Strategic Management Assignment - Unilever Plc

Strategic Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
Strategic Direction of Unilever Plc. And development of strategic thinking.............................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................2
Analysis of the industry in which Unilever Plc. is operating......................................................2
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
Strategic drift...............................................................................................................................5
Interrelation between mission and vision of Unilever with demand of workplace.....................5
Usage of Business Canvass Model:............................................................................................6
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................7
Possible strategies that can be followed by Unilever in order to defend their core business......7
TASK 5..........................................................................................................................................10
Evaluation of resource implications of recommendations........................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Strategic management is a process of identification and description of strategies that can
be followed by a organisation to achieve their organisational aims and objectives. This method is
used to enhance the performance by having a competitive advantage. This concept involves
several decisions and activities which are undertaken by the manager of the organisation in order
to attained desired results with profitability. In order to better understand this concept, Unilever
Plc. has been chosen for this project report. Unilever is a public limited company which is
engaged in consumer goods sector. Founded in 1930 by William Lever, this organisation has its
headquarters in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Unilever operates in multiple countries and product
range of this company includes health care goods, hygiene goods, general utility products etc.
In this project report, Strategic direction and strategic thinking of above mentioned
company is discussed along with analyses of the consumer goods industry with the help of
several analyses such as PESTLE and Porter's five forces model. Various strategies and models
are discussed of Unilever in order to analyse impact of strategic management in this company.
TASK 1
Strategic Direction of Unilever Plc. And development of strategic thinking
Strategic direction are the actions and activities which are performed in order to achieve
organisational goals. It includes all the central forces which provides clear direction towards
company's objectives, this concept involves plans and actions which needed to be considered to
work towards the vision of the future. There are few elements which contribute towards strategic
direction and they are vision statement, mission statement, core beliefs, values and tactics; these
elements helps in generating positive morale and synergy in the organisation (Barney, 2012).
Unilever Plc. is a public limited company which deals in general utility products such as
personal care products, food products etc. In order to develop this company, managers and other
upper level staff of this company considers strategic management as an integral part of their
organisation. Strategic direction which has followed by Unilever Plc. in the past years is
mentioned below:
 Vision of Unilever Plc.: Vision of this company is to make world a sustainable place to
live as they believe that this is that best possible way for their company to grow and
develop (Cattani, 2011). Vision statement of this organisation emphasis on sustainability
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according to which they frequently changes their products in order to satisfy customers
and maintain suitability in current market trends.
 Mission of this company: Mission of Unilever Plc. Is to add vitality in the life of their
consumers. The main aim of this organisation is to fulfil everyday requirements of the
customers such as nutrition, hygiene needs and personal care. This enterprise helps their
customers to feel good, look good and think better about themselves.
 Values and beliefs: Values of Unilever Plc. are integrity, responsibility, respect and
pioneering. They belief that every new talent should be guided in order to take decision
and perform tasks of everyday (Cohen, 2013).
Unilever Plc. is a multinational company which has developed their strategic thinking by
following various strategies and plans within the past 5 years which are discussed below:
 Market penetration: This is primary growth strategy of Unilever Plc. as according to
this, company increases their sales volume in order to increase revenues and
development.
 Product development: According to product development strategy, Unilever introduces
new products which can address increasing requirements of customer. This strategy
includes product innovation and development.
 Diversification: Diversification is the supporting growth strategy of Unilever Plc. as it
includes introducing new business to grow the company.
Strategic thinking and direction are both followed by this company in order to attain
growth and development.
TASK 2
Analysis of the industry in which Unilever Plc. is operating
Unilever Plc. is a large scale company which operates in consumer goods, which
according to current scenario is considered as growing sector. In order to analyse external
environment of this company, various elements such as political, economical, social.
Technological, legal and environmental are required to be discussed (David, 2011).
PESTLE analyses of Unilever Plc.:
 Political factors – According to political influencers, governments impact performance
and functioning of Unilever Plc. This organisation operates in various European countries
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