A Detailed Analysis of Unilever's International Management Approach

This assignment examines Unilever's international management approach, focusing on key strategies such as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to establish marketing subsidiaries and factories worldwide, which allows for control over international operations and reduced business risks. The analysis highlights the significance of R&D and positive government relations for FDI success. Furthermore, the assignment discusses Unilever's comparative and competitive advantages, including its headquarters in the Netherlands, technological advancements, educated workforce, and customer loyalty. It also addresses the competitive pressures faced by Unilever in the FMCG industry, emphasizing the company's need for continuous product innovation and successful strategies for international market expansion and local presence through acquisitions. References are provided to support the analysis.

Running head: INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT
INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT
Question 5.4
Unilever uses Foreign Direct Investment in order establish marketing subsidiaries and
factories all across the world. The biggest advantage that FDI has provided to Unilever is that
it has provided the company with the opportunity to control all the international operations
and has contributed to reducing the risk of doing business with other partners. It has given the
company freedom to work in the way they want, it has helped in acquiring more profit and
also have a global presence in the market.
In order to ensure the FDI succeeds, it is important for Unilever to first do encourage
proper R&D and also establish positive relationship with the government where Unilever is
going to expand their business. According to scholars, governments and political stability is
very important as it can negatively impact an organisation in terms of their operation and
profits (Sabir and Khan 2018).
Question 5.5
Comparative and competitive advantages both have helped Unilever dominate the
global market and operate successfully internationally. Unilever is seen to have headquarters
in Netherlands which are currently leading in terms of technological development and also
have many educated workers who have contributed to drive innovation in the development of
the products and in the operations of Unilever as well.
Unilever over the years have won the hearts of many which has resulted in customer
loyalty which is one of the biggest competitive advantages of the company. Faisal (2019)
states customer loyalty builds a trust which leads to consumers buying particular products
from a specific brand despite of availability of other alternatives. This has led to the growth
of the company over the years.

2INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT
Question 5.6
Unilever is one of the most successful companies in the FMCG industry however it
has been seen that the company is in constant pressure in order to come with new products
because of many other companies emerging in this industry.
Unilever is in high demand and has been facing competition in the market due to new
companies which makes the company invest in research and development in order to come up
with new products and the strategy of Unilever is highly successful as it helps the company in
expanding in international markets and have a local presence by acquiring the local business
which helps in the smooth operations of the business and has helped in the successful
contribution of the business.

3INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT
Reference
Faisal, F., 2019. Increasing Corporate Competitive Advantages in Customer Loyalty Using
Electronic Applications Laundry. Journal of Applied Sciences and Advanced
Technology, 1(3), pp.75-80.
Sabir, S. and Khan, A., 2018. Impact of political stability and human capital on foreign direct
investment in East Asia & Pacific and south Asian countries. Asian Journal of Economic
Modelling, 6(3), pp.245-256.