Analysis of Leadership & Management Skills at Unilever Plc

This report provides a comparative analysis of transformational and transactional leadership styles, as well as Fredrick's Scientific Management Theory and McGregor's Theory X and Y, within the context of Unilever Plc. It examines the implications of these theories on Unilever's organizational performance, focusing on key performance indicators such as employee turnover, cost and quality of products, revenue, and market share. The report also discusses the application of motivational theories, particularly Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, to enhance employee satisfaction and organizational growth. Furthermore, it advocates for the adoption of transformational leadership to foster innovation and employee empowerment within Unilever. Finally, the report briefly mentions a comparison between Unilever Plc and ITC to contextualize Unilever's position in the market, highlighting the importance of employee satisfaction and strategic leadership for sustained growth and market leadership.

Developing Leadership and
Management Skills
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The report discuss about the compare transformational and transactional leadership style
as well as Fredrick’s Scientific Management Theory and McGregor’s theory X and Y. It will also
provide information regarding its implication on Unilever Plc and analyse the theory and style
which will be applicable on the Unilever Plc. Further this report discuss about the key
performance indicator of Unilever Plc which will provides information that is beneficial for the
company. Further it discuss about the use of motivational theory in the organization as well as
the manner transformational leadership will be beneficial for the company. Lastly it discuss
about the comparison of Unilever Plc with ITC to analyse the condition of the company.
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................2
Analysis and Comparison of Leadership and Management of Unilever Plc...................................2
Comparison of Leadership theories.............................................................................................2
Comparison of Management Theories.........................................................................................3
Analysis of implications of Leadership Theories........................................................................3
Analysis of implications of Management Theories.....................................................................4
Key Performance Metrics of Unilever Plc.......................................................................................4
Organizational Leadership and Management Performance of Unilever Plc...................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8
Appendix........................................................................................................................................10
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INTRODUCTION
Leadership theory is defined as the explanation which is regarding the question of how
and why some people are becoming leaders in the organization. It discusses the characteristics
and traits of the person which made him successful or failure. Management theories refer to
those theories which are a collection of various ideas which tend to recommend various rules and
regulations for the organization which help them to manage the business of the organization. The
report aims to critically analyse and evaluate the leadership and management theory which is
present in an organization. The effectiveness of the theories will also be discussed to understand
the theory which is beneficial for the organization. This report will compare and analyse the
leadership and management of Unilever Plc with the implications. Further it will discuss about
the financial position of Unilever. And lastly it will discuss about the performance of leadership
and management to ensure the position of the company.
Unilever Plc is multinational company whose objective is to sell consumer goods which
includes various varieties. The products involved food, beverage, personal care and various
others. They have employees around 149,000 who are working for supporting the company
growth. The company was founded in 1929 around 92 years ago and its founders are William
Lever, Leverhulme, James Darcy Lever, Samuel Bergh and Johann Schicht. Its headquarter is in
London, England. The company have various brands which are under the name of Unilever.
These brands are the main source of contribution to the growth of the company. The company is
serving area of worldwide which is increasing the brand value of the company. This is also
contributing to the revenue and profits of the company. Unilever is the most popular consumer
goods brand, it is because of the range of products which are offered by the company.
Analysis and Comparison of Leadership and Management of Unilever Plc
Comparison of Leadership theories
Transactional leadership where the employees of the company depend upon the rewards
and punishment which help them to get the effective job performance from their subordinates.
This leadership ensures that the environment of the company is structured, as this will ensure that
the work is completed as per the standards. In transformational theory employees are
encouraged, inspired as well as motivated so that they can bring innovation and change in the
things which are existing (Putra, and et.al., 2020). This will eventually benefit the company to
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grow in their market as well as get success. This both theory are exact opposite of each other as
one theory motivate their employee with the rewards and punishment while other theory provide
supportive environment which is present in the routine structure. Transactional leadership is
responsive to the followers while transactional leadership is proactive in nature.
Transformational leadership work for the organizational culture with the help of implementing
the new ideas while the other one works in the culture of organization. Transactional leadership
motivate the employees by appealing the company’s self interest while transformational
leadership ensure that the employees work for the interest of groups or their own.
Comparison of Management Theories
Fredrick’s scientific theory refers to that management theory which helps the organizations
analyse as well as synthesizes the manner of the workflow. The main objective of this theory is
to improve the labour productivity as well as economic efficiency of the company (Thomas,
2018). McGregor’s theory of management is based on the aspect of the behaviours of the
employees in the organization. This considers that there are 2 types of human behaviour present
in the organization. The positive one is considered as theory Y while the negative one is
considered as theory X (Kamal, 2020). These theories are very different from each other as
McGregor theory is based on the assumptions of the human behaviour while Fredrick scientific
theory is based on various scientific proofs. Both the theory will have different outcomes on the
organization. The scientific theory is based on the methods which will be beneficial for the
organization while McGregor theory is based on the different types of behaviour which is present
in the organization and how it will eventually support in the growth of the organization. But both
the theory will ensure that the organization growth is supported with the help of their employees.
Analysis of implications of Leadership Theories
Transactional leadership will ensure that short term goals of the company are fulfilled. This
will be done with the help of the rules and procedures established by the organization. This will
reduce the creativity among the employees of the Unilever which will lead to not generation of
any sort of new ideas. These types of leaders are effective in providing guidance to the efficiency
in the decisions. Their main aim is to reduce the cost of the company and also improve the
productivity. Transformational leaders will ensure that the organization such as Unilever will
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have various new innovative ideas to help the company grow in the market. This will ensure that
the employees of Unilever will have common vision with the employees and vice versa. These
type of leaders will provide guidance to their followers so that they are able to achieve the
greatest peak in their career and help the organization to grow in the market (Kalsoom, Khan,
and Zubair, 2018). The suitable leadership style for Unilever Plc will be transformational
leadership as they are into providing innovation in their products as well as providing various
opportunities to their employees and ensure they will retain in company.
Analysis of implications of Management Theories
Implication of McGregor theory is that theory X will be using tight control as well as
supervision in Unilever. This means employees will not be ready for the change which will be
brought by the management. This will reduce the innovation in the company. While theory Y
will ensure that the manager of Unilever will establish and motivate an environment in the
organization which will motivate their employees. It will help them while taking initiative for
themselves and the organization on their own. This will bring innovation in the company which
will satisfy their customer. The Fredrick’s scientific management theory will ensure that the
profitability of the Unilever will be increased. It will happen because of the highly trained as
well as qualified worker which is employed in the company. This theory will not focus on the
needs of the employees of the organization. So for the Unilever they should adapt to McGregor’s
theory Y as it will benefit the company in the long run. It will have highly satisfied employees as
well as customer satisfaction with the innovation brought in the organization. This will be
profitable for the company in the long run.
Key Performance Metrics of Unilever Plc
The Key Performance Indicators of the company stating that the employee turnover of
the company is reducing from the last 10 years. This can have various reasons which may be
related to the company of their superiors. This might be affecting the satisfaction level of their
employees (Unilever: Number of Employees 2010-2021 | UL, 2022). The data provided is of
globally which states that there are some regions where the employees are reducing. While the
cost and quality of their products is better than the other companies. As the cost provided by
Unilever is based on various level which are established for the lower, middle or luxurious
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prices. The products are suitable for every group of people which is leading to the growth in the
overall revenue of the company (Revenue of Unilever Group worldwide from 2007 to 2021,
20220. The company’s revenue is increasing which states that the market share of the company
is better and the company is able to fulfil the need of their customer.
The company’s market share is also improving as the every product category is growing
and improving the revenue for the company (Global revenue of the Unilever Group from 2010 to
2021, by product segment, 2022). This is beneficial for the company as their brand value is also
increasing with the help of improving profit. The profit for the Unilever Plc has also increased
for which they adopted various types of promotional strategies (Unilever Gross Profit 2010-2021
| UL, 2022). This is to attract the consumer to their products which is satisfying their customers
in various manners. This is helping the company to improve their value in the market. This will
eventually improve the employee turnover in the company as they are trying to improve the
employee satisfaction also. This will help the company to grow more in the future and capture
the market at large with the help of support from their employees.
Organizational Leadership and Management Performance of Unilever Plc
It is most important for the companies who are at such high level in the global market to
ensure that their employees are satisfied as it will ensure that the company’s growth is supported
by the employees of the organization. Unilever is not much different from those organizations as
they will have to ensure that the employees of the company are satisfied as it will help them to
grow in the market. For this they should understand various motivational theories which will
help them to ensure their employees are satisfied with them. This can be done with the help of
Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory where they have 5 categories of needs which should be
fulfilled of their employees to ensure that they will have positive behaviour in the organization
(Verma, and Menezes, 2018). These needs are psychological needs, safety needs, love and
belongingness needs, esteem needs and self actualization needs. If these needs of their
employees are fulfilled it will ensure that the employees will work for fulfilling the objectives of
the company. This will ensure that the growth rate of the company is increased as the employees
are the main sources of contribution to the needs of their customer.
This can be done with the help of adapting the transformational leadership in the
organization. Transformational leaders will ensure that the organization such as Unilever will
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have various new innovative ideas to help the company grow in the market. This will ensure that
the employees of Unilever will have common vision with the employees and vice versa. These
type of leaders will provide guidance to their followers so that they are able to achieve the
greatest peak in their career and help the organization to grow in the market. This will eventually
help the company to grow in the market with the help of their employees. Transformational
leadership will also ensure that the employees of the company are satisfied in working in the
organization as they will be able to make the decision on their own. These types of leaders will
ensure that the employees have the environment where they can work freely and provide their
innovative ideas to the organization as sometimes it happens that employees are not able to put
forward their ideas in the meeting, which will reduce the innovation in the products of the
company. By listening to the ideas of their employees company can provide innovative products.
Situational leadership style is defined as that type of management which will be able to
meet the needs of their team member in every type of situation and any type of task is given to
their employees (Thompson, and Glasø, 2018). This type of leadership is fit for all type of
organization. Hersey Blanchard model of situational leadership states that there is no such
leadership style which is better than the another type of leadership style. This model is not
focusing on the workplace factors as it suggests that every leader should have style which is
based on their abilities to change and lead the employees. It will ensure that the employees of the
company can be managed with various different guidance and produce the result as per the
guidance provided to them (Hakim, Faizah, and Mas' adah, 2021). The guidance provided by
these leaders will be for the benefits of their company. This guidance will help the company to
fulfil its goals and objectives which will be taken with the help of their employees. This will also
ensure that the employees are able to understand the viewpoint of their leader which will help
them to cooperate with each other and work for the benefit of all.
Unilever is a company which is working in the better position when compared to ITC
who is providing products which are similar to the products of Unilever Plc. This states that the
product quality and cost of the Unilever Plc. is better than the ITC. It is contributed by the
employees of the organization who are constantly working for the betterment of the organization.
While comparing both the company it is measured that there are various areas where Unilever is
performance is very much higher than the other companies. ITC is not the only company whose
performance is lower than Unilever; there are various other companies whose performance is not
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better then Unilever. It is because of the brand value which is created by Unilever in the global
market the consumer are likely to choose the company’s product because of the highest range of
product provided for every type of person (HUL vs ITC: Stock and Business comparison, 2022).
This is ensuring that the company is making place in the mind of the consumer which is helping
them to gain preference above any other brand. This will eventually help the company to
improve its employee turnover when the companies profit level will continuously increase.
CONCLUSION
It is concluded from this report that Unilever is established on the global basis which is
established in UK. This report also mentions the implication of both the type of leadership style
and management theory. Further it recommends the appropriate leadership styles as well as the
management theory for the company which will help them to grow in the market. The
appropriate leadership style for the benefit of the company is Transformational as it will promote
innovation in the company. It is analysed that the company will be choosing McGregor’s theory
for their employees as it will help to increase the satisfaction of the employees in the
organization. This is analysed from the report that the company is having low turnover while the
company is continuously growing in the market. The market share of the company is more as
well as its revenue and profits.
It is analysed from the report that needs of the employees are most important for the
organization to meet as it will ensure that the employees of the companies will contribute in the
growth of the company. For this the company need Maslow need hierarchy theory knowledge.
Further it is concluded from the report various types of implication of transformational theory to
help Unilever to grow in the market. This report also discuss about the situational leadership
which is beneficial for the organization. Also it states that Unilever is better in the position than
various other companies established in the same industry. The report concludes the position of
the company in the market and in the mind of its employees. This report also suggests the ways
to the company to improve its working for the employees and their needs satisfaction.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Putra, A.S. and et.al., 2020. Leadership in the Innovation Era: Transactional or Transformational
Style?. International Journal of Social and Management Studies. 1(1). pp.89-94.
Kalsoom, Z., Khan, M.A. and Zubair, D.S.S., 2018. Impact of transactional leadership and
transformational leadership on employee performance: A case of FMCG industry of
Pakistan. Industrial engineering letters. 8(3). pp.23-30.
Thomas, B., 2018. Review on the Principles of Scientific Management.
Kamal, S., 2020. Importance of Scientific Management in the Modern Management. Black Sea
Journal of Management and Marketing. 1(2). pp.45-53.
Verma, P.M. and Menezes, K., 2018. Augmenting maslow’s need hierarchy theory with
multigenerational workforce in manufacturing sector.
Thompson, G. and Glasø, L., 2018. Situational leadership theory: a test from a leader-follower
congruence approach. Leadership & Organization Development Journal.
Hakim, A.L., Faizah, E.N. and Mas' adah, N., 2021. Analysis Of Leadership Style By Using The
Model Of Hersey And Blanchard. Journal of Leadership in Organizations, 3(2).
Online References
Global revenue of the Unilever Group from 2010 to 2021, by product segment., 2022. [Online].
Available Through <https://www.statista.com/statistics/269200/revenue-of-the-unilever-group-
worldwide-by-product-segment/>.
Revenue of Unilever Group worldwide from 2007 to 2021., 2022. [Online]. Available Through
<https://www.statista.com/statistics/269190/global-revenue-of-the-unilever-group-since-2007/>.
Unilever: Number of Employees 2010-2021 | UL., 2022. [Online]. Available Through
<https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/UL/unilever/number-of-employees>.
Unilever Gross Profit 2010-2021 | UL., 2022. [Online]. Available Through
<https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/UL/unilever/gross-profit>.
HUL vs ITC: Stock and Business comparison., 2022. [Online]. Available Through
<https://www.learnstockmarket.in/versus/hul-vs-itc-stock-business/>.
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Appendix
Total revenue of Unilever as per the category of the product.
Total revenue of Unilever Globally
Total employees in Unilver
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Comparison of Unilever with ITC
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