Strategic Management at Unilever

This article discusses the strategic plans of Unilever including capital acquisition, merger and acquisitions, and marketing strategy. It also analyzes the position of Unilever in the global market and proposes strategic options for the company. The article suggests expanding the product umbrella and supplying raw materials to competitors as potential strategies. Strategic models and tools such as the Ansoff Matrix, Porter's Five Forces, and SWOT analysis can be used to develop and implement these strategies.

Running head: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AT UNILEVER
Strategic Management at Unilever
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Part 1.0: Strategic organizational plans:
A review of the strategic plans of Unilever PLC would reveal the following types of
plans in which the transnational company engages:
Strategic plan 1: Capital acquisition plans:
Figure 1. Five year stock chart of Unilever
(Source: londonstockexchange.com, 2018)

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Figure 2. Stock price of Unilever on NASDAQ
(Source: nasdaq.com, 2018)
.
Figure 3. Unilever stock price on Boerse Stuttgart, Germany
(Source: boerse-stuttgart.de, 2018)
The first strategic plan of Unilever is its robust capital acquisition plan, which supports
all the subsequent strategic plan. The analysis of the operations of Unilever would show that the
public limited company owns some of the world’s top consumer brands and operates in more
than a hundred countries. Quality is one of the main attributes of the products Unilever
manufactures and the company employs more than a lakh employees globally. This clearly
points out that Unilever requires immense capital to support its massive business operations. The
company has its primary listing on the London Stock Exchange since its headquarters is in
London (Figure 1). The company is present in several host countries like the United States and
Germany through subsidiary companies which are also public limited companies. These public

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limited subsidiary companies are listed on the top exchanges which enables them to source
capital from the host markets as well. This capital acquisition strategy enables Unilever to source
immense capital and also provides basis for financial risk diversification. Unilever through its
subsidiaries is able to source capital from markets. Thus, if the stock prices of one subsidiary
falls and the company generates less capital from that market, Unilever can diversify this
shortage of capital by sourcing capital from other host markets. Moreover, since the subsidiaries
are listed on the top stock exchanges in their respective countries and are able to sources capital
from their respective securities markets, they become financially sustainable. This immense
capital structure of the company is proved by the analysis of its consolidated balance sheet.
Unilever’s total assets stood at EU 60285 million in 2017 against EU 56429 million in 2016
(unilever.com, 2018). This shows that the company is able to source immense capital which it
invests in acquisitions of assets which it uses to operate. Thus, an evaluation of the capital
acquisition strategy of Unilever reveals several salient strong points. First, Unilever is able to
source immense capital from the market using this strategy. Second, the capital acquisition
strategy paves way for diversification of economic risks and third, it enables Unilever in
making each of its host markets almost financially self-dependent.
Strategic plan 2: Merger and Acquisitions:
The strategy of merger and acquisitions is one of the most deadly strategic plans of
Unilever which has attributed it with a formidable competitive advantage in the global consumer
market. It can be evaluated that this acquisition and merger strategy is aligned with the next
strategy of Unilever, the product line strategy. The British multinational company offer four
categories of products namely, home care products, personal care products, food products and
water purifier. Unilever acquires firms in different countries which in turn attributes it with the

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vast product line. The company has acquired firms like Lakme and Breyers which are among the
top brands in the world in terms of high end beauty products and ice cream respectively. As per
one of the latest news releases of Unilever, the company has acquired 75 percent stake of
Equilibra, an Italian beauty and wellness brand.
Strategic plan 4: Marketing strategy:
The third powerful strategy of Unilever is its powerful product line strategy which has
attributed it with top position in the global consumer market. The marketing strategy of Unilever
stands on four pillars namely, its products, pricing, place and promotion. An analysis of the
product umbrella strategy of Unilever shows that the company markets four types of products
namely, home care, personal care, food and refreshments and water purifier. Dove, Lux, Breyer
and Cif are some of the brands owned by Unilever (unilever.com, 2018). The company also
offers products in packages of different sizes according to the needs of the consumers. Unilever
products are available in different variants which maximize the value of the consumers’
purchase. For example, Surf Excel, one of the biggest detergent brands Unilever owns is
available in packages of different sizes and in different forms like powder, liquid and bar soap.
The company promotes itself using various communication channels like audio-visual and digital
media (Solomon et al, 2014). As far this place strategy is concerned, Unilever products are able
in high-end shopping malls small retail shops. One can evaluate that this place strategy enables
Unilever to market its products before a huge consumer base. This allows the firm to generate
immense revenue, a part of is paid to investors as dividends and bonus, which in turn enables
Unilever to attract further investments. This analysis clearly shows that marketing strategy in fact
supports the capital acquisition strategy of the company. Thus, it can be inferred that marketing
strategy is the base of all the above strategies (Rezaei, S. (2015).

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Part 1.1: Position of Unilever in the global market:
Unilever holds one of the top positions in the global consumer market and holds some of
the costliest brands in the world. The company lags behind P&G, the largest consumer goods
manufacturer and Nestle AG, which is the largest food marketing company (chinadaily.com.cn,
2018). Unilever is the largest manufacturer of antiperspirant and holds brands like Axe. As per as
beauty products are concerned, the company faces tough competition from French beauty brand
L’Oreal, the largest cosmetic company. The British multinational company lock horns with
names like Samsung and LG in water purifier segments. An analysis of the global position of
Unilever in all its four product segments would reveal that in none of the segments Unilever
holds leading position. However, the company holds the top position in the market by the virtue
of its unique product umbrella which prevents any one of its competitors from competing totally.
For example, Nestle, the leader in the food market beats Unilever in the food segments but
cannot compete with in the cleaning segments (nestle.com, 2018). Similarly, P&G can compete
in the beauty segments but not in the food segment (us.pg.com, 2018). Thus, the unique product
umbrella enables Unilever to counteract competition from these companies, thus allowing it to
hold leading position in the market.

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Unilever
product
umbrella
Food and
refreshments
Home care Personal care Water purifier
Brands of
Unilever
Knorr, Magnum,
Bru, Lipton etc
OMO, Domex,
Cif
Dove, Lux, Axe,
Lakme
Pureit
Nestle Nescafe, Maggi NA NA NA
L’Oreal NA NA L’Oreal products NA
P&G NA Tide, Ambi Pur,,
Ariel
Pentene, Head &
shoulders, Olay,
Gillette
NA
Samsung, LG NA NA NA Water purifier
Figure 4. Table shwoing competitors of Unilever
(Source:Author)
Part 1.2: Influence of existing plans of Unilever on itself:
Influence of capital acquisition plan:
The capital acquisition plan of Unilever has several positive influences on the company.
Unilever along through its subsidiaries in charge of the respective host markets is listed on
several top stock exchanges. The company, thus is able to float shares in the stock market to
raise colossal amount of capital. First, this capital attributes Unilever with a strong financial base
and enable it to carry on business operations in the international market. The immense capital
base enables Unilever to conduct continuous research and development which is the second

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positive influence of the immense capital base (Chinazzi & Fagiolo, 2015). Unilever is thus able
to bring about innovations in its existing product and develop new products to cater to the
evolving needs of the consumers. The third effect of the formidable capital acquisition strategy
of Unilever is that the company is able to diversify the losses it incur due to changes in economic
factors like fall in the exchange rate of GBP (Gaudecker, 2017).
Influence of acquisition and merger strategy on Unilever:
The acquisitions and merger strategies of Unilever have several influences on the
company. The first influence of acquisition and mergers have on the company is, they boost its
asset value. This is because by acquiring firms, Unilever also acquires their intellectual property
rights which also boosts value of intangible assets with the company. This is evident from the
financial report of Unilever which shows that in 2016, the value of goodwill and intangible assets
with the company stood at EU 27433 million (Lohrey, DiGabriele & Nicholson, 2017). The
amount increased to EU 28401 million in 2017 which was also reflected in the increase of total
asset value. The second influence of acquisition and mergers on Unilever is, the latter gets
access to the resources of its subsidiaries. This access to the resources of the subsidiaries
increases the resources at the exposure of Unilever, thus boosting its operations like
manufacturing of goods. The third influence of acquisition and merger strategy is the illustrious
product line. This is because, upon acquisition, Unilever gets the right to market the products of
its subsidiaries and generate revenue. For Lipton which was acquired in 1972 forms an important
component in the food segment of Unilever. Thus, it can be reiterated that merger and
acquisitions boost the product line and ultimately the business the company earns by selling the
product.

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Figure 5. Extract of balance sheet of Unilever
(Source: unilever.com, 2018)
Influence of marketing strategy on business of Unilever:
The first positive influence of marketing strategy of Unilever is that the company is able
to create immense demand for its products in the market. The company as a result is able to
generate huge sale from the sale of these products. This in turn generates immense revenue for
the Unilever and enables it to reinvest a portion of the revenue earned towards operations like
manufacturing of goods. Thus, it can be inferred from this analysis that the marketing strategy of
Unilever provides the company with a strong financial base. The third influence of the
aggressive marketing strategy of Unilever on the company itself is that, it renders Unilever with

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the strong competitive strength. It can be pointed out that it this competitive strength which
enables Unilever to compete with more superior companies like P&G and Nestle. This the
analysis clearly points out that the marketing strategy of Unilever attributes it with the power to
sustain in the face of this strong competition in the global consumer goods market.
Part 2.0. Proposed strategic options for Unilever:
The following are the strategic options which can be proposed for Unilever to strengthen
its global positions:
Expansion of product umbrella:
Unilever should expand its product umbrella and enter markets where none of its
competitors have strong presence. For example, the company can acquire a firm which provides
payment gateways to other companies. This means that Unilever would be able to monitor the
inflow and outflow of funds. Unilever should also provide gateway services to other firms and
earn extra revenue. It is evident that this product umbrella expansion would boost the
competitive strength of Unilever against its more powerful competitors by multiple times.
Supplying raw materials to its competitors:
Unilever in order to increase its controlling power over the consumer goods market,
supply raw materials to other firms, especially its competitors like Nestle. This would enable the
company to earn huge amount of revenue. Moreover, Unilever can control their production of
goods by regulation the supply of raw materials to them. Thus, by becoming a supplier of raw
materials to the other companies, Unilever can control the production of its competitors.
Moreover, by analyzing their nature of order of raw materials, the Unilever would be able to gain

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idea about their production. The company as a result would be able to form more formidable
business strategies which would contribute towards strengthening its competitive advantage
Part 2.1: Relationship between corporate, business and operational strategies:
Grayson and Hodges (2017) point out that corporate, business and operational strategies
are interrelated. For example, as far as Unilever in concerned, the apex management forms the
corporate strategies. They corporate strategies in turn contribute towards formation of strong
business strategies which in turn results in adoption of strong operational strategy. This analysis
shows that the three strategies are dependent on each other.
Part 2.2: Application of strategic models and tools to develop strategic options:
Strategic models and tools would enable Unilever to implement the two strategic options
discussed above and establish itself in them. The first strategic option is that Unilever must enter
new product markets. The second option is that Unilever should establish itself as a significant
supplier of raw materials to its competitors. It can be pointed out that both the markets are new to
the company and extremely competitive. Moreover, Unilever would have to allocate immense
funds in these two markets. This means that failure to establish itself in these markets would lead
to immense financial loss, thus effecting practically all the significant operations. Thus, in order
to prevent or minimize the risks which Unilever may face on implementing the two strategic
options, the company must use strategic tools and models. The tools can include PESTEL,
SWOT, balanced score card and strategy. The company can use tools like surveys to get more
in depth knowledge about the market. Application of these tools would enable the company to
enter the two new markets suggested above namely, payment gateways and raw materials.

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Part 3.0: Strategy implementation plan Unilever:
Unilever should form a strategy implementation plan to adopt the two strategies, gateway
and embarking of business of supplying raw materials. The
Part 3.1: Vision, mission and strategic goals of Unilever:
The vision of Unilever is make the lives of the consumers more sustainable by offering
them high quality products. The mission of Unilever is to exhibit highest standards of corporate
behavior and stakeholder benefits. The goals of Unilever is to working with stakeholders like
suppliers, agents and customers. The British transnational consumer goods manufacturer seeks
tio ensure mutual benefit of all its stakeholders and itself.
Part 3.2: Structure for Unilever to fit into strategic plan:
Unilever being a dynamic company fits into the two strategic plans namely, entering a
new market like payment gateway and turn initiate its own supply chain. The company lays
emphasis on empowering its employees to enable them take more accurate decisions. Secondly,
the Unilever acquires raw materials from the respective host countries to operate in those
countries. The company has thus achieved a great deal of self-sustainability among its
subsidiaries. The apex management of Unilever encourage participation of its employees in
decision making. Thus, structure of Unilever is fit to be adapted according to the needs of the
two strategic options discussed.
Part 3.3: Create resource strategy implementation plan:
Part 4.0: Critical analysis of processes of organizational change:
The organizational change model of Lewin has three processes, namely, unfreeze,
change and refreeze. The first step of change is unfreeze which is the phase when an

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organization prepares itself for the change. The change is actually the outcome of several factors
which force the organization undergo the change. The management initiates the process by
directing the subordinates work in the new ways which challenge their prevalent conventions and
beliefs. For example, Unilever received a warning from the Government of Australia to remove
its skin care products containing plastic beads (abc.net.au, 2018). The British-Dutch consumer
goods conglomerate released an entire range of organic skincare products of Indian under the
name of Lever Ayush. This means the employees involved in production of skincare products
with plastic beads had to adapt to manufacturing of Ayush which is totally organic
(dailymail.co.uk, 2018). It is evident from this analysis that sudden change in the product would
create resentment among the staff involved in production of those inorganic skincare products.
Secondly, the branches of Unilever in the west would view this change as increasing influence of
the HUL, the Indian subsidiary of Unilever. Thus, it can be evaluated that change may face
opposition both from the lower level employees as well as from regional managers. The apex
managers of Unilever can hold meeting with the regional heads to clear their doubts and
insecurities.
The second phase of Lewin’s change management model is change. The management
here deals with the insecurities of the employees and provide them the support to embrace the
change. The employees receive counselling, training and mentoring which boosts their
confidence in the positive outcome of the change. As far as Unilever is concerned, the human
resource department offer trainings to the employees deployed in the western branches. The
employees gain knowledge about Lever Ayush and its future importance in case of the company.
The experts from Hindustan Unilever would train the western employees. These efforts from the

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side of the management enables the employees to embrace the new ways of operation
(manufacture and marketing of Ayush in this case) which paves way for the next step, refreeze.
Refreeze is the phase when the employees have accepted the change and it adopts as a
part of their daily operations. For example, the branches of Unilever in the western markets too
start manufacturing and marketing Lever Ayush. They become sustainable in the marketing the
brand in the west and exhibit high level of responsibility towards the environment.
Part 4.1: Application of force field analysis and identification of forces of change:
Force field analysis is a strategic tool which business organizations analyze the factors
which are driving the change and which are opposing it. For example, as far as Unilever is
concerned, the factors driving the change towards marketing of organic products are government
decisions, environmental concerns, future profits, competitive strength enhancement and
goodwill fortification. Similarly, the factors which are opposing the change to organic products
are immense initial investment, lack of knowledge among employees, feeling of insecurities
among managers and wastage of materials already acquired. The apex management that plots the
drivers on the left and the restraining forces on the right. The tool helps in management of
change and steering of the business organization into change successfully.

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Introduction of
Aysuh in the
western markets
Government decisions
and environmental
benefits
Strong corporate social
responsible image
Strong goodwill
More future profits
Insecurity among
higher level
employees
Immense initial
investment
Raw materials
acquired for inorganic
products would be
wasted
Lack of manpower
and knowledge about
Ayush

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Figure 6. Force analysis of Lever Ayush
(Source: Author)
Part 4.2: Critical evaluation of change management models:
The second model which the research would take into account for evaluation against the
model by Kurt Lewin is the McKinsey 7S model. The model stands on three hard elements and
three soft elements.
Hard elements:
The first hard element is the strategy which consist of the purpose and methods of
business operations. The second hard element, structure consists of the organizational structures
on which organizations stand. The systems, the last soft element refers to the modus operandi of
the business organizations.
Soft elements:
The shared values make up the first soft element. They consist of the organizational
values which the employees share. The second soft component, skills consists of the talent of the
employees of organizations. The next element in the soft category are the staffs which make up
the base of all operations of the organizations. The key groups of organisations like teams of
employees and their managers make up the last element of the change model called style.
Comparison between change management models of Lewin and McKinsey:
Difference 1: Elements considered
The model by Lewin takes in consideration three steps namely, unfreeze, change and
freeze. The unfreeze phase refers to introducing the change which the followed by proper
training of employees in the next step, change. The final step consist of the employees embracing

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the change successfully. However, in reality the process is not so straight forward and several
elements within the organization have to consider. The 7S model by McKinsey takes into
account these seven elements like staff, style and strategy. It can be pointed out that the apex
management bodies of organizations need consider the staff they have and the skills of their
present staff members. They also need to take into account organizational culture and structures
into order to form an appropriate change management strategy. The MCKinsey deals with these
internal factors in detail which companies should consider while implementing changes. The
model by Lewin does not speaks about these factors. Lewin’s model, in comparison to
McKinsey’s model lays more emphasis on the process of change rather considering the internal
factors like staffs and their skills.
Difference 2:
The second point of comparison between the change management models by Lewin and
McKinsey is strategic human resource management. The model by McKinsey considers factors
like staff members and their skills. The model by Lewin remains silent in these respects and
emphasizes more than enforcing the change. This analysis shows the model by Lewin does not
give priority to strategic human resource management methods like training of employees to
enable them to embrace the changes. The 7S model speaks clearly about the management of the
organizations should consider factors like staff members and their skills while implementing
changes.
Inference from the analysis:
The analysis between the 7S model and the model by Lewin points out that the former is
far more appropriate in management of organizational changes successfully. Thus, it can inferred

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that the 7S model is the more appropriate model for managing changes at multinational
companies like Unilever.
Part 4.3: Leadership and change agent skills to implement strategic organizational change:
The managers leading important departments like finance and marketing should lead their
subordinates towards embracing the change. They must train and mentor their subordinates.
Part 5.0: Evaluation of the implementation of strategic plan:
The multinational companies like Unilever should evaluate the implementation of
strategic plans. The above discussion takes into account two strategic plans which Unilever can
consider. The first plan is entering a new product market like payment gateway and the second
plan is embarking on a supplier of raw materials business. The outcomes of the implementation
of these two plans should show their success rates. For example, the outcome of entering new
product marker would lead to increase in profits. Thus, if Unilever experiences profit, it means
the strategic is successful. However, if the entering a new product market like payment shows
that Unilever is incurring losses, it means the company should considering changing the plan
(Gaudecker, 2015).
Part 5.1: Analysis of the time schedule for implementation of strategic plans:
Unilever should form a time schedule to study the market for implementing the two
strategic plan.
Part 5.2: Designing of key success indicators to monitor strategic plan implementation:
The key success indicators are profits, market shares and capital generation.

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Part 5.3: Analysis of potential risk during implementation:
The potential risks which Unilever would face consist of financial risks, market risks,
economic risks, physical safety risk and risks due to natural calamities.
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