Strategic Management Report: Unilever's Strategies and Performance

This report provides an analysis of Unilever's strategic management, focusing on its corporate identity, business units, and sustainability initiatives. It examines how Unilever uses its competitive strategies to maintain a market edge, highlighting the relationship between its corporate identity and product portfolio. The report discusses the structure of Unilever, including its sub-units, profit centers, and revenue streams, and explores the company's approach to achieving business sustainability through specific tools and strategies. Furthermore, it addresses Unilever's commitment to social responsibility and its impact on the environment, referencing the company's financial performance, market trends, and competitive positioning within the FMCG sector. The analysis includes a review of Unilever's turnover across various business units and its strategies for product promotion, innovation, and sustainable growth. This assignment solution is available on Desklib, a platform offering a range of study tools and resources for students.

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Strategic Management
Report
4/26/2018
Student Name

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Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................1
Task 2.........................................................................................................................................1
Task 3.........................................................................................................................................2
Task 4.........................................................................................................................................3
References..................................................................................................................................4

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Introduction
The report discusses the Unilever corporate identity and how it will have used its competitive
strategies to have an edge in the market. The report highlights the fact about the corporate
identity of the company and its relation to the product and service portfolio. Also, the
business units of Unilever have been discussed here. The analysis discusses about how the
sub units of Unilever works, what are their profit centres and which unit is giving the highest
revenue to the company. Structure of the Unilever is also taken into consideration. Discussion
related to achieve the sustainability of the business is also there that how the Unilever
achieved the sustainability in the business. What tools and strategies they are using for it. The
facts related to social responsibility is also been discussed there (Martinsuo and Killen,
2014).
Task 2
Corporate identity is the identity or image of the company which it has made in front of the
public. It is a relation between the investors, public, and company. This relation should be
maintained for the purpose of facilitating corporate business objectives. Unilever is one of the
world’s leading suppliers. Unilever has three business units which include food, home, and
personal care. Company’s sales are estimated to be in 190 countries and reached 2 billion
consumers a day. The company has 172000 employees and able to generate sakes more than
50 billion in last year. The company is aiming to cover the large market share in developing
countries. Unilever has more than 400 brands found in homes around the world including
Dove, Persil, Ben & Jerry’s, Lipton, Magnum etc. (Frost, Jones, Loftus and Laan, 2005).

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Corporate identity of the Unilever found to be good in the market because of its different
product and service portfolios. Visual identity of the company gives the visibility and
recognisability to the business. Another thing that the corporate identity focuses is
shareholders and relationship between its units or division. Unilever has many division and
departments which are working with coordination and cooperation in the company and
making the brand reputation. Unilever is paying special attention to the corporate identity in a
time of organizational change. Corporate identity needs to maintained and managed on the
structural basis. It means maintaining the corporate identity is the responsibility of all
employees in the departments and units. It will lead to future organizational development
with harmony in its business.

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In Unilever Company, the organizational structure is divided into sub business units which
include the personal care products, food products, and home care products. Each business
unit is consisting of the marketing department, research and development department,
Accounts and finance department, customer service department and administration
department (Gassmann, Enkel, and Chesbrough, 2010). These units work to achieve the
target and making the organization image at the top. The functioning of these departments is
not interrelated and interdependent. The decision making in the organizational each
department can be made without any delay. But in this type of structure, the requirement of
material and resources are more than other types of structure. But Unilever is requiring the
independence in its structure so that the working can be done without any delay in supply and
decision making. Its business units can be operated freely without the wait for the top
management to give the decision.
Task 3
For Unilever, Company sustainability is important in the business. The company is
considered sustainability as an integral part of the business to perform (Schaltegger, Lüdeke-
Freund, and Hansen, 2016). This means that sustainable growth is the only acceptable model
of growth for the business. The Unilever Sustainable Living Plan set out to decouple our
strength and growth. The company is also trying to create the positive social impact on the
society so to have a good image in the eyes of the public. The company is planning to help
more than a people to improve their health and well-being. To achieve the sustainability in its
business, Unilever is using 100% of the agricultural raw material and enhancing the
livelihood of people across the value chain (Wirtz, Pistoia, Ullrich and Göttel, 2016). The
company is giving the footprints of products to the environment at large. In the year 2014, the
Unilever is ranked at number one in Dow Jones Sustainability sector. The company has

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increased the use of renewable resources in its energy around 28% in line with the USLP
commitments (Dyllick and Muff, 2016).
The use of economies of scale in Unilever operations leads to lower the cost of the company
individuals department. The business units in Unilever are producing the goods at large and
the cost per unit of product is a decline as output increases (Prahalad, 2012). Consumer
preference is also a concern for the company. Consumer preference is also a concern to the
company. Unilever is making such products and services which are satisfying the demands of
the consumer. Products need and demands can be meeting out by introducing the innovation
in the product. New technology introduced by the Unilever in its product influences the
customer to buy the products. For this innovative thinking in its business, Unilever is
requiring the skilled employees. Most importantly the structure of Unilever is made up of
clustered entities (Biemans, Griffin and Moenaert, 2016). The company is achieving the
competitive advantage using the strategy of differentiation in its model. In this model, the
company is offering the variety of products and services to the customer. It makes the
customer not to shift to other brands. As Unilever is offering the variety of food, homes and
personal care, these are the basic requirement of an individual so each and every customer get
the product under one roof only. The company is covering a broad market area with these
differentiated products. Another strategy company is using in its business is cost Leadership.
In cost leadership strategy, the area covered by the company is broad and the cost per unit of
product it comes out to be less (Njanja, Maina, Kibet, and Njagi, 2013).
According to the annual reports of the Unilever, the company is focusing on winning with
brand and innovation globally. As each and every individual needs a new and unique product
which other companies are not able to provide them. The company is focusing on the
continuous improvement to win more market share and hearts of the public. For the welfare
of the environment and its resources, the company is working on reducing the greenhouse

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gases. Unilever’s financial performance and its business unit’s performance are showing the
increasing trends in revenues and sales. The sale of the company is increasing more as
compared to its competitors because of the responsibility did toward the society (Pless, Maak,
and Waldman, 2012).
Task 4
Turnover in business units of Unilever
Particulars 2016 2017
Home care 10585 11123
Personal Care 15791 16078
Foods 1078 1102
Refreshments 4434 4795
Others(inc. Exports, infant and Feminine Care) 1043 797
Total 32930 33895
(Annual report, 2017)
With the global economies are continuing to witness slow economic growth in the current
year. There were sudden changes in the prices after the phase of deflation in the economy.
After that, the market gradually recovers from it but market liquidity is adversely affected by
this (Reinmoeller and Ansari, 2016). After a period there is a certain increase in the growth of
FMCG products. Unilever Company also faced the same phase in the economy. But after a
while regain its position in the market through its different business units. The company is
dealing with three sub business units which include the home care products, personal care
products, foods and others (Veerman, Sacks, Antonopoulos and Martin, 2016).
The company is spending on the trade and using the optimized media for the promotion of
products and services. The company is maintaining the competitive prices and invested in

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developing the new segments to ensure a sustainable growth in the business. In these home
care products, the pureit example can be taken. Pureit is the world’s largest selling water
purifier made by the Unilever Company. Its mission is to provide the safe drinking water to
100 million till 2020. Another business unit, the Unilever is dealing in is Food products.
From the above table of revenues, it is visible that the company is selling a good amount of
products in the market. In the food business, Unilever is focussing on the culinary products
such as Kissan; soups, Soupy noodles etc. Kissan is maintaining its leadership across the
categories. The customer prefers the Unilever brand for the food products as they are
working according to the norms of regulatory bodies in the country (Salaran, 2010). This
regulatory body takes care of consumer’s interest while fostering the innovation (Monteiro
and Cannon, 2012).
Unilever is showing the increasing trend in all the business units except the others which
include the exports, infants and feminine care products (Maon, Lindgreen, and Swaen, 2009).
In-home care product, Unilever includes the Vaseline, Sunlight soap etc. the last year the
crude oil prices are on a hike so there is less production of petroleum products by the
company. But after that period, the company is tried to regain its position in the market by
matching up with the prices and economic situations.

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References
Annual report. (2017) Unilever Limited. [online]. Available on:
https://www.hul.co.in/Images/annual-report-2016-17_tcm1255-507593_en.pdf [Accessed on:
25th April 2018]
Biemans, W.G., Griffin, A., and Moenaert, R.K. (2016) Perspective: New Service
Development: How the Field Developed, Its Current Status and Recommendations for
Moving the Field Forward. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 33(4), pp.382-39
Bryden Strokes. (2018) Unilever. [online]. Available on:
http://brydenstokes.com/Products/Food-Consumer/Unilever.aspx [Accessed on: 25th April
2018]
Dyllick, T. and Muff, K. (2016) Clarifying the meaning of sustainable business: Introducing a
typology from business-as-usual to true business sustainability. Organization &
Environment, 29(2), pp.156-174.
Frost, G., Jones, S., Loftus, J. and Laan, S. (2005) A survey of sustainability reporting
practices of Australian reporting entities. Australian Accounting Review, 15(35), pp.89-96.
Gassmann, O., Enkel, E. and Chesbrough, H. (2010) The future of open innovation. R&d
Management, 40(3), pp.213-221.
Maon, F., Lindgreen, A. and Swaen, V. (2009) Designing and implementing corporate social
responsibility: An integrative framework grounded in theory and practice. Journal of
Business Ethics, 87(1), pp.71-89.
Martinsuo, M. and Killen, C.P. (2014) Value management in project portfolios: Identifying
and assessing strategic value. Project Management Journal, 45(5), pp.56-70.

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Monteiro, C.A. and Cannon, G. (2012) The impact of transnational “big food” companies on
the South: a view from Brazil. PLoS medicine, 9(7), p.e1001252.
Njanja, L.W., Maina, R.N., Kibet, L.K. and Njagi, K. (2013) Effect of reward on employee
performance: A case of Kenya Power and Lighting Company Ltd., Nakuru,
Kenya. International Journal of Business and Management, 8(21), p.41.
Pless, N.M., Maak, T. and Waldman, D.A. (2012) Different approaches toward doing the
right thing: Mapping the responsibility orientations of leaders. The Academy of Management
Perspectives, 26(4), pp.51-65.
Prahalad, C.K. (2012) Bottom of the Pyramid as a Source of Breakthrough
Innovations. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 29(1), pp.6-12.
Reinmoeller, P. and Ansari, S. (2016) The Persistence of a Stigmatized Practice: A Study of
Competitive Intelligence. British Journal of Management, 27(1), pp.116-142.
Salaran, M. (2010) Research productivity and social capital in Australian higher
education. Higher Education Quarterly, 64(2), pp.133-148.
Schaltegger, S., Lüdeke-Freund, F. and Hansen, E.G. (2016) Business models for
sustainability: A co-evolutionary analysis of sustainable entrepreneurship, innovation, and
transformation. Organization & Environment, 29(3), pp.264-289.
Veerman, J.L., Sacks, G., Antonopoulos, N. and Martin, J. (2016) The impact of a tax on
sugar-sweetened beverages on health and health care costs: a modelling study. PloS
one, 11(4), p.e0151460.
Wirtz, B.W., Pistoia, A., Ullrich, S. and Göttel, V. (2016) Business models: Origin,
development and future research perspectives. Long Range Planning, 49(1), pp.36-54.

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