Unilever Stakeholder Relationship and Conflict Analysis Report

This report examines the relationship between stakeholders and Unilever, a public limited consumer goods company. It begins with a literature review covering stakeholder models, mapping, conflict resolution, collaborative working, and the importance of stakeholders. The analysis section delves into stakeholder analysis, communication channels, cross-functional working, and conflict management strategies employed by Unilever. The report highlights the significance of stakeholder engagement, emphasizing the importance of maintaining positive relationships with various stakeholders like customers, employees, suppliers, and the government. It explores how cross-functional teams enhance innovation and employee engagement, leading to improved problem-solving and decision-making. The report concludes with recommendations for improving stakeholder relationships and emphasizes the critical role stakeholders play in an organization's success. The report underscores the value of effective communication, collaborative efforts, and conflict resolution in achieving organizational objectives and maintaining a competitive edge. This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Unilever's stakeholder management practices, offering insights into strategies for fostering strong stakeholder relationships and managing conflicts effectively.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The report file was based upon the relation of stakeholders and the organisation. The
models of stakeholder. Stakeholder mapping, importance of conflict resolution, collaborative
working and importance of stakeholders where discussed in the literature review. The
stakeholder and cross functional working analysis along with the measures to resolve the
conflicts among the stadholders and organisation were discussed.

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Literature Review.............................................................................................................................1
Stakeholders ................................................................................................................................1
Stakeholder Models.....................................................................................................................1
Stakeholder Mapping...................................................................................................................2
Importance of conflict resolution.................................................................................................2
Collaborative working.................................................................................................................3
Importance of stakeholders..........................................................................................................4
Discussion and analysis...................................................................................................................4
Stakeholder analysis.....................................................................................................................4
Analysis of communication channels between the company and its stakeholders......................5
Analysis of companies cross-functional working and strategies.................................................5
Analysis of how they manage conflict with internal and external stakeholders..........................7
RECOMMENDATION...................................................................................................................7
Strategies used to improve the relationship with the stakeholders..............................................7
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9
Books and Journals......................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Collaborative relationship refers to the act when two or more then two individuals comes
together to perform a specific work with the motive of mutual benefit (Avendano and Cho,
2020). The group of people can perform the work more effectively and efficiently as compare to
the individual efforts. Working together leads in solving the problems quickly and in a precise
manner. The knowledge and skills of the employees is enhanced while working with the team,
this boost the motivation of the employees (Turner, Nelson, Pestka and Sorensen, 2019). The
productive of employees as well as of organisation increases along with the rate of employee
satisfaction while working collaboratively. The chosen organisation for this particular report is
Unilever. It's a public limited company, dealing in consumer goods. It was founded on 2
September 1929 by William Hesketh Lever. The headquarter of the company is in London,
England, UK. They are serving in around 190 plus countries, along with this they are the largest
soap produce in the world. They had divided their whole working into three divisions that is
beauty and personal care, food & beverages and home care products. They are having 149,000
employees present globally with having a revenue of 52.444 billion euros in financial year 2021-
2022. This file will include about stakeholder, theories or models of the stakeholders,
stakeholders mapping, importance of resolution of conflict, importance of stakeholders in
organisation along with the approaches used by the company in order to improve the relations
with the stakeholder. For delivering positive effects how cross functional working is crucial and
lastly, collaborative working along with the impact of collaborative working to avoid the
difficulties occurred at the time of communication.
Literature Review
Stakeholders
Stakeholder is the one who has directly or indirectly involved in the operations of the
organisation. Stakeholder includes investors of the company, employees working within the
organisation, suppliers, consumers and many more (Gupta, Chen, Hazen, Kaur and Gonzalez,
2019).
Stakeholder Models
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Stakeholders model was introduced by Bucholtz and Carroll which states the importance
of stakeholder approaches in the organisation. The stakeholder model is further divided into three
values which are mentioned below -
 Descriptive value – Each and every group of the organisation has there own interest
which affects the working of the organisation in certain manner. For this the organisation
has to use a favourable approach to fulfil and balance the requirements of each and every
particular set of group.
 Instrumental value – In order to attain the financial objectives of the organisation
different data is used to identify the accurate stakeholder management procedure. Normative value – The organisation should provide the equal values to the stakeholders
as they give to the shareholders of the company.
Stakeholder Mapping
The stakeholder mapping is a way that represent the interrelation among the stakeholders
and with the organisation. It helps the organisation in taking quick and effective decisions also it
helps in enhancing the productivity. The stakeholder mapping can be created very easily which is
mentioned below -
 Stakeholder identification – There are numerous stakeholders present within the
organisation. It is the first stage to identify the appropriate stakeholders through which
the objectives of the organisation could b achieved.
 Stakeholder analysis – After the first step the stakeholder has to make analysis that out
the identified stakeholder who can produce more output and their level of contribution.
According to their performance allot the work and frame strategies. Take action – At this point of time, the necessary information has being gathered and
accordance to it. With the help of mapping tools the mapping should be get started on
behalf of the interest of the stakeholders.
Importance of conflict resolution
Conflict resolution is the method used by the two or more employees to agree on a same view
point or a peaceful solution of the problem is being identified by both the parties in order to
maintain peace and harmony with in the organisation. The resolution of conflict with in the
organisation would leads to certain benefits for both the employees as well as for the
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organisation. The importance of conflict resolution with in the organisation are mentioned below
-
 Improves working atmosphere – The employees of the organisation could be more
productive when the working culture of the organisation is good. The company ability to
work with team is improved when the company have conflict free environment.
 Boost employment engagement – When the employees of the organisation start working
in a team then the involvement of the employees towards each other as well as towards
attaining the goals of the organisation will be enhanced. The employees will actively
participating towards the activities of the organisation.
 Skill enhancement – The effective communication among the employees makes them
feel comfortable with each other and they will start sharing their views, opinions and
ideas which leads in increasing the skills and learning of the employees.
 Increased productivity – The habit of working collaboratively with the each other
makes the employees in producing the best output. The result produced through this save
the time, cost, resources and efforts of the organisation and make them productive. Improves Well being - The conflict among the employees affects the emotional and
physical condition of the employees. It can leads in increasing stress among the
employees which leads in heart problems, depression, anxiety, headaches by which they
can't concentrate on their work and become absorb or even quit job altogether.
Collaborative working
Collaborative working means when two or more companies come together in a
partnership with the motive of working to accomplish their objectives (Chan, Wan and Ko,
2019). This enhance the knowledge and skills of the employees. This helps the employees in
being more productive and creative. The working culture of the company get improved with the
help of collaborative working. They feels free to share their ideas and opinions which leads in
occurring the best and effective solutions of the problems. The productivity of the employees
increases then they use to work with the team along with it the overall performance of the
organisation is improved with the team efforts.
Importance of stakeholders
The stakeholders are the most crucial components of the organisation, it is not possible to
operate the business without there involvement. As they are plays a significant role it is
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important to make a good relationships with the stakeholders. This will provide the company a
long as well as the short term benefit. Even the company will be capable of getting competitive
advantage. The customers are the king for an organisation so taking care of their requirements is
most crucial factor that the companies considers. It is not possible to operate the functions of the
organisation without having good team. The suppliers are the one with whom the company can
evaluate the demand and taste and preference of the customers, as they overlooks upon the
activities of the customers. The government frames polices for the welfare of the companies and
customers. To follow their instructions are the moral duty of the companies, in case the
companies do not follow the instructions of the government then they have the rights to take
action against the company which can affects the image of the company. This is how the
stakeholders plays a vital role in the organisation.
Discussion and analysis
Stakeholder analysis
Stakeholder analysis refers to the process of identifying the stakeholders and then grouping them
according to there interest. The group of stakeholders is further divided into four major divisions
-
 High interest high power – The organisation should kept them as their first priority they
are the most productive one for the organisation. The Unilever keeps customers as their
first priority.
 Low interest, high power – The working affect the performance of the company they
should be kept satisfied. The Unilever has kept his workforce in this zone.
 High interest, low power – The people in this zone should be kept informed about the
changes or rules of the companies. Unilever has set it's suppliers in this zone.
 Low interest, low power – The people in this zone should be monitored on the timely
basis. Unilever has kept legislative bodies in this zone.
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Analysis of communication channels between the company and its stakeholders
It is very important to communicate with the stakeholders of the company on timely
basis. The communication channels are as follows -
 Email and newsletters – The most effective way to communicate with the stakeholders
is through email and newsletters. The important information can be delivered to all the
stakeholders within a short time frame. Conferences and online meeting – It is not possible for each and every stakeholder to
physical available at the places, so online meeting are the best solution to continue the
effective communication.
Analysis of companies cross-functional working and strategies
Cross functional working refers to the workgroup framed by the employees, working at
different operational areas in the organisation (Saeedakhtar, Haqju and Rouhi, 2021). A single
department is not capable in achieving the goals of the organisation, every department is
incomplete with the existence of other departments. Like the production department has to
coordinate with the marketing and sales department in order to check the amount of production
required as per the demand of the customers. The human resource department has to coordinate
with each and every department to check the requirement of new employees. The finance
department coordinates with various department make divide the fund along all the departments.
The purchase department has to coordinate with the manufacturer to check the availability of the
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raw material and so on, this is how each and every department is interlinked and incomplete
without the efforts of other department. Cross functional working helps in improving the
problem solving ability and decision making ability of the employees. With this there are certain
benefits of using cross functional working in the organisation, though which the company can
deliver positive result. The benefits of cross functional working in the organisation are as follows
-
 Increases innovation – Cross functional working involves team efforts, which leads in
improving the thinking capacity. The flow of ideas while working with the group is at
peak, which motivates the employees to put their full efforts. The problem solving ability
of the employees is boost while working with the team and hence results in being
innovative. With the helps of team efforts the Unilever is able to secure the top position
in the market. The company believes in continuous innovation for this they are having the
team of skilled employees, who always coordinate with various departments and tries to
bring out the best in the market.
 Employee engagement – While working with individual team the employees starts being
unproductive, with the engagement of employees at other departments the flow of energy
among the employees start boosting a hence he will make their active participation. The
employees start feeling more connected with the employees of other department and tries
of achieve the goals of the organisation. When the employees meet with the new
employees and discuss about the various situations the flow of energy among the
employees multiplies. The Unilever conducts various activities within the organisation to
improve the interaction of the employees and to increase their involvement.
 Increases knowledge and skills – The employees working at various departments are
expert in their field. The cross functional working helps them in sharing and improving
the skills and knowledge of the employees among each other. They share their ideas and
opinions with each other, with this they are capable of generating new idea for the
problem. The hidden talent of every employee comes out and they feels free to share their
ideas and opinion among each other.
 Decision making ability – The ability to take fast and effective decision improves with
the help of cross functional working. Sometime it happens that the team working for
upon a project is not able to flaws in it, but the outsiders that is the employees of other
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department can easily identify the mistakes and required changes in the project. Then
with the team efforts and the employees of other department the employees are capable of
making the desired changes which is required for improving the product. The Unilever
shares the project of one department with other department to find out the flaws in the
project. This identifies the weak points within the project and make timely changes. Developing leadership skills – The employees are have the chance to work upon the
project on the temporary basis which helps in developing the leadership skills of the
employees. The employees of other department engages with the other employees, they
will make conversation with them, leads them and explain them about the project to other
employees. This makes the employees develop leadership skills among them for a
specified period of time and this is how they will develop the leadership skills among
themselves slowly.
Analysis of how they manage conflict with internal and external stakeholders
The most effective way to mange conflict with stakeholders are to identify the problem,
then make necessary discussion on it. With the help of senior manger the companies and the
stakeholders try to resolve the issue. After the discussion both the parties should reach at the
solution which is beneficial for both the parties.
RECOMMENDATION
Strategies used to improve the relationship with the stakeholders
There various strategies are used by the companies in order to maintain good
relationships with the stakeholder, these strategies are mentioned below -
 Effective communication – The companies should do a regular conversation with their
stakeholder in order to be in touch with them (MacDonald, Clarke and Huang, 2019).
This improves the relationship of the stakeholders with the company, even the strong
bond is build among them. The Unilever use to communicate with their customers
through their websites, prospectus, labels on the product and through their customer care
centres. For communicating their employees their conduct meetings and conferences
calls, along with this they sends emails, newsletters to their employees. The government
imposed various policies for the companies, so they use to deliver the rules and polices
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along their stakeholders in order to make them pre aware about the happening which will
take place.
 Understanding requirements – The organisation should try to understand what are the
requirement of the stakeholders (Belmeziti, Cherqui and Kaufmann, 2018). The bond of
company and stakeholders will be improved when the companies understand what they
want and make necessary changes according to them. The Unilever has a separate
research and development department, where the needs and wants of the customers and
current market trends are analysed with this company is having 149,000 employees along
with 60000 suppliers. The company had made different policies to increase the
satisfaction level of the employees as well as of the suppliers. They promises them to pay
fair wages along with the certain benefits like health insurance, leave polices, retirement
policy and many more. The company also follows the laws imposed by the government
and takes care to full fill their corporate social responsibility.
 Stakeholders involvement – The companies should not impose their decisions of the
stakeholders rather then this they should include the stakeholder in all the decisions. This
promotes the interest of the stakeholders as they feel that their opinion is being valued.
The Unilever can use both centralised and decentralised decision making at the same time
(Wetzel and Hofmann, 2019). The company has a wide range of suppliers, they involves
them at the time of taking decision so that they can help the company in understanding
the cost incurred at the time of transportation, who they can reduce the cost.
 Be proactive – The companies should not wait for the stakeholders to raise their issues,
in spite this they have to remain proactive and ask the challenges, hurdles or problems
faced by the stakeholders. The Unilever has provided their help line numbers through
which the customers can directly raise their quires and their teams is ready to solve their
problems. The company is also involved in taking timely feedback form the customers
and providing after sales services to improve their purchasing experience. They had also
set a HelpDesk centre for the employees, where they can raise their queries and are free
to provide solutions.
CONCLUSION
From the above statement it can be concluded that stakeholders are the most crucial
component for running the operations of the organisation. The company cannot operate it
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functions without the employees, customers, suppliers, government, community or any other
stakeholder. They are the one who are responsible for the existence of the businesses, so in order
to improve the relations with the stakeholder different approaches are used by the companies.
The approaches used by the Unilever includes the effective communication with their
stakeholders, though this the company can understand their need and wants and then the
company can frame their policies according to it. The companies involves their stakeholders in
making decision, which increases the interest of the stakeholders. The cross functional working
means when the employees of different departments work together. This increases the efficiency
of the organisation as they start sharing the ideas with each other. The amount of innovation
starts increasing as the teams will share their ideas with each other. The flaws present within
project can be easily identified by the employees of other department as compare to the
employee working upon that project, with this timely action could be taken by the company. The
models of the stakeholders, stakeholders mapping, importance of resolution of conflict,
importance of stakeholders in organisation along with the approaches used by the company in
order to improve the relations with the stakeholder were discussed. Lastly, it has been discussed
about the collaborative working. It is very crucial to work with the team, this makes the
employees working the work timely and with full efficiency. The capacity to produce output get
improved along with this the learning capacity of the employees are improved.
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