well-being of the people and improve the livelihoods of the people through providing the specialized goods and services in the best possible manner. Furthermore, the company take care of the environmental activities so that there is no wastage of the products and also working is conducted in most sustainable manner (About Unilever, 2022). Activities:All the consumer essential items are been manufactured and sold among various region of the world and major focus on the consumer goods includes beauty and care
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products and foods and home care items that are daily needs every household. Thus, focusing on such segments have allowed the firm to earn more revenues over the years and maintain the position in the market that is different from the competitors. Values:The company holds the major value of having honesty, trust and fairness with all its people and working for the prolonged period. Also, it respects the diversity and thus recruits all people that would prove the greatest asset in the future. Furthermore, the company is responsible for all its activities that are undertaken for the growth and could be easily held accountable in the future for conduct of various activities. Characteristic:The firm over the years is focusing on performance of the employees that are working at various levels and also ensure that highest quality is delivered through its products to large number of its customers so that value of money is derived. Also, it ensures efficiency in work through using various technologies and tools within the business. Thus, to achieve all this the company does the integrated planning and assures high level of collaboration so that set goals are achieved in most efficient manner Environmental influences:Unilever is the company that is having the established brand image in the market and hence it is very important for the firm to follow the sustainability steps and deliver the higher product to the customers. Moreover, market influences like increasing of environmental programs are also considered by the firm through launching various campaigns that promotes the protection of the planet and ways adopted by the company to do so. Priority area of development For company like Unilever it has been able to perform well only due to closely analysing the needs of the customer needs and preference and launching variety of products in the market. Also, currently it can say that overall working of theconsumer goods industry had completely changed and thus this is the major area of developmentfor the organization as if it fails to do (so) than it would only reduce the company market share and decrease in the overall profits on large scale. Hence, it can be said that company needs to adapt to such external changes that are occurring outside the business environment so that it is able to maximize the revenues and also able to maintain the competitive advantage in the long run. Also, for such type of the frequent changes the company has build the strong supply chain network that would distribute the goods in less time in various areas and had also appointed specialized team that is responsible for
conducting the extensive market research to find out various changes that are occurring outside the business so that same might be applied within the existing company policies. Furthermore, for the changes within the organization the company applies theKotter change management theoryso that it is able to adapt to the changes smoothly and in the best manner without having any kind of confusion or resistance from employees. Also, to cope up with changes in smoothly Unilever actively provides training to all its employees so that the new procedures and conduct of carrying out various task might be easily known so that there is the best utilization of resources. Furthermore, top management of the Unilever ensues that change is communicated to all employees and reason behind is clearly explained so that all employees are able to wok together in team to achieve goals in the best possible manner. Also, the new change recently the company had grown through is simplifying the organizational model and become more category focused businesswhere each segment of the product category is analysed closely so that best could be offered to the customers. Thus, such type of the focused would allow the company to conquer large market area and also lay special significance to all products in well-defined manner. This would further help the firm in avoiding unnecessary costs and time and would also help in identifying the market where the demand of particular segment is very high so that same might be fulfilled in timely manner. Furthermore, such changes within the consumer goods industry had to be looked by the firm so that maximum efficiency is derived and also the highest return to the future activities of business is assured. Management strategies practices in organization All the strategies that are used within the Unilever are based on the strict planning, monitoring and execution so that chances of errors are the minimum and also the highest returns are derived in the future. Furthermore, top management work of strategy of prioritizing the task so that there is effective time management and also all the important task are completed within the day. Moreover, the company develops the management strategies through conducting the SWOT and PESTLE analysis so that all the areas of the improvement and the corrective measures required both internally and externally might be undertaken. Also, through this analysis the firm is able to identify what are the activities that are taking place within the firm and also such analysis firm is than able to monitor the activities in most efficient manner and make the required modification in the working of the employees. Furthermore, to understand the company
management strategies practices it might be broadly divided into the three categories that are as follows: Business :It is strategy that is made by the cited firm to develop the competitive position of its various products or services. Further, it covers making of all those strategies that would help in beating various competitors in the market in terms of product quality and value for money. Also, it is based on plan of actions where the resources' allocation is clearly defined and matters such as product innovation, development and integrations are discussed on regular manner Operational:It is the management strategy that is used by the firm to set certain divisional gaols that need to be achieved in specified time frame and in the best possible manner. Furthermore, the arse that are covered under this strategy is designing and positioning of various production systems and selecting the best technology for the success Transformational:It is type of strategy that is used by the firm when it needs to transform completely the process, people and technology to make the working easier and to maintain competitive advantage in long run. Furthermore, it is type of overall organizational development that is taken by the firm keeping in mind various factors so that systematically the work is carried out. Thusit can be said that management practices of the company is not limited to choosing the right kind of strategy for its working but is also dependent on formulating company mission and vision statement and conducting the situational analysis through clearly defining the strategic objectives to all it employees. Once the strategy is communicated to each of team members than it is implemented for achieving the best positive outcome and results and later on strategic evaluation and control is established (Alerasoul and et.al., 2021). Moreover, it can be said that company is focused on developing plans that would help in achieving certain company goals in well-defined manner.Also, all the management strategies that are developed inside the workplacehelps in effective decision-making and helps in measuring the progress on regular manner that is further essential for the overall company growth and progress in the coming years Proposed strategy for sustainable organizational development The strategy that this organization has to take under consideration is going to be related to the changes in the nature of the industry. Unilever which has been an organization famous for its manufacturing products which are used for the consumption has been able to realize that the
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industry's nature is changing. The nature of the manufacturing industry has been changing is a way that it has been focusing on the use of AI technology for he influences of the rapid growth that is going to bring next industrial revolution (Drobyazko and et al., 2019). It is also the surge of lot automation and robotics which are related to the machines which are utilized for the deep learning of rolling out the manufacturing of warehouse everywhere. Unilever can adapt to this nature with the help of following strategies, Machine Learning : AI for the company's like machine learning is going to often use systems that are going to help in capturing vast amounts of data. It is also considered to be the factor which is essential for the smart energy management systems for the collection of data from the sensors that are affixed to the various assets (Hopej and Kandora, 2018). It troves of data that are going to be collected and the contextualizes it through the use of machine-learning algorithms and delivered to your company's decision-makers to better understand energy usage and maintain the demands. Cybersecurity : AI has been considered to be the technology that has provided a indispensable ally when it comes to the defences of the computer. This is the technology which has the potential of recognizing when there is an attack on the system or the network for troving the data and then contextualizing the machine learning algorithms and delivering the company's decision-makers to better understand the use of energy and maintain the demands of the organization. This is going to be the factor that would help AI to be able to recognize a cyber attack or cyber threat. This extra surveillance on the internet security is considered to be very helpful for the organization to be able to provide the benefit for the organization and its infrastructure to look at these problems that are useful for solving complexities. Customer relationship management : AI is considered to be changing in customer relationship management (CRM) systems. It is also the software programs like sales force and Zoho that would be very useful for the company in adaptation of AI. AI with the use of such platforms are able transform their system into a self updating auto correcting system which stays on top of the relationship management. Utilization of this nature of the organization is going to help the company to be able to look into the property of sale and also spend more than 10minutes in the area of possible mortgage offer. It is considered to be very effective in the management of the operations that are very important for
the understanding of the operational practices (Joseph and Gaba, 2020). With the help of AI business can be able to develop its relations even better in the with the customers for the future. Internet and data research : Unilever can utilize the AI for the use of identification of the patterns in data and people's search behaviours for providing them with more relevant information that are related to the circumstances. The people in general are able to use their device for the more than just AI technology for becoming more advanced. It is also said that the users will be having more customizable experiences for the world if they will be able to target very specific audience (Murphy and Murphy, 2018). Digital personal Assistance : Unilever which has started to introduce its stores in the current time is going to be able to create a customizable experience for the customers. It is considered that the ways in which the company is able to operate is going to help it us AI for a better experiences and also be able to generatethemanagementofemailsandmaintainthecalendarwhichisprovidedas recommendations for streamlining of the process (Lawrence, Rasche and Kenny, 2019). Unilever as an organization is going to be able find new opportunities with the adaptation of this new strategy of using AI in its operations with the given ways. Organizational structural design Organizational structure aligns with the relations of the parts of an organization that is able to achieve its maximum performance. It is also considered to be the structure that is chosen for the affects of an organizational success in order to carry out the strategy that would help Unilever to be able to achieve its objectives (Peillon, 2021). The leadership needs to be understood for the characteristic benefits and limitations of the organization structures to assist in the strategic alignment. It is the article that is able to address the following topics that are related to the organizational structures. Organizational structure is considered to be the method flow that allows the group to work together within their individual functions to manage the tasks. It is considered to be the traditional organizational structure that is tended to be more formalized with the employees to be able to group by functions. This is also considered to be the factor that helps the business to be able to recognize the ways in which the operations of the business work (Sachs and et al., 2019). The organization is also considered to be the factor that is able to change swiftly with the
influence of flexible working structure to be able to adapt the company with its change environment. These are the following structure that the organization would have to be use for being able to adapt to the different kind of situations. Vertical structure : This is the structure of an organization that is also known for its exists, functional and divisional. This is the structure that has been divided from the specialization of the hierarchical structure that is able to gain the vertical integration of the structure that is able to standardize in the organization and is process for the employees in the relatively narrow jobs.. Hence this is not the ideal organizational structure of design for that Unilever should adapt. The advantages of using this structure are, It provides more focus and flexibility on each division core competency. This is also considered to be the factor which is able to focus on the production of the specialized products which are also very useful in nature and is related to the division of the work. This is also considered to be very useful for the decision-making of the organization. The following are the disadvantages for using this structure are, It can result in loss of efficiency and also the duplication of effort because of each needs for acquiring the same resources. In this kind of resources the employees are able to reach their own research and development for the marketing and other units for being able to help others. It is the division of the organization which is considered to be ineffective for competing in an organization industry. Matrix Organizational Structure : The matrix organizational structure is the combination of the both functional and divisional structure for the creation of a dual command situation al in the organization. This is also the structure of the organization which is very effective in the contribution of the versatility and administrative functions that helps the HR, information technology, sales and marketing to be more effective in the market (Organizational structure design, 2022). The business is able to gainmorelevelofdevelopmentthroughthistypeofstructure.Itcanbesaidthatthe
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geographical factors are able to align with the business for the relations of the product, services and customers relations (Turnnidge and Kelly, 2021). Advantages of such type of matrix structure includes the following, It is considered to be the creation of functional and divisional partnership that is focusing on the work which is done by more people. This is the structure which would help the company to share key information regarding the people. This is also the balance and the overview of the time between the completion and cost. Disadvantages of the matrix organizational structure is, It can help the organization in the development of responsibilities that is unclear thus, complication of the governance and the control (Walheiser and et al., 2021). The reporting of the management is considered to be time taking and confusing at times due to the complexity of matrix culture. This project is able to develop a dual chain of command that requires cooperation betweenthe two directsupervisorsfor the determinationof the employee'swork priorities and work assignments. Influence of organizational culture It refers to proper way of behaving within the firm so that work is carried out in manner that does not create conflicts and also shared values and beliefs could be practice within the firm for longer time frame. Also, in context of Unilever it can be said that it has developed those methods and systems that not only promotes the best behaviour of the employees but also ensures that organizational values are been improved over the years. Furthermore, the mangers of the Unilever influence the culture of the firm through practising the best leadership and ensuring that there is existence of proper communication channels so that employees are able to freely exchange various ides within the business. Also, communication channels have allowed the employees of the Unilever to solve various issues and also provide the feedback of the working process to their immediate superiors so that more improvements might be made. Furthermore, the actions of each employee are closely monitored within the workplace so that if any improper activity conducted by any employee is been reported than strict actions could be taken for the same.
Also, organizational culture is clearly defined within cited firm that has resulted in improved productivity and positive organizational results in short span. Also, it has helped in reducing the overall organizational conflict and created the feeling of cooperation among the employees even in tough time like pandemic where culture was of remote working. Moreover, through the positive organizational culture the cited firm has been able to maintain the creativity andinnovationattheworkplaceanditsproducts(Organizationalculture:Definition, importance, and development,2022). Also, various new technologies were been installed within the organization to make the working process easier. Thus, all these changes were accepted by each employee in positive manner because of good organizational culture that company believes will help all employees to achieve their personal gaols apart from the overall organizational goals in well-defined manner. Furthermore, Unilever organizational culture had positively motivated all its employees to help in expand its business operations across in various regions and also have to higher engagement in complex work. Thus, with the greater productivity and best working culture the company is able to adapt to the changing industry patterns and is successful in maintaining the competitive advantage in the long run Recommendations Following are the recommendation that can be made to Unilever for its business development are, In order to increase the business development of this organization it is going to be very essential for the organization to be able to develop a strategy. Being able to increase the diversification this organization would be able to gain more stability and effectiveness in the performance. Being able to make more diverse food products would also be the key factor that would help the business generate the growth. In Unilever the focus needs to be on the ways in which it is going to be able to adapt to the change that the industry is facing. This change is the use of AI for the purpose of its different operations. Hence, it is going to be very effective for Unilever to be able to understand the areas that can affect the organizational growth and also be able to generate the growth that is effective. For this company generation of the operational effectiveness is considered to be the study for the business. Utilization of AI for the purpose of bringing strategical growth is going to allow the business to manage the organizational management for the purpose of the organization.
Being able to develop effective Human resources would allow Unilever to hire very talented individuals that are going to help them to generate the growth which they need for their operations. For this company the stability is also very important for development of innovation and also enhancing their operations. Being able to gain the competitive advantage is going to be the key part of the objective of the company which is going to provide it the growth that is required. CONCLUSION From the above report it is concluded that Unilever is one of the best companies that is able to conquer the large market areas through suing the best competitive and business strategies. Also, the report had provided in detailed about the company working through defining its current activities, goals, objectives and certain characteristics that had made it successful. Furthermore, the study had analysed that currently the major area of the development is the changing consumer industry patterns and competition to sustain in the market that is to be strictly focused by Unilever to sustain in the market and maintain the revenues in the long run. Also, the study had highlight various business, corporate and functional management strategies that is been followed within the workplace to ensure efficiency in the work. Moreover, the report had proposed the relevant strategy that might be used by the cited firm so that better outcomes are derived in due course of time. Furthermore, the organizational structural design had also been provided along with that study had identified the significance of organizational culture in increasing the current output levels. Lastly, the study had provided certain suggestions that might be used by the Unilever so that there is optimum utilization of resources and best of the productivity while carrying various task in the future.
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