Case Analysis of Unilever: Leadership, Change, and Strategy

This case study report analyzes Unilever's transformation under the leadership of Paul Polman, examining the company's challenges in a competitive global market and the strategic changes implemented to improve performance. It evaluates the effectiveness of Polman's transactional leadership style, focusing on the impact of changes on organizational culture, including performance targets and remuneration. The report assesses the success of Unilever's strategies, providing recommendations for improvement, such as a new feedback system and performance appraisal. It also discusses the potential benefits of incorporating transformational leadership to inspire employees and consider their opinions in decision-making. The analysis highlights the importance of strategic leadership in navigating industry challenges and fostering organizational growth. The study concludes that while Polman's strategies brought improvements, a new leadership style could further enhance sustainability and long-term success. The report is a student submission to Desklib, a platform providing AI-based study tools.

Running head: CASE ANALYSIS REPORT OF UNILEVER
Case Analysis of Unilever
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CASE ANALYSIS REPORT OF UNILEVER
Table of Contents
1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................2
2. Discussion...........................................................................................................................2
2.1. Analysis and evaluation of the situation......................................................................2
2.2. The need for change....................................................................................................3
2.3. Impact of the change on the culture............................................................................4
2.4. Effectiveness of the different styles of leadership and techniques used by the team
leaders in the Case Study.......................................................................................................4
2.5. Evaluation of the level of success of Unilever............................................................5
2.6. Recommendations.......................................................................................................6
2.7. Comments in terms of difference in leadership style in different situation................6
3. Conclusion..........................................................................................................................6
4. References:..........................................................................................................................8

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CASE ANALYSIS REPORT OF UNILEVER
1. Introduction
The emergence of globalisation has changed the whole world into a small global village,
where there is high stream of competitions and contentions within different organisations
(Teubner 2019). In such a scenario, the most beneficial manoeuvre for a company is creating
some innovative ways for conducting and maintaining business. In this process, change is
required often. Effective leadership plays an important role in ensuring effective
organisational innovation and change. It is to note that organisational change is a demand of
the present day and is a necessity for organisations for surviving in the long run.
This paper shall elaborate on analysing and systematically evaluating the situation, the
need for change, effect on culture and efficiencies of the leadership techniques and styles that
are used by the team leaders in the Case Study of Unilever of the year 2009. Finally, whether
the change is successful or not, shall be explained. Moreover, in this regard, two initiatives
for improving implementation of the strategy shall be provided while commenting on
whether leadership style would differ in different situations.
2. Discussion
2.1. Analysis and evaluation of the situation
Unilever, a British-Dutch transnational consumer goods company was created in the year
1930 with the merger of Margarine Unie (Netherlands) and Lever Brothers (United
Kingdom). This merger has led the company to attain its present success in the global market
(Murphy and Murphy 2018). Unilever focuses on having a leading position in market while
being there in the high growth markets. Notwithstanding this fact, it is to mention that
Unilever is facing some challenges in terms of economic headwinds and weak markets.
Negative changes in the currencies influenced the company and its level of product sales,

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CASE ANALYSIS REPORT OF UNILEVER
while influencing its overall profitability. With the same, despite of having high growth of
sales in its initial years, Unilever faced the challenge of low turnover. There was high level of
competition within the FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) industry and to survive in
such a competitive environment was a challenging task for Unilever (Colicchia, Creazza and
Dallari 2017). Its major competitors were Procter & Gamble, L’Oreal and Nestle. It struggled
to maintain its position and to improve its business operation in the severe economic
conditions.
2.2. The need for change
It is to note that low turnover resulted in poor revenue growth. In such an environment,
where there was low turnover, high competition, change in currency, low sales growth,
Unilever thought of bringing a change within the business. The CEO of the firm- Paul
Polman introduced a revolutionary change in terms of cultural changes that was required to
be adopted by the business as early as possible (Bartlett 2015). Like in the process of any
other organisational change implementation, this change also called for certain needs and this
was related to the poor revenue growth in between the years 2005 and 2014.
Furthermore, it is to mention that poor performance of the company had led to poor
returns for the shareholders of Unilever and this brought in negative economic conditions.
With the same, the former CEO of Unilever had implemented growth strategy which was
widely criticised for being a significant factor for the poor revenue growth of the company
(Bobel 2015). It is to note that Unilever also failed to acquire any rank among the first fifty
“most admired companies” in Fortune magazine.
Hence, there was a need for splitting the company for boosting the company growth
changes were basically neede in terms of business strategy implemented by the company.
This is why Paul Polman implemented a business level strategy that was on the basis of three

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main elements and they include- a) continuous development of the new and improvement
products, b) reduction of the sourcing costs, and c) rolling of innovations and brand-based
concepts in diverse business in diverse parts of the world.
2.3. Impact of the change on the culture
After the implementation of business level strategy, the rate of turnover got decreased and
profit got increased. Furthermore, it reduced the gap in between Unilever’s market
performance and that of its competitors and at the same time, it helped Unilever to gain a
leading position in the FMCG industry. This business level strategy was based on a total of
four elements and they are:
a) Change in strategy
b) Change in culture
c) Change in organisational structure
d) Change in personnel
In terms of culture, major attention was paid to the changes in two different systems-
setting up of the performance target and remuneration. Paul Polman set up a target of gaining
long term profits and organisational growth. With the same, it is also to mention that long-
term behaviours were encouraged in effective manner with the help of new strategies. These
new strategies helped in sharpening the performance culture of the company and also, the
firm has become highly cost competitive. With the same, market share of Unilever was also
increased by this strategy. It is to note that the main aim of Paul Polman behind introducing
these strategies was to change the organisational culture of Unilever that was decentralised in
nature, into a more centralised and organised one.

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CASE ANALYSIS REPORT OF UNILEVER
2.4. Effectiveness of the different styles of leadership and techniques used by
the team leaders in the Case Study
Under the leadership of Paul Polman, several changes were implemented within Unilever.
He successfully encouraged the shareholders of the company to adopt a business model on
the basis of long-range and sustainable approach towards growth and development (George
2015). He always had an optimistic view-point towards the human nature and has always
considered to be a social entrepreneur as of the transformation that he has brought in within
the management styles, culture and economic growth of the company. He used transactional
leadership style and always focused on proper attainment of the organisational objectives for
gaining rewards. He also developed remuneration system within Unilever which was
performance oriented and also the high level executives of the company are required to depict
the effectiveness of the performance for gaining proper rewards and benefits (Gehrke and
Claes 2017). Also these has led to successful implementation of the sustainable initiatives
that has played a significant role in the process of growth of Unilever as a FMCG company.
Furthermore, it is to note that the implementation of the long term based strategies by Paul
Polman helped the company in increasing its organisational efficiencies along with the
performance targets and speed of the organisational employees.
2.5. Evaluation of the level of success of Unilever
It is to mention that the change strategy developed by Paul Polman was on the basis of
“management shuffle”, which took place in the company. These changes brought in
significant improvement in the innovation capabilities of Unilever as well as its
organisational structure. It has also improved the decision making process of the company
and improved resource allocations. With the same, training courses were provided to the
employees to provide them with ample growth opportunities and improve their skills. Paul

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Polman implemented all these changes with a vision of “Winning with People” (Ionescu-
Somers and Brassey 2019). These changes under the leadership of Paul Polman brought in
many positive improvements but they were not so positive enough to ensure high growth
levels of the firm. Not much growth was witnessed.
2.6. Recommendations
After analysing the case of Unilever below are mentioned some suggestion that could be
utilised by Unilever for improving the strategy implementation:
a) Unilever should work towards introducing a new feedback system for its employees
for understanding their requirements and needs and in this way, it can also improve
the employee performance levels.
b) Unilever should implement a performance appraisal system in the company so that the
employees can rest assure that their growth and success within the company shall be
ethical and dependable on their performance.
2.7. Comments in terms of difference in leadership style in different situation
After analysing the case study of Unilever it is clear that Paul Polman has used
transactional leadership style to lead the company and make it highly performance oriented.
He worked towards keeping the employees feel motivated and inspired while choosing to
influence them, instead of directing them. However, he did not take into consideration the
opinions of his employees and staffs during the decision making process. However, in terms
of business operations, using transformational leadership while inspiring employees and
taking in considerations their perceptions and opinions could help the company in the long
run (Rogiest, Segers and Van Witteloostuijn 2018).
3. Conclusion

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CASE ANALYSIS REPORT OF UNILEVER
Hence, from the above analysis it is to conclude that under the leadership of Paul Polman,
Unilever has witnessed significant improvement in terms of growth levels. He brought in
many changes and these changes brought in significant improvement in the innovation
capabilities of Unilever as well as its organisational structure. However, he paid less
emphasis on sustainability and this is why, there is a need for a new leadership style for
improving the same. Paul Polman made use of transactional leadership style throughout the
course but using transformational leadership in the business operation of the company can
help in properly improving the same in the near future.

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4. References:
Bartlett, C.A., 2015. Unilever’s New Global Strategy: Competing through
Sustainability. Harvard Business School, pp.916-414.
Böbel, I., 2015. Business strategy reimagined: a paradigm shift based on “Creating Shared
Value.
Colicchia, C., Creazza, A. and Dallari, F., 2017. Lean and green supply chain management
through intermodal transport: insights from the fast moving consumer goods
industry. Production Planning & Control, 28(4), pp.321-334.
Gehrke, B. and Claes, M.T., 2017. Leadership and global understanding. In Leadership
today (pp. 371-385). Springer, Cham.
George, B., 2015. The new global leaders. People and Strategy, 38(3), p.26.
Ionescu-Somers, A.M. and Brassey, J., 2019. Unilever’s Super Stretch Goal for 2020.
In Managing Sustainable Business (pp. 623-635). Springer, Dordrecht.
Murphy, P.E. and Murphy, C.E., 2018. Sustainable Living: Unilever. In Progressive Business
Models (pp. 263-286). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Rogiest, S., Segers, J. and van Witteloostuijn, A., 2018. Matchmaking in organizational
change: Does every employee value participatory leadership? An empirical
study. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 34(1), pp.1-8.
Teubner, G., 2019. Global Bukowina: legal pluralism in the world society. In Critical theory
and legal autopoiesis. Manchester University Press.

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CASE ANALYSIS REPORT OF UNILEVER