...A DECADE OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE AT UNILEVER 7 November 2012 • Originally founded in 1872, and incorporated in 1929, Unilever was facing a difficult time when upon their discovery that the organizational architechture and strategy they were employing was not benefiting the company. • The company was under a decentralized structure for generations. o Managers looking for a change o The decision was to go global • It was mid-1990 and initial changes were made with minmal results. o Managers tried again and rebuilt the company from the inside out o Between 1990-1996 Unilever introduced the concept based on regional business groups o The groups and divisions coordinated activities in the regions • It is now the year 2000 a slight change was apparent; however, the company was still behind their competitors. Again, management decides change is warranted o Unilever decides change the number of brands form 1600 to 400 o Reduce the number of manufacturing plants from 380 to 280 o Management wants all of this completed by the year 2004 • It is extremely difficult to change. The process is compounded when you are a multinational business trying to reshape your thumbprint. That in itself can take years Unilever managed to change and they no doubt are yet continuing to perfect that change. As we can only get better. A DECADE OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE AT UNILEVER Change while yet simple to say is one of the most difficult processes to perform. It...
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...Subject: A decade of organizational change at Unilever General description of the company Unilever is an international company, which includes Dutch Unilever NV in Rotterdam, and the UK-based Unilever PLC in London. The company was formed from the combination of Dutch company specializing in manufacture and export of margarine- Margarine Unie and Lever Brothers- English company producing coconut oil, and since 1900 soap from olive oil. Both companies used in their production process vegetable fats. In order to avoid a competitive battle for markets and resources they merged in 1929. Unilever mainly produces food, cleaning products and personal hygiene products (FMCG). Unilever has around 200,000 employees in more than 300 facilities across 6 continents. Unilever now has a total of more than 400 different brands around the world, but the company focuses on thirteen of its most profitable brands- so called “one billion-dollar-brands” with an average annual sales exceeding one billion dollars each. Top 25 Unilever brands provide more than 70% of the total annual income. Central issue of the case Unilever is one of the oldest multinational companies in the world. Has in its offer food, cleaning products and body care products. It generates $50 billion in annual revenue in different countries. In the past, Unilever was organized in a decentralized manner. Unilever had other companies that were responsible for the production, marketing, sales and distribution of...
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...Case Summary: A Decade of Organizational Change at Unilever Unilever, one of the world’s oldest multinational corporations, generates annual revenues in excess of $50 billion and a wide range of branded products in virtually every country. Furthermore, Unilever was organized on a decentralized basis, in which subsidiary companies in each major national market were responsible for the production, marketing, sales and distribution in that market. However, by the mid-1990s, this decentralized structure was increasingly out of step with a rapidly changing competitive environment. In addition, Unilever found out that it was falling behind competitors in the race to bring new products to the market, so in the mid-1990s, they began to change this in 1996 by introducing a new structure based on regional business groups. Each of these groups included a number of divisions that focused on a specific category of production. Furthermore, they coordinated activities of national subsidiaries within their region to drive down operating costs and speed up the process of developing and introducing new products. However, by 2000, Unilever found out that it was still lagging behind its competitors, so the company embarked upon reorganization, which was to cut the number of brands that Unilever sold from 1,600 to just 400 that could be marketed on a regional or global scale. Unilever also established a new organization based on two global product divisions, a food division and a home personal...
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...The two companies that I choose to discuss in this paper are Procter and Gamble, and Unilever both specialized in consumer goods and fierce foes for decades. Determine how each corporate culture differs from the other. As Ravasi and Schultz (2006) stated, organizational culture is a set of shared mental assumptions that guide interpretation and action in organizations by defining appropriate behavior for various situation. Procter and Gamble gives lots of importance to productivity and is constantly improving its productivity at all levels, to a point that it is part of the company culture. Their practices and values that have helped build that strong culture are: 1- Lead by example; the top executive team members personify the culture and consistently reinforce it through their actions. 2- Communicate regularly: Communication up, down and across the organization. 3- Transparency: Establish clear roles and responsibilities. 4- Promote for with in: human capital development to ensure consistency and well understood expectations. 5- Make data-drive decisions; Comprehensive financial, consumers and strategies rationales are all part of the decision making process. Meanwhile Unilever culture is more about what they believe in and how they act collectively. Unilever has an innovation culture. Some of the practices and values that helped Unilever achieve its goal as an innovative organization are: 1- Focus on company’s core competencies: listen to all employees’ ideas...
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...Strategic Management Case Study Unilever Focusing on East for Growth Word Count: 3984 Question 1 Unilever is an Anglo Dutch company that has been established in 1929 as a result of a merger between 2 companies: Lever Brothers and Margarine Unie. UNILEVER owns consumer products in; Food and Beverages, Cleaning agents and Personal care. It is now ranked as the second world largest consumer product company. Strategic Purpose: Unilever’s 2nd rank in FMCG has been gained by serving the company’s mission “to meet everyday’s needs for nutrition, hygiene, and personal care with brands that help people look good, feel good, and get more out of life”. Value Chain Analysis Porter’s value chain analysis gives insight on how Unilever creates competitive advantage. It provides deeper understanding to establish a SWOT analysis in order to arrive at the applicable Ansoff theory. It describes Unilever’s primary and support activities’ characteristics (Figure 1). Figure [ 1 ] Primary Activities Inbound & Outbound Logistics: Unilever had put a five-year strategy plan, called the “path to growth” to transform its inbound logistics in way that increases efficiency and saves money to be invested elsewhere outside the business. This plan started in North America by integrating six operating business and emerging 3 supply chains. The philosophy of this change was to create one single set of distribution centers that attain the 24hour delivery plan to the customer. Transportation...
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...MBA 653: Organizational Behavior Ben & Jerry Case Executive Summary In the past three decades, Ben & Jerry’s has made a transition from a local ice cream maker into a large multinational corporation. The unique history and culture has made Ben & Jerry’s brand into a social icon. The core values and mission of the company have been defined as three interrelated parts in Ben & Jerry’s mission statement. The ever changing market has posed constant challenges to Ben & Jerry’s, which calls for a comprehensive strategy that addresses the competitive difficulties, while allowing Ben & Jerry’s to remain consistent with its mission and background. This report analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of Ben & Jerry’s organizational design during this transitional period in terms of its culture, social mission, marketing, competition, product development, manufacturing and distribution. We recommend that Ben & Jerry’s continues to strive in the global business market by taking following actions: protect the brand name while maintaining core cultural values, continue social activism at a local level, while exercising caution in the overtly politically arena, develop products that remain true to their roots, while using the new resources available from Unilever, and adopt a Lean manufacturing and distribution platform. Analysis Following the merger with Unilever, Ben & Jerry’s faces challenges as it navigates within a larger corporation while...
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...& GOALS OF TAI ............................................................................................................ 2 STRATEGY OF ULKER ................................................................................................................ 2 ENVIRONMENT OF IKEA ........................................................................................................... 3 CONFIGURATION & COMPLEXITY OF TOFAS ...................................................................... 4 DISTRIBUTED ORGANIZATIONS IN TURKCELL .................................................................. 5 TASK DESIGN OF UNILEVER .................................................................................................... 6 PEOPLE STRUCTURE OF SAMSUNG ....................................................................................... 7 LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE IN GOOGLE ......................................... 8 COORDINATION, CONTROL AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN PEGASUS .................... 9 INCENTIVES OF SOMA ......................................................................................................... 10 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................................... 11 1 1. SCOPE & GOALS OF TAI Turkish Aerospace Industries, Inc. (TAI) was established by Turkish and US partners in 1984 with the aim to coproduce of F-16 aircraft for Turkish Air Force. TAI is Turkey’s...
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...Table of contents Sl No. Details Page 1. Introduction 2 2. Company Background 3 3. Organizational structure of Unilever 4 4. Stakeholder Analysis of Unilever 5 5. Stakeholder and their influence on Unilever and Oxfam 6 6. SBMP of Unilever for 21th Century 7 7. Comparison between Unilever and Oxfam: An overview of SBMP 8 8. Analysis of the SBMP of the two organizations 10 9. Conclusion 10 10. Reference i Introduction Unilever: “Creating a better future every day.” With 400 brands spanning 14 categories of home, personal care and foods products, no other company touches so many people's lives in so many different ways. Unilever’s brand portfolio has made the company leaders in every field in which it work. It ranges from much-loved world favourites including Lipton, Knorr, Dove and Omo, to trusted local brands such as Blue Band and Suave. From comforting soups to warm a winter's day, to sensuous soaps that make you feel fabulous, its products help people get more out of life. The company constantly enhancing company’s brands to deliver more intense, rewarding product experiences. It invests nearly €1 billion every year in cutting-edge research and development, and has five laboratories around the world that explore new thinking and techniques to help develop its products. (www.unilever.com) Oxfam: Oxfam GB is a leading international NGO with a worldwide reputation for excellence in the delivery of aid and development work. Its purpose...
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...Executive Summery Most of the South Asian economies (e.g. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) have made significant economic progress in the last two decades and are well on track to becoming major regional or even world economic powerhouses. In the recent years, many MNCs are increasingly putting more attention to the emerging. Asian countries for competitive advantage. One classic example is China. With a population of more than 1.3 billion China is predicted to be the largest economy in the world by next 20 years surpassing United States (UN Report 2007). China has become the manufacturing and investment hub for many MNCs. Despite huge success for most of the MNCs, many already failed in doing business in China due to their management’s inability to manage their human resources appropriately. Taking the Chinese lead like the tiger economies in Asia, Bangladesh is also emerging as a dynamic and significant economic player in South Asia. Bangladesh is one of the pioneers in the region for economic liberalization. It has adopted the best policies of South Asia to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Doing business in Bangladesh is much easier than most of the developing countries. A recent report entitled “Doing Business in 2007: Creating Jobs” published jointly by World Bank and IFC placed Bangladesh in 68th position in terms of easy of doing business among 175 countries (World Bank, 2007). This places Bangladesh ahead of other countries in the region such as India (88th)...
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...Organizations: The role of HRM and Leadership INTRODUCTION In the last decade, the importance of sustainability in any part of business in any industry has increased. Sustainability needs to move from being an add-on to a way of life at the firm such that companies can balance their social, financial and environmental risks and obligations. While companies have begun identifying the need to ingrain sustainability into the organisation, most business leaders still do not have a clear idea on how to go about doing so. THE CULTURE OF SUSTAINABILITY When talking about sustainability in business we mean managing the ‘triple bottom line’ such that decision making takes into account not only profits but also people and the planet along with social and environmental risks and obligations. In this sense, corporate reporting takes into account the environmental and social impact of the firms operations. But a culture of sustainability is more than just the corporate report and the face value of the initiative. It is one in which all the members of the organization share the spirit and the passion for the cause of balancing profitability with environmental accountability and social well being. Such a culture constantly strives to improve the lives of stakeholders while successfully carrying out its operations over the long term. WHAT DIFFERENTIATES SUSTAINABILITY FROM OTHER INITIATIVES? Most organizational change initiatives are largely confined to the boundaries of the organization...
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...appraisals are widely used for administrating wages and salaries, giving performance feedback, and identifying individual employee strengths and weaknesses (Mathis & Jackson, 2011). Definition of Performance Appraisal P erformance appraisal is the process of evaluating the behavior of the employees in the work place (Maxwell, 1992). This process assumes that the employees are aware of their performance standards, and that the supervisor also provides the employees with the feedback, development, and incentives required to help the person eliminate performance deficiencies. Basically, performance appraisal is intended to engage, align, and coalesce individual and group effort to continually improve overall organizational mission accomplishment (Vance, 2006). According to Dessler (2012, p. 332), “Performance appraisal means evaluating an employee’s current and/or past performance relative to his or her performance standards.” Dessler also emphasized that performance appraisal aims to improve...
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...[pic] | | |Introduction | |Organizational Study | | | |About the Company | |History | |Company Profile | |Objective of the Company | | | |Mission and Vision | | ...
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...SPOTLIGHT ON THE NEW MARKETING ORGANIZATION Spotlight HBR.ORG ARTWORK Markus Linnenbrink DIEDRITTEDIMENSION, 2011 JVA/Prison, Düsseldorf Rath, Germany The Ultimate Marketing Machine Most marketing organizations are stuck in the last century. Here’s how the best meet the challenges of the digital age. by Marc de Swaan Arons, Frank van den Driest, and Keith Weed July–August 2014 Harvard Business Review 55 SPOTLIGHT ON THE NEW MARKETING ORGANIZATION In the past decade, what marketers do to engage customers has changed almost beyond recognition. With the possible exception of information technology, we can’t think of another discipline that has evolved so quickly. Tools and strategies that were cutting-edge just a few years ago are fast becoming obsolete, and new approaches are appearing every day. Yet in most companies the organizational structure of the marketing function hasn’t changed since the practice of brand management emerged, more than 40 years ago. Hidebound hierarchies from another era are still commonplace. Marketers understand that their organizations need an overhaul, and many chief marketing o cers are tearing up their org charts. But in our research and our work with hundreds of global marketing organizations, we’ve found that those CMOs are struggling with how to draw the new chart. What does the ideal structure look like? Our answer is that this is the wrong question. A simple blueprint does not exist. Marketing leaders instead must ask, “What...
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... (1.1)Unilever Bangladesh Limited(UBL) The origin dates back to 1964, when the first Manufacturing Operations were set up as a part of Lever Brothers Pakistan operations. After independence, it was incorporated as a separate Company under the laws of Bangladesh. Later on the Company diversified into different categories. Over the the last four decades, Unilever Bangladesh has been constantly bringing new and world-class products for the Bangladeshi people to remove the daily problems of life. Over 90% of the country’s households use one or more of our products. It’s a Fast Moving Consumer Goods company with local manufacturing facilities, reporting to regional business groups for innovation and business resultsUnilever contains 60.75% shares,and The Government of Bangladesh-39.25% of total shares. The company has a Soap Manufacturing factory and a Personal Products Factory located in Chittagong. Besides these, there is a tea packaging operation in Chittagong and three manufacturing units in Dhaka, which are owned and run by third parties exclusively dedicated to Unilever Bangladesh. The main products which are famous in Bangladesh are: Wheel, Lux, Lifebuoy, Fair & Lovely, Pond's, Close Up, Sunsilk, Lipton Taaza, Pepsodent, Clear, Vim, Surf Excel, Rexona, Dove, Vaseline & Lakme. And these products are categorized into 8 divisions: Household Care, Fabric Cleaning, Skin Cleansing, Skin Care, Oral Care, Hair Care, Personal Grooming, Tea based Beverages. Unilever Operations...
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...Marketing sustainability • Sustainable sourcing among SME’s • Beyond auditing • Sustainable trading • Retailers and sustainability • Sustainable sourcing and procurement Case study Unilever sustainable tea Part I: Leapfrogging to mainstream y Tania Braga, B Aileen Ionescu-Somers and Ralf Seifert, IMD’s Center for Corporate Sustainability Management Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative (Initiatief Duurzame Handel) Utrecht, The Netherlands www.dutchsustainabletrade.com office@dutchsustainabletrade.com Foreword A tipping point happens when a critical mass of people begin to shift their perception of an issue and take action in a new direction. As I look across the global landscape, I feel that we are approaching a tipping point concerning global sustainability. It is catalyzed by at least three important realizations by business, government, and civil society: The first is a realization that the world is finite and that a growing population with a higher ambition for living standards will inevitably lead to a world which will be resource and carbon constrained. The second is the realization that to solve the challenges for this future world we need systems solutions. We cannot solve individual problems in silos. The connections between energy, climate change, water, food, urban infrastructure and the imperative of functioning ecosystems are very clear. A third realization is that no part of society can solve this on its own. Individually, governments...
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