...Dynamic Business Management Financial Analysis Executive Summary Unilever & Proctor and Gamble Unilever Liquidity Understanding Unilever from a liquidity perspective, an investor must realize that both current and quick ratios for Unilever decreased on a year over year comparison (2012, 2013, 2014). Assets during this period remained almost unchanged but liabilities grew over the designated years. This is due to bond maturity as stated in the 2014 annual report, but still a flag as the decrease has been YOY. Efficiency According to the efficiency ratios I calculated, Unilever shifted its strategy towards a less frequent collection cycle. They managed to collect receivables less frequently, showing a more accepting credit policy towards customers. Unilever’s Days Sales Outstanding ratio also increased, signaling it took longer to collect cash from its credit sales – which are apparent from the decrease in accounts receivable turnover ratio. Unilever’s inventory turnover ratio also increased into 2014, eluding that Unilever improved its ability to manage its inventory. In terms of evaluating the working capital ratio, Unilever leverages cash for programs more often – giving them a -22 for days in working capital. This is alarming to an extent, as Unilever could cash its way out of business in case it needs more working capital. Profitability After completing profitability ratios, Unilever financials provided two indications; firstly, it was moderately effective...
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...Deliver earnings per share (EPS) growth of high single digits to low double digits, and * Generate free cash flow productivity of 90% or greater. In order to achieve these targets, we have created one over-arching strategy, inspired by our Purpose. At the heart of this strategy is innovating to win by touching and improving the lives of: * More Consumers. We are improving more consumers’ lives by innovating and expanding our product portfolio vertically, up and down value tiers. We continue to successfully develop and launch premium innovations focused on improving consumer value through enhanced performance. We are also serving consumers who are more price conscious through lower-priced offerings with superior performance versus other mid-tier and value-tier alternatives. * In More Parts of the World. We are improving lives in more parts of the world by innovating and expanding our existing product portfolio geographically into new markets. We are increasing our presence in developing markets and increasing the amount of sales from these markets by focusing on affordability, accessibility and awareness of our brands. * More Completely. We are improving lives more completely by innovating to improve existing products and creating or entering adjacent categories. We are driving regimen use that broadens the occasions for which our brands can serve the needs of each consumer. By attracting new consumers into our existing brand franchises and broadening...
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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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...504-009-1 04/2004-5188 Unilever in Brazil: Marketing Strategies for LowIncome Consumers This case was prepared by Pedro Pacheco Guimaraes, INSEAD MBA 2003, and Pierre Chandon, Assistant Professor of Marketing at INSEAD, as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. We thank Laercio Cardoso and Robert Davidson from Unilever Brazil for making this case possible. We also thank Fernando Machado (INSEAD MBA 2003), Mauricio Mittelman (INSEAD PhD Student), and Luca Lattanzi (INSEAD Executive MBA 2004) for their comments. Copyright © 2004 INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France. PERMISSION. N.B. PLEASE NOTE THAT DETAILS OF ORDERING SE EU INSEAD CASES ARE FOUND ON THE BACK COVER. COPIES MAY NOT BE MADE WITHOUT RING HOU SE CL Distributed by The European Case Clearing House, England and USA. North America, phone: +1 781 239 5884, fax: +1 781 239 5885, e-mail: ECCHBabson@aol.com. Rest of the World, phone: +44 (0)1234 750903, fax: +44 (0)1234 751125, e-mail: ECCH@cranfield.ac.uk. All rights reserved. Printed in UK and USA. Web Site: http://www.ecch.cranfield.ac.uk. EA RO PEAN CA 504-009-1 INSEAD 1 5188 After three successful years in the Personal Care division of Unilever in Pakistan, Laercio Cardoso was contemplating an attractive leadership position in China when he received a phone call from Robert Davidson, Head of Unilever’s Home Care division...
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... Definition of Strategic Management: 5 Literature Review: 9 Literature review analysis: 11 About Unilever: 12 Objectives: 16 Strategy of the company: 17 2. Research Methodology 22 Research Approach 23 Research Methodology 24 Research Methods: 25 Resource Requirements 25 Limitations of the Study 25 Employee’s performance 28 Nature of Competitive Environment of the company 30 Effective factors: 31 Reasons for growth: 31 Environmental strategy and management 36 Porter’s Theory: 38 BCG GROWTH - SHARE MATRIX 40 Mintzberg’s Five P’s for Strategy 42 ANSOFF Matrix 43 Market Penetration 45 Market Development 46 Diversification 46 Product Lifecycle: 49 Balanced Score card: 50 3. Findings Suggestions and Conclusion 51 Products and Services of Company 51 COMPETITIVE POSITIONING 52 Position of companies on bowman’s strategy clock 52 INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL AUDIT OF ORGANISATION 54 PEST 54 SWOT 57 PORTER'S FIVE FORCES MODEL 61 Game Theory 64 The 7-S-Model 64 About the company’s position 68 Reasons for under growth: 69 Global Strategy 70 Strategy of the company: 71 To ways to increasing sales: 72 Hindustan Unilever Limited – June Quarter 2008 Results 78 Position of HUL among Indian FMCG 82 Sales Graph of Unilever Group 83 Profit Margin Graph 84 Share Distribution of HUL 85 Forecast Positioning Pyramid 86 The...
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...providing typologies of the roles of HR professionals in their organisation. These typologies are largely related to the changing nature of HRM over time, and the context in which empirical work was carried out. In this paper we focus on the context of the increasing internationalisation of firms and how this has an effect upon modern-day typologies of HR roles. We explore these roles by focusing on the way in which HRM practices come about. Especially in a MNC setting of increasing internationalisation of firms the issues of coordination, shared learning and standardisation versus leeway for adapting to the local context (customisation) are prominent. These issues present themselves both at the corporate and regional level and at the national and local (plant) level. On all these levels HR practitioners are active and find themselves amidst the interplay of both (de-)centralisation and standardisation versus customisation...
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...the genome, or genetic make-up of an organism, has DNA from another organism grafted into it. The resulting organism has some desirable traits, such as herbicide resistance, insect resistance, or disease resistance. The first product resulting from genetic modification was a tomato with increased shelf life. However this first product was a failure. For genetic modification to be successful there needs to be a team of individuals working together, a conventional plant breeder, biotechnologist, and an agronomist. The Flavr Savr team lacked sufficient plant breeders and agronomists and relied almost solely upon the biotechnologists. The lack of understanding of yield characteristics and field performance in addition to them higher cost versus conventional varieties all contributed to the failure of the product (Kramer and Redenbaugh, 1994; Martineau, 2001). One of the biggest fractions of GMs is called Bt, named for Bacillus thuringiensis a bacterium that forms a crystalline toxin that kills caterpillars. Biotechnologists moved the gene from the bacteria into the plant genome by using Agrobacterium tumefaciens. This method allows for low copies of DNA to be inserted into the receptive genome. There are other methods of introgression of foreign DNA into a genome such as the biolistic method or the gene gun. Which makes use of gold nano pellets which are ‘shot’ into the target cell nucleus. This method is literally hit or miss and...
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...Brand housing: Best practice for brand architecture Manfred Abraham and Abigail Taylor Admap February 2011 Title: Author(s): Source: Issue: Brand housing: Best practice for brand architecture Manfred Abraham and Abigail Taylor Admap February 2011 Brand housing Manfred Abraham and Abigail Taylor Interbrand London House of brands and branded house are the best known options, but there is no onesize-fits-all model for brand architecture. It is important to build a framework based on flexibility. Brands that build strong relationships with their customers are rewarded with higher sales, profits and value over time. The value of the strongest brands continues to rise, according to Interbrand's 2010 best Global brands report – Coca-Cola is worth $70.5bn. Brands that demonstrate their transparency, integrity and authenticity will continue to build successful long-term relationships with their customers. The economic downturn has changed spending behaviour and customers are increasingly more opinionated, savvy and connected. As a result, it has become more important to get your brand architecture and portfolio management spot-on. Brand architecture can typically be described as the branding framework that organises and explains the nature and strategic relationships of each of your brands, working hand-in-hand with your portfolio management. Ultimately, both your architecture and portfolio influence how stakeholders relate and interact with your...
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...I. MARKET ANALYSIS: Arimount, a well-known beauty and grooming company wants to launch a new deodorant product. The company’s development and research department has created a new chemical that will allow deodorants to work for up to 5 days—even after showering. Arimount has been in the hygiene market for 20 years with an average return on investment. They would like to top the market share with this innovative product. Deodorant market has emerged two “giants" mostly Unilever and Procter & Gamble (P & G), Romano. These brands dominate the market with products such as deodorant Romano (Classic, Gallant), Dove deodorant spray, deodorant Rexona. However, all beauty products from deodorant is directed at an audience mostly women. Consumers do not distinguish the products for women, so men often use deodorant for women. They did not have the notion deodorant own choice. In Vietnam, women typically played a decisive role in the purchase of beauty products. Market deodorant for men is only exclusively Romano. This is a "piece of cake" color Arimount open to exploitation. 1. Macro Environment: 1.1 Demographics: Percentage of years with roughly 50 % of Vietnam's population, however beauty products for men deodorant popular only 2%. 1.2 Economy: Vietnam 's economy is on the rise, the total gross Domestic product GDP despite the change but stable amplitude (the statistics show Furniture Vietnam 's GDP Increased Continuously from 2000 to 2007, Reaching...
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...acquisition of Molton Brown Ltd, a UK based manufacturer of upmarket cosmetic products. Molton Brown is fully owned by KAO Group, a Japanese manufacturer of personal care products. In addition, the report analyses the current share price of L’Oréal based on current economic climate, their credit rating, corporate governance and other factors. The analysis of financial statements of L’Oreal and its peers indicate that the business is well managed. Over the past three years the company has achieved a regular year on year increase of turnover and at the same time it managed to maintain its operating profit margin, which was the highest when benchmarked to its key competitors such as Unilever or Estee Lauder. L’Oreal current ratio, used to assess the liquidity of the business, decreased versus prior year. This was mainly caused by the issue of commercial paper repayable within one year. This however should not be a concern to the management, as favourable terms with suppliers and customer means that the business can meet its current liabilities. The analysis of peers suggests that it is industry standard to have a negative working capital. The analysis of Molton Brown shows that it is a profitable business which achieved an impressive 18% increase in turnover vs prior year. A high current ratio may indicate that Molton Brown is not using its financial resources very effectively and the management is not reinvesting available cash resources. The company is able to operate without...
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...and Estée Lauders, in Korea and are competing successfully with them around the world. We went to France, the Mecca of beauty products, and developed the #4 fragrance in that country, Lolita Lempicka. In China, our cosmetics line is sold in more than 100 department stores in 70 cities and business is finally growing. And we have opened a flagship spa in New York that is doing very well. For 2004, AmorePacific reported 3,300 employees and sales of 1,272 billion Korean Won (KRW), equivalent to US$1,111 million. Cosmetics and toiletries generated four-fifths of sales (and green tea and health care the rest), placing the company among the top 30 worldwide. AmorePacific held a share of more than 30% of the Korean market for cosmetics, versus 8% for its leading local competitor, LG Household and Health Care, and 4% for L’Oréal, the world’s largest beauty products company and the leading multinational competitor in Korea.1 But although AmorePacific’s share of the Korean market had reached record levels and its overall operating margins of 15%+ ranked among the highest in the sector, its sales fell by 5% from 2003 to 2004—and its operating income by 7%—mostly because of the contraction and continued restructuring of the Korean market. International sales crossed KRW 100 billion (nearly $100 million) in 2004, after foreign direct investments of comparable magnitude, but continued to be unprofitable. Could AmorePacific fulfill its vision of becoming one of the top-10 cosmetics...
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... 1.1 Introduction Unilever is a multi-national corporation, formed of Anglo-Dutch parentage that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. Unilever employs nearly 180,000 people and had worldwide revenue of almost €40 billion in 2005. Unilever is a dual-listed company consisting of Unilever NV in Rotterdam, Netherlands and Unilever PLC in London, England. This arrangement is similar to that of Reed Elsevier and that of Royal Dutch Shell prior to their unified structure. Both Unilever companies have the same directors and effectively operate as a single business. The current non-executive Chairman of Unilever N.V. and PLC is Michael Treschow while Patrick Cescau is Group Chief Executive, who will retire at the end of 2014. Mr Paul Polman will succeed Patrick Cescau as Group Chief Executive. The company is widely listed on the world's stock exchanges. 1.2 Origin of report Since practical orientation is an integral part of the MBA program, I tried to expose real life performance of Unilever by preparing this report. To prepare this report I have come across with different information of the Unilever. From the collected information I understand the company’s activities in the market as Unilever as in their internal preparation for marketing and others activities. I expect that this report will fulfill the requirement of MBA program and provide a clear idea about the Unilever activities and other...
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...Introduction Unilever is a multi-national corporation, formed of Anglo-Dutch parentage that owns many of the world’s consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. Unilever employs nearly 180,000 people and had worldwide revenue of almost €40 billion in 2005. Unilever is a dual-listed company consisting of UnileverNV in Rotterdam, Netherlands and Unilever PLC in London, England. This arrangement is similar to that of Reed Elsevier and that of Royal Dutch Shell prior to their unified structure. Both Unilever companies have the same directors and effectively operate as a single business. The current non-executive Chairman of Unilever N.V. and PLC is Michael Treschow while Patrick Cescau is Group Chief Executive, who will retire at the end of 2008. Mr Paul Polman will succeed Patrick Cescau as Group Chief Executive. The company is widely listed on the world’s stock exchanges. 1.2 Origin of report Since practical orientation is an integral part of the BBA program, I tried to expose real life performance of Uniliver by preparing this report. To prepare this report I have come across with different information of the Uniliver. From the collected information I understand the company’s activities in the market as Uniliverll as in their internal preparation for marketing and others activities. I expect that this report will fulfill the requirement of BBA program and provide a clear idea about the Uniliver activities and other multi-national...
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...I Company Background: Unilever is the parent company of the Skippy brand peanut butter. Unilever is a multi-national company with over 174,000 employees and operates in over 100 countries. Unilever has an annual advertising budget of over $77 million dollars, however it does not break down the budget per business segment. Total sales for Unilever is over $59 billion USD during fiscal year 2008. (Reed Elsevier Inc) II. Brief Introduction: Skippy was founded in 1933, 10 years after the product was initially developed by Joseph Rosefield. Skippy's Peanut Butter is manufactured in a single 158,000 sq ft plant in Little Rock, Arkansas. They produce over 10 million cases of Skippy per year and have a total of 72 different SKU's produced for global consumption. They use over 1.2 billion peanuts a day and each 18 oz jar contains 853 full peanuts. (Food & Drug Packaging, 2004) Sales data for Unilever saw overall growth in this business segment in 2008 of 7.9%. Peanut butter sale is included in the Savory, dressings and spreads product area by Unilever and accounted for sales of over $14 billion Euros. (Annual Report and Account 2008, 2008) Skippy is a marketing based organization. The products they develop and market are geared towards meeting customer needs and attempting to differentiate themselves from their competition. Examples of this would include reformulating the Skippy Peanut Butter to have a more "peanutty" taste (Skippy Peanut Butter, 2009) and also developing...
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...SOAP INDUSTRY: DOVE (ANALYSIS) SOAP INDUSTRY ANALYSIS ABSTRACT The origins of personal cleanliness date back to prehistoric times. Since water is essential for life, the earliest people lived near water and knew something about its cleansing properties - at least that it rinsed mud off their hands. A soap-like material found in clay cylinders during the excavation of ancient Babylon is evidence that soap making was known as early as 2800 B.C. Inscriptions on the cylinders say that fats were boiled with ashes, which is a method of making soap, but do not refer to the purpose of the "soap." Such materials were later used as hair styling aids. Soap got its name, according to an ancient Roman legend, from Mount Sapo, where animals were sacrificed. Rain washed a mixture of melted animal fat, or tallow, and wood ashes down into the clay soil along the Tiber River. Women found that this clay mixture made their wash cleaner with much less effort. Some of the early instances of commercial manufacturing of soap are: In Britain references began to appear in the literature from about 1000AD, and in 1192 the monk Richard of Devizes referred to the number of soap makers in Bristol and the unpleasant smells which their activities produced A century later soap making was reported in Coventry. Other early centers of production included York and Hull. In London a 15th century "sopehouse" was reported in Bishopsgate, with other sites at Cheapside, where there existed...
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