Corporate Governance Issues and Competition: A Unilever UK Case

This report investigates the impact of strategic issues arising from ineffective corporate governance on the competition level and overall success of Unilever UK. It begins by defining corporate governance and its importance, particularly in relation to investor trust and organizational integrity. The report then introduces Unilever, highlighting its global market presence and diverse product portfolio. The core problem statement focuses on how ineffective corporate governance can lead to increased risks and hampered productivity. Research objectives include analyzing the importance of corporate governance and strategy, identifying the impact of ineffective governance on rising input costs, and ascertaining relevant competitive strategies. The literature review explores these objectives in detail, examining the role of corporate governance in fostering long-term investment, improving business performance, and enhancing management decision-making. It also delves into corporate strategy, its advantages in resource allocation and competitive positioning, and relevant theories such as agency and stakeholder theory. Furthermore, the report discusses the negative impacts of ineffective corporate governance, such as poor business decisions, higher wastage of resources, and lack of accountability. The report concludes with recommendations and an action plan for Unilever UK to improve its corporate governance practices.

REPORT
(To determine the impact of strategic issues of
ineffective corporate governance on the competition
level and success of an organisation. A case study on
Unilever UK)

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Background of the research.........................................................................................................3
Background of the organisation..................................................................................................3
Problem statement.......................................................................................................................3
Research aim and objectives.......................................................................................................4
LITERATURE REVIEW ...............................................................................................................5
What is the importance of corporate governance and strategy on the success of a firm?...........5
What is the impact of ineffective corporate governance in leading the issues of rising input
cost?.............................................................................................................................................7
What is the influence of strategic issues of ineffective corporate governance on the
competition level and success of a firm?....................................................................................9
What are the relevant strategies in order to beat the competition?...........................................11
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...................................................................................................13
CRITICAL REVIEW OF RESULTS ...........................................................................................16
Frequency distribution table......................................................................................................16
Data interpretation.....................................................................................................................17
RECOMMENDATION AND ACTION PLAN............................................................................24
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................24
Recommendation.......................................................................................................................24
Action plan................................................................................................................................25
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................28
APPENDIX ...................................................................................................................................30
Questionnaire............................................................................................................................30

INTRODUCTION
Background of the research
Corporate governance is defined as the system which is used within the organisation in
order to provide direction to the organisation and to control different activities of the business
(Aguilera and Crespi-Cladera, 2016). Corporate governance are such rules and policies which are
used within the organisation for the major purpose of managing the business and to put corporate
behaviour for the organisation (Solomon, 2020). For an organisation corporate governance is
important as this leads the investors to manage organisational integrity and increase
shareholder’s diligence as well. There are various strategic issues that could be faced by the
organisation due to having ineffective corporate governance such as loosing of investor's trust,
financial issues and many other. The current report is going to develop understanding in the
context of role of corporate governance over succession of the organisation.
Background of the organisation
Unilever is a British multinational consumer goods company which is headquartered in
London, United Kingdom. The products of Unilever include food, beverages, cleaning agents,
personal care products and many others. The Unilever has 44 brand in their portfolio in which 14
categories are served by the organisation (Fenwick, McCahery and Vermeulen, 2019). The
company is managing 18000 employees has recently acquired consumer healthcare organisation
(Laursen and Andersen, 2016). The organisation is market leader in different markets such as
India which means that the organisation is having global market identity and the company is
putting various efforts in order to develop their market edge.
Problem statement
The corporate governance is defined as using of different set of principles and policies in
the organisation so that in multi-dimensional manner business can be managed (Cancela and et.
al., 2020). With the help of corporate governance practices this is easier to align business
practices in such a manner that interest of stakeholders can be managed. When ineffective
corporate governance is existed within the organisation then risks can be increased within the
organisation and at the same time productivity would be hampered (Kovermann and Velte,
2019). The identified issue within the current research is related with ineffective corporate

governance and significance of proper corporate governance which would be helpful in attaining
business objectives in proper time.
Research aim and objectives
Research aim
The main aim of current research is, “To determine the impact of strategic issues of
ineffective corporate governance on the competition level and success of an organisation. A case
study on Unilever UK.
Research objectives:
 To analyse the importance of corporate governance and strategy on the success of a firm
 To identify the impact of ineffective corporate governance in leading the issues of rising
input cost
 To analysis the influence of strategic issues of ineffective corporate governance on the
competition level and success of a firm
 To ascertain relevant strategies in order to beat the competition
Research questions
 What is the importance of corporate governance and strategy on the success of a firm?
 What is the impact of ineffective corporate governance in leading the issues of rising
input cost?
 What is the influence of strategic issues of ineffective corporate governance on the
competition level and success of a firm?
 What are the relevant strategies in order to beat the competition?

LITERATURE REVIEW
What is the importance of corporate governance and strategy on the success of a firm?
As per the viewpoint of Suhadak and et. al., (2018), corporate governance plays an
important role within business as it helps in providing brief information related to the laws and
rules which are followed by organisation. The concept of corporate governance is wide as it
includes various rules, laws and process which helps business to regulate, control and operate the
functioning and operation of company in effective and efficient manner. Corporate governance
is a process through which organisation avail direction and control over their business
performance. The responsibility of the governance is totally depending on board of directors.
The main role of shareholders in governance is to hire directors and auditors. Corporate
governance generally helps in building better environment, accountability and transparency in
order to foster long term investment. It includes the rules, laws and regulations by which
organisation can regulate, operate and control their business operation. The few elements of
corporate governance are director independence and performance, focus on diversity, regular
compensation review, auditor independence, shareholders right and proxy voting.
Importance of corporate governance:
 There are various importance of corporate governance which can be availed by company
such as it helps in cultivating company's culture of integrity, brings sustainability and
also leads to positive performance. Corporate governance helps in attracting investors due
to which company can perform better and efficient manner. Investors generally get
attracted by the company when they have good corporate governance (Jain and Jamali,
2016). Thus, it is important to ensure that organisation must have efficient corporate
governance as it helps in protecting shareholders and stakeholders right.
 In order to gain success in market, corporate governance is important for company as it
helps in improving the performance of business and also enhances the vital reasoning of
management by hiring independent director so that they can bring intellectual experience
to business without any biased factor.
 The importance of corporate governance is to ensure that the business must be in
disciplined and also there must be healthy harmony between management and ownership

due to which management can make better decision by building trust among shareholders
and company.
As per the opinion of Jia, Huang and Man Zhang (2019), Strategy also plays an important
role in increasing the success rate of organisation. Corporate strategy helps in providing direction
on which company must move. Therefore, strategy helps in achieving the aims and objective of
the organisation in effective and efficient manner. The importance of corporate strategy in order
to gain success is that it helps in allocating resources of organisation, improves competitive
position, establishing business expectations and also increases the value of shareholders. It is
important for company to have clear and focused strategy so that they can gain success and make
better decision.
Advantages of corporate governance:
 Advantage of corporate strategy is that it helps in providing larger company overview by
focusing on entire business rather than considering each busies unit. It also helps in
identifying the problem and prevent counterproductive measures. Through having
effective corporate governance, company can identify the existing or potential issues that
could influence the ability to accomplish the goals. Corporate strategy also helps in
preventing the implementation of other strategy which is counterproductive. It is mainly
categorised into different forms such as stability strategy, expansion strategy,
retrenchment strategy and combination strategy.
 The other advantage of corporate governance is that it helps in allocating the resources of
organisation in significant manner due to which goals can be attained in better way
(Pfang, 2015). During the process of strategic planning and budgeting, firm generally
assess the performance of each business unit. From the above findings, organisation
acquires and divests their assets and revise resource allocation in appropriate manner.
Corporate strategy also helps in improving competitive position due to which the growth
and performance of company increases.
Theories of corporate governance:
The few theories of corporate governance are agency theory, stewardship theory,
stakeholder theory and transaction theory. These theories helps in describing the relationship
between various stakeholders while carrying out business activities in effective and efficient
manner (Naciti, 2019).

Agency theory
Agency theory is one of the corporate governance theory that describe the relationship
between the agents and principle (Krenn, 2016). The theory depicts that shareholders generally
hire directors to perform their job role within Unilever. Through this theory it is being analysed
that company act as an agent of its shareholders. The theory is used to explain and resolve
challenges in relationship between agents and business principles. The different agency theory
relationship which are involved within Unilever are shareholder and company executives,
investor and fund manager and board of directors and CEO. The benefits of implementing this
theory is that it offers executives incentive to take actions which helps in enhancing the wealth of
shareholder. It generally helps in providing clear parameters for board members and corporate
officers to make strategic decision. Throughout the relationship between agent and principle,
there are various action and decision which are taken by agent on behalf of the principle which
creates a problem such as conflict of interest, confidentiality breach, insider trading and many
others.
Stakeholder theory
Stakeholder theory is also a theory of corporate governance which states that manager of
Unilever must have strong relationship with different stakeholders in order to run the business
activity in effective and efficient manner. Stakeholder theory helps Unilever to maintain stability
in environment, reduce conflicts between various groups and conducive to the company's long
term sustainable development. The benefits of using stakeholder theory is that it helps in
increasing the productivity, improve mental health, reduce turnover rates and also satisfy the
employees. Through using this theory, Unilever can improve their performance and productivity
by engaging their stakeholders in business activities. The disadvantage of their theory is conflicts
between stakeholders while making decision which can influence the performance and efficiency
of business. Stakeholder theory is important for Unilever to implement as it helps in reducing the
conflict and also develop more sustainable environment.
What is the impact of ineffective corporate governance in leading the issues of rising input cost?
As per the opinion of Salvioni and Gennari (2019), ineffective corporate governance can
create a great impact on the performance of business which leads to rising issues of input cost. It
is important for organisation to focus on developing effective corporate governance structure as
it can influence the business growth and productivity. The other issues which Unilever can face

through ineffective corporate governance are lack of accountability, corruption, fraud and
negligence. There are various negative impact of ineffective corporate governance in leading the
issues of rising input cost. These challenges creates a great impact on the performance and
growth of business. The few issues which company face due to lack of corporate governance are
as follows:
Poor business decision:
Ineffective corporate governance creates a huge impact on organisation as it leads to
issues of rising input cost. When there is lack of effective corporate governance at management
and executive level it leads to poor business decision due to which the value and performance of
business gets influenced. The poor corporate governance can weaken the potential of company
and also brings financial difficulties. There is various reason due to which corporate governance
gets failed such as board of directors are not effective, complex process, poor communication,
improper culture, incapable of handling new technologies and economically unstable. These are
the few reasons due to which Unilever can face difficulty in managing the good corporate
governance within business.
Higher wastage of resources:
The ineffective corporate governance can bring higher cost of input which results in
higher wastage of resources. Rising cost is one of the major reason of ineffective corporate
governance which can affect the performance of Unilever. When there is increasing input cost it
leads to price rise due to which the competition also increases. Thus, it is one of the major
problem which arises into market. It is important for the Unilever to have effective and efficient
corporate governance as it can improve the profitability and sale of business by attracting
maximum number of people towards the brand.
Ineffective supplier policies:
Organisation must focus on offering high quality of products and services to its
customers at low price in order to increase the sale and profit margin of business. The rise of
input cost increases the producing cost. In order to generate more money, producers generally
sell their products at high cost. Thus, the increase in price input leads to decrease in supply. It is
necessary to focus on maintaining good and harmonious relationship with suppliers so that they
can provide the products and helps in meeting the demand of customers (Ciftci and et. al., 2019).
The ineffective corporate governance can bring various issues and challenges for organisation.

Unilever have its own supplier policies but if there is ineffective policies it can influence the
supply chain management of brand due to which it becomes difficult for company to meet the
future demand of products.
Managing customer expectation:
Due to poor corporate governance, Unilever also faces issues regarding the managing
customer expectations, managing suppliers, maintaining quality and access to data. The rising
input cost generally leads to loss of productivity, customer complaints, increased cost of
working, reputational damage and loss of revenue. Therefore, it also affects the warehouse
management of Unilever as rising input cost leads to poor warehouse layout, improper
forecasting of demand, long lead times and irregular deliveries.
Thus, these are the few issues which influence the productivity and growth of business.
These challenges leads to rising input cost that affects the business performance. It is important
for Unilever to focus on managing the customer experience, minimise the wastage of resources
and make effective decision in order to reduce the challenges related to rising input cost.
What is the influence of strategic issues of ineffective corporate governance on the competition
level and success of a firm?
As per the perspective of Keping (2018), there is a great influence of strategic issues of
ineffective corporate governance on the competition level and success of firm. It is necessary for
organisation to develop effective corporate governance that helps in increasing the business
performance and also helps in attaining competitive edge in market by attracting more and more
talented employees within workplace. Ineffective corporate governance can create a great impact
on the competition level and success of organisation. When there is ineffective corporate
governance, company may face various issues which hampers the success rate of organisation
and also increases the competition level.
Getting right board:
Absence of corporate governance principles like honesty, accountability, openness,
transparency and trustworthiness affects the financial viability of business and also it leads to
eventual downfall. Ineffective corporate governance can affect the business performance and
productivity of Unilever. It is important for company to develop their good corporate governance
so that they can attract more and more employees and customers towards the brand. The
ineffective corporate governance generally occurs when the board of directors are not effective.

If the board of directors of company is not effective, it can affect the performance and efficiency
of business (Moore and Petrin, 2017). It is important for Unilever to hire effective individuals
who have an ability to contribute their best performance in making business successful.
Poor decision:
The inefficient individuals cannot give their best efforts in improving company's
performance which leads to poor decision. It is necessary to have quality of decision in order to
improve the corporate governance of organisation. When Unilever have efficient employees,
they can help in gaining competitive advantage in market and also improves the success rate of
business (Scherer and Voegtlin, 2020). The ineffective corporate governance leads to complex
process. When there is complex process within Unilever it becomes difficult to operate business
activities in efficient and effective manner.
Poor communication:
Poor communication is also a strategic issue of ineffective corporate governance. It is
necessary for organisation to have effective communication between the employees a manager so
that work can be accomplishing in significant manner. The effective communication helps in
achieving the goals and objective of business. It also helps in engaging the team members and
also creates better customer relationship due to which organisation can also achieve competitive
edge and enhances the chances of success. When staff feel engaged and motivated while working
in workplace it creates good corporate governance within company.
Improper culture:
Improper culture followed within workplace is also a factor which influences the strategic
issues of ineffective corporate governance on the competition level and success of a firm.
Therefore, it is necessary to develop positive culture within an organisation so that employees
work with dedication and feel engaged while working. The poor culture within workplace can
affect the morale, motivation, high turnover and productivity of Unilever due to which the brand
faces severe loss. Thus, it is essential to develop positive workplace culture so that it improves
teamwork, increases productivity, raises morale and also enhances the retention of employees
due to which company can gain success and beat their competitors. In order to gain competitive
advantage in market, organisation must engage their employees so that they can give their
creative and innovative ideas in improving the business performance and productivity.

Therefore, these are the few strategic issues which are faced by company due to poor
corporate governance of an organisation which results in low success rate and less competition
level. It is necessary for company to focus on overcoming these issues in order to run the
business activities in effective and efficient manner.
What are the relevant strategies in order to beat the competition?
According to the viewpoint of Garas and ElMassah (2018), strategies helps company to
gain competitive advantage and improve the success rate of organisation. It is necessary to
implement the effective strategies which helps in improving the growth and profitability of
business. There are various strategies which can be adopted by the company in order to beat their
competitors. It is important to develop and implement the strategies which helps in gaining
competitive edge and also improves the performance of business. Competitors generally affect
the productivity, efficiency and performance of companies due to which they face severe loss.
The few strategies which must be used by Unilever in order to beat the competition are as
follows:
Knowing your customer:
It is necessary for Unilever to identify their potential customer and know them in
appropriate manner. By knowing the customers, company can build strong connection with them
and also extend the customer life cycle beyond only couple of purchases. They must focus on
improving the engagement level of customer towards the company in order to increase the profit
and sale of business. Unilever can use various online tools in order to better understand their
customers. By having better knowledge of customer, organisation can make their consumers feel
happy while shopping their products (Flammer, Hong and Minor, 2019). In order to understand
the customers, it is necessary to interact with customer's success team and monitor customer on
social media.
Understand the competition:
Unilever must focus on understanding the competition level in market in order to make
effective strategies through which company can gain competitive edge. To understand the
competition, it is necessary to begin by examining the marketplace. Unilever can also offer better
products and services to its consumers and also they can stand out better in market as comparison
to its competitors. Through understanding the competition, Unilever can also set their pricing
competitively and respond effectively to their rival marketing campaigns with strong initiatives.

Thus, understanding competition helps in providing opportunity to company to improve their
performance and bring new or innovative products and services in market that grabs the attention
of customer towards the brand.
Set competitive pricing:
Set competitive pricing is also a strategy which can be used by company in order to beat
the competitors. Unilever must focus on setting competitive pricing strategies for gaining
competitive edge in market. They must focus on researching which competitors offers the best
value. Thus, by determining the competitor’s bets value, Unilever can identify their offerings and
the value which they deliver (Jiang and Kim, 2020). Setting competitive pricing strategies helps
in increasing the performance and productivity of business.
Provide great customer services:
Unilever must focus on providing better customer service as compare to its competitors
as it increases the loyalty of customer and also helps in increasing the customer base. It is one of
the strategies through which company can beat their competitors. By offering high quality of
customer service, organisation can differentiate themselves with their competitors (Yukhno and
Osipov, 2021). Unilever must provide training and development opportunity to their employees
so that they can deliver better quality of customer service and make them satisfied with the
products and services. Thus, it also helps in increasing the performance and productivity of
business.
Hence, these are the strategies which is useful and helpful for the company to gain
competitive advantage. Through implementing these strategies, Unilever gain beta their
competitors and also enhance their business performance.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology is a procedure which helps in collecting and assembling the data
in effective and efficient manner. Investigator can manage validity and reliability of research in
significant way. There are different research methodologies which are used by the investigator
for achieving the aims and objective of research. The methodologies are chosen on the basis of
the research intensity and topic. Researcher use various techniques and method in order to
present the investigation in beautiful manner (Rinjit, 2020). The research method which is sued
by the researcher in order to carry out the investigation are as follows:
Research Philosophy:
Research philosophy is a tool of research which is used by the instigator to collect the
information related to the particular topic. It is mainly divided into two types such as positivism
and interpretivism philosophy. Positivism philosophy helps in analysing the information relate to
the current study. It helps in providing in-depth information related to the research due to which
aims and objective of research can be attained in better manner (Johnston and et. al., 2020).
Whereas, interpretivism research philosophy is used by the researcher for gaining understanding
of social culture. Through using interpretivism philosophy, researcher can avail accurate and
genuine information related to the topic. Within this research, the researcher has chosen
pragmatism research methodology in which both the philosophies are selected in order to collect
the data in systematic way.
Research approach:
The two different types of research approach are deductive and inductive approach.
Within this research both the research approach method is sued by the investigator in order to
avail the information related to the chosen study (Saha and Paul, 2020). Deductive approach is
used by researcher to avail numerical piece of information where as inductive approach is chosen
by investigator as it helps in collecting qualitative data.
Research design:
Research design is categorised into three different forms such as descriptive,
experimental and exploratory. The researcher lay emphasis on choosing descriptive research
design as it helps in obtaining systematic information related to the chosen subject matter
(Baron, 2019). The purpose behind choosing descriptive research design is to analyse and

interpret numerical information due to which aims and objective can be attained in better
manner.
Research choice:
Research Choice is categorised into two different forms such as quantitative and
qualitative research choice. The qualitative research choice helps in availing theoretical
information. It generally focuses on providing detailed information related to the current topic.
Whereas, quantitative research choice helps in providing statistical information related to the
current topic which helps in attaining aims and objective in significant manner. Quantitative
research choice helps in analysing and interpreting quantitative information (Cr, 2020). In this
research, investigator is using mixed method research in order to conduct the investigation. By
choosing quantitative research choice, researcher has developed questionnaire whereas for using
qualitative research choice, investigator has chosen systematic literature review.
Data collection:
Data collection is also a method of research which helps in collecting accurate and
reliable information related to the current investigation. Through data collection method,
researcher can collect information which are directly or indirectly related to the investigation.
Data collection method are of two types such as secondary data collection and primary data
collection. Within this research, researcher has chosen both the data collection method in order to
acquire information related to the research topic. Primary and secondary data collection method
helps in achieving the aims and objective of research in effective and efficient manner. By using
secondary data collection method, investigator is acquiring information through using published
articles on the topic of impact of strategic issues of ineffective corporate governance on the
competition level and success of a firm (Pandey and Pandey, 2021). The motive of selecting
secondary data collection method is to provide relevant information related to the current
investigation so that won needs and requirements can be meet within this research. Different
sources of secondary data collection are publications, books, journals, newspapers and many
others. In this research, investigator has also selected primary data collection method as it helps
in providing first hand information related to subject matter. For collecting the first hand data,
researcher has chosen questionnaire as an instrument as it helps in providing relevant and reliable
information in systematic manner.
Data analysis:

Data analysis is also a tool of research which helps in collecting the information in
appropriate way so that research aims and objective can be attained easily. Within this research,
the primary data is analysed with the help of graphs and statistics whereas secondary data is
analysed on theoretical basis.
Research Strategy:
Research strategy is another method of research which helps in collecting data in
efficient and planned manner. It is mainly categorised into different forms such as grounded
theory, case study, interview, action research, experimental research, systematic literature review
and many others. Within this research, the researcher has selected systematic literature review as
they collect the information on the basis of qualitative manner (Kumar, 2018). The investigator
has also selected survey strategy in order to gather information related to the current
investigation. The motive behind choosing survey strategy is that it helps in collecting numerical
information due to which objectives can be attuned in systematic way. By using survey strategy,
investigator has developed questionnaire by included close ended questions which will be
answered by the selected respondents.
Ethics:
Ethics plays an important role while conducting the research, it is the responsibility of
investigator to follow the ethical principles so that research can be complete in effective and
efficient manner. It helps researcher to attain the attain every single task in appropriate manner
so that research can be executed in successful way. There are few principles which must be
followed by the investigator in order to complete the investigation in ethical way such as
confidentiality of information, avoiding of deceptive practices and decreasing risk of harming
people (Mohajan, 2018). While conducting the research, it is necessary for the researcher to take
permission of the participants so that they can collect the information related to the particular
topic in accurate way. Thus, it is necessary to follow the ethical practices in order to meet the
research objectives and aims.
Limitations of the research:
The research is based on the impact of strategic issues of ineffective corporate
governance on the competition level and success of a firm. There are various barriers occurs
while conducting this research such as lack of resources, time and cost. These are the factors
which influence the process of conducting the investigation (Mukherjee, 2019).

CRITICAL REVIEW OF RESULTS
Frequency distribution table
Q.1. Do you think that corporate governance practices play significant
role within the organisation?
Frequency
a) Yes 40
b) No 10
Q.2. What are the basic areas of corporate governance practices within an
organisation?
Frequency
a) Risk management 10
b) Environmental awareness 10
c) Corporate strategy and policies 10
d) Stakeholder management 10
e) Organisational accountability 10
Q.3. As per your analysis, what is the role of corporate governance
practices in Unilever?
Frequency
a) Building better environment 6
b) Positive performance 4
c) Cultivating company's culture of integrity 8
d) Bring intellectual experience to business 9
e) Disciplined business process 10
f) Increased success rate 7
g) Improves competitive position 6
Q.4. What is the impact of ineffective corporate governance in business
functions of Unilever?
Frequency
a) Increased cost of input 10

b) Improper culture 8
c) Complexity in business process 9
d) Poor communication 6
e) Inefficient supply chain management 11
f) Decrease in market image 6
Q.5. What is the influence of strategic issues of ineffective corporate
governance on competitive level of Unilever?
Frequency
a) Downfall of the business 15
b) Poor business productivity 10
c) Ineffective organisational decision 12
d) Disinterested employees 13
Q.6. What are the relevant strategies that can be used by Unilever in order
to beat market competition?
Frequency
a) Targetting customers appropriately 10
b) Understanding market competition 11
c) Setting up competitive prices 9
d) Investing in innovation 12
e) Concentration on diversification 8
Q.7. Do you think that Unilever should invest their time and resources in
preparing effective corporate governance strategy?
Frequency
a) Yes 40
b) No 10
Data interpretation
Objective 1: To analyse the importance of corporate governance and strategy on the
success of a firm

Q.1. Do you think that corporate governance practices play significant
role within the organisation?
Frequency
a) Yes 40
b) No 10
a) Yes b) No
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
40
10
Interpretation: From the graph this can be concluded that out of 50 respondents, 40 respondents
have said that they are aware about the role of corporate governance within an organisation
whereas 10 respondents are not aware regarding such role.
Q.2. What are the basic areas of corporate governance practices within an
organisation?
Frequency
a) Risk management 10
b) Environmental awareness 10
c) Corporate strategy and policies 10
d) Stakeholder management 10
e) Organisational accountability 10

a) Risk management
b) Environmental awareness
c) Corporate strategy and policies
d) Stakeholder management
e) Organisational accountability
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
10 10 10 10 10
Interpretation: From the graph this is analysed that out of 50 respondents, 10 have said that risk
management is the major area of corporate governance practices used within an organisation.
Whereas 10 respondents have said that environmental awareness is the major area of corporate
governance, other 10 have said that stakeholder management is the major area for corporate
governance. At last 10 respondents have said that organisational accountability is the major area
of corporate governance. Along with this by considering secondary information this can be said
that the major area of corporate governance is related with risk management, stakeholder
management. So that the research objectives are attained as information from primary and
secondary information is same.
Q.3. As per your analysis, what is the role of corporate governance
practices in Unilever?
Frequency
a) Building better environment 6
b) Positive performance 4
c) Cultivating company's culture of integrity 8
d) Bring intellectual experience to business 9
e) Disciplined business process 10
f) Increased success rate 7

g) Improves competitive position 6
0
2
4
6
8
10
6
4
8 9 10
7 6
Interpretation: From the above graph this can be concluded that out of 50 respondents, 6 have
said that the major role of corporate governance is related with building better environment, 4
have said that the role of corporate governance is related with positive organisational
performance. On the other hand, 8 have said that cultivating company's culture of integrity is the
major role of corporate governance. Besides this, 9 have said that bringing intellectual
experience to business is the role of corporate governance. At last 7 have said that disciplined
business process is the major role of the business and 7 have answered that increased rate of
success is the role and 6 have said that corporate governance helps in improving competitive
position. Along with this by collecting secondary information using literature review this is
examined that major role of corporate governance is to provide positive working environment,
increase business success rate and improving success rate of the business into the market. So that
primary and secondary information is aligned with each other which leads the researcher to attain
research objectives.
Objective 2: To identify the impact of ineffective corporate governance in leading the issues
of rising input cost

Q.4. What is the impact of ineffective corporate governance in business
functions of Unilever?
Frequency
a) Increased cost of input 10
b) Improper culture 8
c) Complexity in business process 9
d) Poor communication 6
e) Inefficient supply chain management 11
f) Decrease in market image 6
a) Increased cost of input
b) Improper culture
c) Complexity in business process
d) Poor communication
e) Inefficient supply chain management
f) Decrease in market image
0
2
4
6
8
10
12 10
8 9
6
11
6
Interpretation: From the graph this can be demonstrated that out of 50 respondents, 10 have
said that increased cost of input is the major issue of ineffective corporate governance. On the
other hand, 8 have said that improper culture is the major issue of ineffective corporate
governance. Whereas 9 have said that complexity in business process is the major issue due to
ineffective corporate governance practices , 11 have said that inefficient supply chain
management is the issue due to improper corporate governance practices and at last 6 have said
that decrease in market image is the major issue of ineffective corporate governance practices.
Besides this by gathering secondary information using literature review this is being analysed

that the major issues faced by the organisation due to ineffective corporate governance practices
are related with ineffective supply chain management and poor communication. This means the
information gathered using primary and secondary sources are same so that research objectives
are attained.
Objective 3: To analysis the influence of strategic issues of ineffective corporate
governance on the competition level and success of a firm
Q.5. What is the influence of strategic issues of ineffective corporate
governance on competitive level of Unilever?
Frequency
a) Downfall of the business 15
b) Poor business productivity 10
c) Ineffective organisational decision 12
d) Disinterested employees 13
a) Downfall of the business
b) Poor business productivity
c) Ineffective organisational decision
d) Disinterested employees
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16 15
10
12
13
Interpretation: From the graph this can be said that out of 50 respondents, 15 have said that
influence of strategic issues of ineffective corporate governance on competitive level of Unilever
is related with business downfall. 10 have said that influence of strategic issues of ineffective
corporate governance on competitive level of Unilever is related with poor business productivity,

12 have said that influence of strategic issues of ineffective corporate governance on competitive
level of Unilever is related with ineffective organisational decisions and at last 13 have said that
influence of strategic issues of ineffective corporate governance on competitive level of Unilever
is related with disinterested employees. Using literature review as secondary data collection
method this is being identified that influence of strategic issues of ineffective corporate
governance on competitive level of Unilever is related with mismanaged employees and poor
business productivity. This means that primary and secondary information are similar to each
other hence, research objectives has been attained.
Objective 4: To ascertain relevant strategies in order to beat the competition
Q.6. What are the relevant strategies that can be used by Unilever in order
to beat market competition?
Frequency
a) Targetting customers appropriately 10
b) Understanding market competition 11
c) Setting up competitive prices 9
d) Investing in innovation 12
e) Concentration on diversification 8
0
2
4
6
8
10
12 10 11
9
12
8

Interpretation: From the graph this can be said that out of 50 respondents, 10 have said that the
organisation should target their customer appropriate and 11 have said that the market
competition should be understood in proper manner.
Q.7. Do you think that Unilever should invest their time and resources in
preparing effective corporate governance strategy?
Frequency
a) Yes 40
b) No 10
a) Yes b) No
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
40
10
Interpretation: Out of 50 respondents, 40 have said that Unilever should invest their time and
resources in developing significant corporate governance policies.
RECOMMENDATION AND ACTION PLAN
Conclusion
From the above report this can be concludes that corporate governance are regarded as
that significant strategies which are added within the organisation so that to eliminate issues and
to provide organisational success. There are various theories which are added in the corporate
governance aspect and these are helping the business to grow and acquire higher market image
as well. These are the policies which directly affects the success of the organisation and in this

manner with the help of efficient corporate governance policies this is easier that to manage the
business in successful manner.
Recommendation
The corporate governance practices are considered as one of the biggest aspect which
helps the business to grow ans sustain into the market. This is stated that with the help of
corporate governance practices this is easier for the business to mange their functions. For
Unilever this is significant that to sharpen their corporate governance and some of the practices
are elaborated as under:
Increase employee diversity: Employee diversity is defined as including people in the
organisation those has different background and values. When employees are diversified then
this will increase their involvement in the organisation and decision making as well. In this
manner business performance can also be managed and at the same time brand image can be
improvised.
Prioritising risk management: The organisation is needed to develop risk development aspects
so that their mitigation can also be rendered. Every board is needed to incorporate risk
management in their organisation so that cost benefit aspect can be added to the business and at
the same time business performance can be increased. The major issue with Unilever is related
with increased cost so that by developing risk management aspects the organisation can acquire
success and deal with their issues in short span of time.
Action plan
This is defined as the document which is related with including such steps which are to
be used within a research in order to attain proper goals and objectives. With the help of action
plan all the steps can be analysed which are needed to be performed and in the same manner by
following them pre-defined goals can be acquired. The major aim of formulating action plan is to
depict various resources which are added in the research by which analysing all the resources
plan of action can be executed. The current research report is related with Unilever which is
associated with production of consumer goods and this manner the company is having global
market image which helps the company to lead the market. Below mentioned table is the action
plan which is followed by Unilever so that to minimise the issues in their organisation due to
ineffective corporate governance. The action plan is accumulation of different steps which are
needed to be followed so that to execute differential aspects within the research.

Steps Description
Step 1: Identify the
reason
The very first step is to recognise the reason behind ineffective
corporate governance policies in the organisation. In this manner
Unilever is needed to examine such reasons due to which the
organisation is facing issues in their corporate governance so that the
same can be mitigated in easy manner of time. This is going to
facilitate the areas which can be identified by the organisation in
which they are lacking behind corporate governance. These areas are
needed to be examined by Unilever so that business performance can
be increased and at the same time issue of increased cost can be
mitigated.
Step 2: Formulate the
strategies
After the identification of issues within corporate governance due to
which Unilever is facing issue of high input cost such strategies
within corporate governance are prepared that would be helpful in
dealing with the issue of increased cost within input process. In order
to deal with such issues flexible corporate governance practices are
needed to be developed so that in minimum time issue of high input
cost can be managed. This is associated with giving several benefits
in terms of financial benefits, market success, higher profits and
many others. Within an organisation with the help of appropriate
corporate governance practices this is easier that to attain business
success and to deal with market competition as well.
Step 3: Offer employees
options
The next step is related with providing different options to the
employees so that they can get to know regarding issues faced by
their organisation and provide their opinion as well. These option
may include emphasis on suppliers policies so that appropriate
actions can be taken. Using employees opinion this will be helpful in
managing corporate governance so that overall performance of the
organisation can be boosted. Using these practices this would be
easier that to deal with the issue of increased input cost.

Step 4: Improve
organisational culture
and environment
This is regarded as one of the most influential step which is used by
the organisation in order to manage their business process and this
would be helpful in increasing market prominence so that competition
can be managed in appropriate manner. With the help of appropriate
organisational culture team work can be exerted in appropriate
manner and morale of employees can also be boosted. These are the
factors which could be used by Unilever so that to support their
business in developing corporate governance aspect to the business.
Step 5: Implementation After preparation of robust strategy the next step is to implement the
same so that business issue can be dealt. This is the step which is
related with implementation of different aspects so that Unilever can
prepare significant corporate governance strategy and at the same
time efficiency can be attained. The major issue for the organisation
is high input cost which means that with the help of appropriate
implementation of strategies this would be easier that to acquire
success into the long term.

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APPENDIX
Questionnaire
Q.1. Do you think that corporate governance practices play significant role within the
organisation?
a) Yes
b) No
Q.2. What are the basic areas of corporate governance practices within an organisation?
a) Risk management
b) Environmental awareness
c) Corporate strategy and policies
d) Stakeholder management
e) Organisational accountability
Q.3. As per your analysis, what is the role of corporate governance practices in Unilever?
a) Building better environment
b) Positive performance
c) Cultivating company's culture of integrity
d) Bring intellectual experience to business
e) Disciplined business process
f) Increased success rate
g) Improves competitive position
Q.4. What is the impact of ineffective corporate governance in business functions of Unilever?
a) Increased cost of input
b) Improper culture
c) Complexity in business process
d) Poor communication
e) Inefficient supply chain management
f) Decrease in market image
Q.5. What is the influence of strategic issues of ineffective corporate governance on competitive
level of Unilever?
a) Downfall of the business

b) Poor business productivity
c) Ineffective organisational decision
d) Disinterested employees
Q.6. What are the relevant strategies that can be used by Unilever in order to beat market
competition?
a) Targeting customers appropriately
b) Understanding market competition
c) Setting up competitive prices
d) Investing in innovation
e) Concentration on diversification
Q.7. Do you think that Unilever should invest their time and resources in preparing effective
corporate governance strategy?
a) Yes
b) No