Unilever: Types of Company, SWOT, and PESTLE Analysis Report

This report provides a comprehensive business analysis of Unilever, a major British-Dutch transnational consumer goods company. The report begins with an introduction to business and management principles, followed by an overview of Unilever's operations. It delves into the types of companies, differentiating between public, private, and voluntary organizations, using examples such as NHS and Oxfam. The report then examines the size and scope of Unilever, comparing it to organizations like NHS and Oxfam. A significant portion of the report is dedicated to SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) and PESTLE (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental) analyses of Unilever, providing insights into its internal and external environments. The SWOT analysis highlights Unilever's global presence, product range, and R&D investments as strengths, while pointing out weaknesses like product imitability and limited diversification. Opportunities include health-conscious product development and targeting millennials, while threats involve competition and changing consumer preferences. The PESTLE analysis examines the impact of political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors on Unilever's operations. The conclusion summarizes the key findings and emphasizes Unilever's global reach and strategic approaches. The report also includes a list of references.

BUSINESS
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Types of company..................................................................................................................3
Size and scope of different types of organizations.................................................................4
SWOT Analysis of Unilever- ................................................................................................5
PESTLE Analysis of Unilever................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Business and Management are the disciplines devoted to organizing, analysing, and planning
various types of business operations. These degree programs teach the fundamental skills that are
required to efficiently run or manage a business. Unilever is a British-Dutch transnational
consumer goods company co-headquartered in London, United Kingdom, and Rotterdam,
Netherlands. Its products include food and beverages, cleaning agents, beauty products, and
personal care products. It is Europe’s seventh most valuable company. This report covers issues
such as types of company, their size and scope, their micro and macro analysis.
Types of company
Public Company-
Ownership of these type of companies is distributed between the shareholders by trading
them the shares of the company on the stock exchange and distribute them among the general
public. The value of the company in the market is determined by the trading of shares on a daily
basis. These type of companies are considered as public because whoever purchases the stock of
the company they are considered as equity owners of the company. For instance NHS is a public
company as they are listed on the stock exchange and there shares are traded on a daily basis. To
establish themselves as a public company they have taken all the steps which are necessary to
take it such as articles of association, memorandum of association so that they can legally invite
people by offering them the prospectus which will tell them about the information and future
plans of the company. (Nuthall, 2018. )
Private Company-
The operations of these type of companies are run under the form of private ownership.
Companies such as Unilever are known as private company even they are allowed to have
shareholders but they cannot be listed under the stock exchange and by offering a initial public
offer. Overall companies such as Unilever don't come under the concern of securities and
exchange board. The value of the shares of these type of companies are difficult to realize
because they are a less liquid as compared to the shares of the private company. Usually this type
of companies operate on a small scale but Unilever comes under the case of exception. Required
paid up capital to establish a private company is 1 lac and can go up to the nature and suitability
of the business. Company does not accept any deposit or advance payment from the public.
Voluntary Company-

The motive of these type of companies is to not work for earning more profits but to help
and contribute for the betterment of the environment. Companies such as Oxfam comes under
the bracket of voluntary company as they have more than 18 companies under them who work
for removing the issues such as poverty and increase the amount of charity by hosting the events
so that they can spread the awareness to more people. The company was started in the year 1942
and the headquarters of the company is in Kenya. Director of the company is Winnie Byanyima.
Company has opened many NGO's which provides education to the underprivileged so that they
can also have equal and fair amount of opportunity as other people. Oxfam believes that
everyone must be treated equal and get plenty of chances so that they can make up their life.
(Maunder, 2019.)
Size and scope of different types of organizations
Size and Scope of NHS-
Other than England NHS has started their services in Scotland and Wales. On the top pf
that in north Ireland there are affiliated with the services of health care and social development.
NHS has been serving their facilities in the market for more than 70 years and they started at the
time of second world war which was a very crucial time but now they have 1,70,000 employees
working for them. The company does not charge prices for their facilities in UK and for the
citizens of UK. There are two things for which they charge their services which are of dental
issues or treatment for optical issues. Apart from that on the prescription some of the patients are
also given exemption in order to provide them treatment at no cost possible. Any kind of
delivery regarding medicines are provided to their customers at free of cost. (Uhl and Gollenia,
2016.)
Size and Scope of Unilever-
Unilever is considered as the biggest purchaser and producer of the merchandise
according to their income and revenues. They serve in more than 190 countries which makes
them one of the biggest international and multinational brand. Out of the population of 7 billion
people in the world they serve 2.5 billion from them. Under Unilever they have more than 400
companies which generates a revenue of $ 50 billion and 13 brands who have sales of around $ 1
billion alone. They are serving in the market for more than 90 years. In the year 2013 the
company had employees of more than 2,30,000 but now they have employees of around 1,55,000
employees. Scope of Unilever is that they want to increase their reach of products in more

countries and it is easy for them as it is a big multinational company and it will be a lot easy for
them to achieve this goal. (Hatten, 2015.)
Size and Scope of Oxfam-
Oxfam is operating with the help of 19 other companies they have partnered with so that
they can increase their reach and help more people. They are working on fighting with the issues
such as reducing the poverty and increase the level of education on a global basis. Scope of the
company is that they can implement the changes in their structure so that they can use the right
and appropriate strategy in order to influence more people into joining them which will increase
their reach.
SWOT Analysis of Unilever-
Strength-
Unilever is a global company as they are serving in more than 190 countries which has
resulted in the better image of the company all over the world and it has made it an international
brand. The company offers a wide range of products so that they can meet the needs of different
types of people. Their products have the power to hold people which is one of their biggest
strength. Unilever spends a lot of money on the department of research and development so that
they can introduce new range of products according to the demand. Company has maintained a
good relationship with their suppliers and distributors and they have set up their chain of
distribution on all the geographical areas so that they can reach their products to any country or
city they want. (Noe and et.al., 2017. )
Weakness-
The products that Unilever offers to people can be easily copied so it is difficult for them
to keep the range of their products differentiated. The diversification of the company is very
weak as they deal in the industry of consumer goods and it has scope for limited diversification.
The sale of the products depends on the behaviour of the retailers. The consumer can easily shift
to the products of another customers as the cost of switching to the products of another company
is zero.
Opportunities-
Company has the scope to introduce products for the people who are health conscious
because many people are shifting more for on that side. Apart from this standard of living of
people is increasing Unilever just have to offer right product to right people. The company has

the scope to target the millennials as their generation is rising and if the company can focus to
fulfil their needs then they will be able to generate more profits. (Foster, O'Reilly and Dávila,
2016.)
Threats-
Company is facing a lot of competition from the giants such as P & G, Nestle which is
creating difficulties for the company to control their share in the market as they also launch their
products on a continuous basis with the strategy of launching the product with competitive
pricing. Apart from this demand of the Ayurveda products is increasing which is a threat for the
company. Retailers who operates on a large scale are trying to convert their names into brands
and the market and sales of the company is dependent on them. Another threats is that they spend
huge amount on introducing new products but they can be easily copied and sold by one of the
competitors under a different name.
PESTLE Analysis of Unilever
Political Factors of Unilever-
Decisions taken by the government can affect the profitability of the company and that is
known as political factors. Factors such as level of corruption, integrity of government or factors
such as resignations of employees who are on a high government post. If they impose high rate
of taxes then the company will get demotivated and won't be able to maintain their operations.
Economic Factors of Unilever-
These factors are concerned with the economy of the country, rate of inflation, rate of
foreign exchange, rate of interest, the GDP of the country. The rate of growth will decide that
how much growth the company will achieve in the country. This factor will tell the company
about the level of employment that the company has so that they can recognize the aggregate of
demand and supply.
Social Factors of Unilever-
Unilever needs to be aware about the standards of health that the country maintains and
measures such as what they implement for the protection of the environment so that they can be
accepted by the audience. Targeting of the product needs to be done on the basis of age and
gender or demographic of the population so that they can categorize their products for male or
females. (Erasmus, Strydom and Rudansky-Kloppers, 2016.)
Technological Factors of Unilever-

Unilever needs to come up with a new technology so that they can gain popularity in the
market. The impact of technological factors will help the company to improve their profits as it
will help them to reduce the time and the resources they invest at the stage of manufacturing
which will save them money and pass it on to profits of the company. It will help the company to
change their method of working and transform their products into something new with increase
in quality.
Environmental Factors of Unilever-
Company needs to keep those factors in mind which affects the environment if they do
any kind of activity that affects the life of endangered species then they won't be allowed to serve
in any country and their operations will be banned. Working on the renewable energy might be
expensive but Unilever will get the full support from the government as well as the customers.
They will even pay high prices for the products of the company. (Burns and Dewhurst, 2016.)
Legal Factors of Unilever-
The company gets the protection of intellectual property and protect their ideas with the
help of patents so that they can maintain the level of competitive edge in the market. Apart from
this it is concerned with providing the security to the employees so that company cannot mistreat
them and rights of the employees can be protected. Laws regarding health and safety of the
employees have been covered as the work load and stress of the employees is rising. (Adekola
and Sergi, 2016.)
CONCLUSION
From the above studies it has been concluded that Unilever is a private limited company which
serves more than 2.5 billion people in the world as their reach is very big. They serve their
operations in more than 190 countries which has make them one of the biggest international
brand. Company has conducted both the analysis that is internal and external so that they can
know the changes and meet up with them in order to satisfy the needs of more customers.

REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Adekola, A. and Sergi, B.S., 2016. Global business management: A cross-cultural perspective.
Routledge.
Burns, P. and Dewhurst, J. eds., 2016. Small business and entrepreneurship. Macmillan
International Higher Education.
Erasmus, B., Strydom, J.W. and Rudansky-Kloppers, S. eds., 2016. Introduction to business
management. Oxford University Press Southern Africa.
Foster, G., O'Reilly, N. and Dávila, A., 2016. Sports business management: Decision making
around the globe. Routledge.
Hatten, T.S., 2015. Small business management: Entrepreneurship and beyond. Nelson Education.
Maunder, W.J., 2019. The human impact of climate uncertainty: weather information, economic
planning, and business management. Routledge.
Noe, R.A., and et.al., 2017. Human resource management: Gaining a competitive advantage. New
York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Nuthall, P.L., 2018. Farm business management: the human factor. CABI.
Uhl, A. and Gollenia, L.A. eds., 2016. A handbook of business transformation management
methodology. Routledge.