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    Paul Polman - Turnaround and Development of Strategy at Unilever

    Uploaded by

    RJ Dimaano
    This case study analyzes Paul Polman's turnaround strategy as CEO of Unilever from 2009 to 2015. Under Polman's leadership, Unilever transitioned to a more sustainable business model focused on health, environmental and social impact. Key changes included restructuring the organization, launching the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan to address global challenges, and prioritizing purpose over short-term profits. The strategies helped improve financial performance and position Unilever as an industry leader in sustainability.

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    Paul Polman - Turnaround and Development of Strategy at Unilever

    Uploaded by

    RJ Dimaano
    123 views10 pages
    This case study analyzes Paul Polman's turnaround strategy as CEO of Unilever from 2009 to 2015. Under Polman's leadership, Unilever transitioned to a more sustainable business model focused on health, environmental and social impact. Key changes included restructuring the organization, launching the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan to address global challenges, and prioritizing purpose over short-term profits. The strategies helped improve financial performance and position Unilever as an industry leader in sustainability.

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    Paul Polman- Turnaround and development of strategy at Unilever

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    This case study analyzes Paul Polman's turnaround strategy as CEO of Unilever from 2009 to 2015. Under Polman's leadership, Unilever transitioned to a more sustainable business model focused on health, environmental and social impact. Key changes included restructuring the organization, launching the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan to address global challenges, and prioritizing purpose over short-term profits. The strategies helped improve financial performance and position Unilever as an industry leader in sustainability.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    123 views10 pages

    Paul Polman - Turnaround and Development of Strategy at Unilever

    Uploaded by

    RJ Dimaano
    This case study analyzes Paul Polman's turnaround strategy as CEO of Unilever from 2009 to 2015. Under Polman's leadership, Unilever transitioned to a more sustainable business model focused on health, environmental and social impact. Key changes included restructuring the organization, launching the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan to address global challenges, and prioritizing purpose over short-term profits. The strategies helped improve financial performance and position Unilever as an industry leader in sustainability.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 10

    Philippine Christian University

    Sampaloc 1, Dasmariñas City, Cavite

    Graduate School of Business and Management

    A case study submitted In Partial Fulfilment of the requirements in Strategic


    Management 2

    Submitted by:

    Dema, Jamilah

    Dimaano, Rian Jay

    Flestado, Roshela

    Gomez, Anthony

    Justiniano, Cherry Ann

    Submitted to:
    Dr. Teresita Bacani

    July 14, 2022

    I. Title of the Case

    “Paul Polman: Turnaround and Development of Strategy at Unilever”

    II. Time Context

    “January 2009 – January 2015”

    III. View Point

    PAUL POLMAN

    • Unilever’s CEO from January 2009

    • Worked at Nestlé as CFO

    • Held various positions in Procter & Gamble for 27 years

    • Champion of the Earth, 2015

    IV. Areas of Consideration

    A. Company Background

    Unilever is a multi-national corporation, and one of the most significant

    fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies in the world. It employs

    173,000 people worldwide, with 400 Brands, available in 190 countries, and Two

    Billion consumers uses the products. Unilever's portfolio comprises four distinct

    groups: Personal Care, Food, Refreshments, and Home Care. Products are

    distributed to various retailers, both supermarket groups and smaller shops.


    Created in 1930, when Margarine Unie from Netherlands and Lever

    Brothers from the UK started to work together, they established Unilever. Legally

    operates as two separate entities, two headquarters in the UK, and under special

    provisions in the Articles of Association, Unilever NV and Unilever PLC legally

    operate as a single economic entity.

    In 2004, Unilever first-ever got a profit warning and their market share and

    financial performance continued to broke. They bring an outsider Paul Polman as

    their new CEO. And now it has become a leading brand which has succeeded in

    creating its own position in the global market, and it’s basically a success story of

    its great leader Paul Polman.

    The Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) shows a company is acutely

    aware of the great ecological and social challenges of our time, such as global

    warming, imminent food shortages and the ever-widening gap between rich and

    poor.

    V. Situation Analysis

    General Environment Analysis

    A. Technology - Opening of European Marketing and Innovation Hub. Several


    projects and tools supported this structural change. Among these are ‘Project
    Half for Growth’ (which follows the principle of half the time, half the process, and
    double the speed) and ‘Project Sunset’ (which is an IT tool that speeds up
    decisions and which has been rolled out across 103 countries).
    B. Demographic Trend - Unilever transformed its organisational structure. A
    change from a highly decentralised structure to a multi-country organisation with
    22 regional centres, operating in 11 categories, the change put the focus on four
    categories and eight geographical clusters in order to significantly speed up
    decision-making and improve resource allocation. It also allowed for identification
    of business opportunities faster, allowed trade- offs to be made more quickly and
    transferred best practices across regions and categories more rapidly, all
    supporting the key drivers of growth. In Rotterdam, a European Marketing and
    Innovation Hub was opened. Here, some 270 employees from nine countries
    work together to speed up decision-making and share best practices. This
    structural change was supported by several projects and tools. Among these are
    ‘Project Half for Growth’ (which follows the principle of half the time, half the
    process, and double the speed).
    C. Economic Trends – Unilever was performing solidly and margins were
    improving and earnings per share were growing at double digit space.
    D. Political / Legal Environment – Legally consists of two separate entities,
    Unilever NV in the Netherlands and Unilever PLC in the UK with two
    headquarters, one in the centre of Rotterdam and one in the centre of London.
    Special provisons in the Articles of Association and three agree- ments between
    the two entities enable them to operate as a single economic entity.
    E. Socio-Cultural Environment - By 2020, the company aims to complete the
    three main objectives of the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan: to help a billion
    people take action to improve their health and well-being; to halve the
    environmental cost involved in the manufacture and use of its products; and to
    enhance the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of people while growing the
    business, for example by sourcing 100 percent of its agricultural raw materials
    sustainably. The corporate brand is growing fast, and Unilever is again a
    preferred employer in most countries it operates in and is credited for driving a
    more responsible business model.
    F. Global Environment - New and developing market. Unilever sells its products to
    a variety of retailers. In the developed world there is an increasing reliance on
    supermarket groups, often multinational, e.g. Wal-Mart (USA) and Carrefour
    (France). In the developing coun- tries its products are sold in smaller shops
    when there are no supermarkets.

    VI. Industry Analysis


    VII. SWOT Analysis

    STRENGTHS

    - Has a broad portfolio of brands and categories available in various retailers,


    supermarkets in developed countries, and small stores in emerging markets. Brands
    like Dove, Lifebuoy, Axe, Lipton, Knorr, Magnum ice cream. And Categories, such as
    Personal Care, Food, Refreshments and Home Care.

    - A global brand focused on becoming an industry leader with a streamlined


    organizational structure in all countries and regions.

    - The company's main products are daily necessities, and Unilever is constantly
    developing, improving, and creating new products. The company also aims to add
    vitality to life, by offering healthy & nutritious products.

    - Paul Polman has joined Unilever as CEO, bringing years of experience holding
    senior positions at P & G and Nestlé. The appointment of Polman plays a pivotal role
    because it is a rare opportunity to understand the strategies of these great companies,
    driven by strong values. Paul Polman introduced Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, a
    commitment that placed "sustainability" goals at the core of the company's strategy
    - Launching the 'Unilever Sustainable Living Plan,' which introduced a renewed
    business purpose that drew on Unilever's history and values. In today’s uncertain and
    volatile market, brands that values corporate social responsibilities makes more impact
    to the lives of the consumers, by reducing carbon footprint and enhancing the livelihood
    of the communities. Unilever Philippines for instance, built a pocket parks in Pandacan,
    Manila along the Pasig River Banks.

    WEAKNESSES

    - Ownership by two companies. Though it is regarded as Unilever's strength, it is


    also its weakness. In terms of the effectiveness of decision making, expansion to the
    new market.

    - Breaking Conventional Rules, change management team, set new rules for the
    company employees that may lead to transferring of other employee to other
    competitors' company. UnileverPursue the continuation of merger and acquisition
    among its competitors.

    - Buyer bargaining power plays an influential role. When consumer demands go


    down, sales are directly affected.

    OPPORTUNITIES

    - Develop products that help improve consumers' health and well-being.

    - Reduce environmental footprint, and help the planet achieve NetZero

    - Sharpen business strategies moving forward, and increase the demand for the
    products in emerging markets through strategic marketing campaigns

    - Continuously understand consumer behaviors and introduce products that will


    help increase sales turnover while giving importance to customers' preferences. Polman
    focus on customers rather than shareholders, satisfying the need of the the customers
    will make profitable money and only long term stockholders for long term partnership.

    THREATS
    - Fierce competition in the FMCG industry, and consumers are always looking for
    products that are more convenient and, at the same time, healthier. The FMCG industry
    is a highly competitive market, with two strong competitors active in the same country or
    region (Nestlé and P & G).

    - Sales in developed markets are almost flat, and emerging markets are slowing
    significantly.

    - Global and local competition in the market is demanding. Unilever's ranking


    compared to selected peer groups remains unchanged.

    - Risk of Imitations. Local markets copy the best seller and produce the product at
    a lesser price. Its products can easily be replaced with substitutes especially in the
    emerging markets. Opportunities.

    VIII. Statement of the Problem

    “How would sustainability strategies help increase profitability, market share, and

    promote continuous innovation and market development?”

    IX. Alternative Courses of Action

    ACA 1. E-commerce and Social Media Marketing

    This alternative course of action can be useful in terms of improving brand value

    and retail sales in terms of digital marketing. The implementation of eCommerce in

    FMCG industry in different sales channel (supermarket, and smaller shops). The use of

    digital marketing, and influencers instead of celebrities, social media (youtube, twitter,

    facebook, Instagram, wechat, whatsapp, viber).

    Advantages :
    1) Can lead to improve brand value

    2) Can help increase market share

    3) Can lead to increase sales turnover

    4) Can lead to market growth.

    5) Can help lead to more effective business processes.

    Disadvantages :

    1) High cost of eCommerce development.

    2) Risk of failure in marketing campaign.

    ACA 2. Rebranding

    This alternative course of action can be useful in terms of repositioning the brand

    to the perspective of the current and potential customers. Bringing something new is

    always what the market is seeking for. This will be a good alternative to tighten and

    continue the hold of the company in the market share.

    Advantages :

    1) Can lead to sustainability in terms of market share;

    2) Can lessen the competition in the industry;

    3) Can bring volume of potential markets.

    Disadvantages :

    Too expensive. Budget might be a concern

    2) It should undergo lots of legal requirements and negotiations.

    ACA 3. Merger and Acquisition


    This alternative course of action can help the company to continuously improve

    its market share in the industry. As this would lead to lessening the competition in the

    industry and could maintain and improve the current position of the company in the

    industry.

    Advantages :

    1) Can lead to refreshing the positioning in the minds of the current and potential
    markets

    Disadvantages :

    Budget might be a concern;

    2) Time Consuming.

    XI. Alternative Choice

    For the chosen Alternative courses of action, we have chosen the ACA 1: E-

    commerce and Social Media Marketing. As we have evaluate all three ACA’s, and this

    strategy is the most appropriate to use given the current situation of UNILEVER.

    XII. Our Recommendation

    We recommend the use of Lean Management and Balanced Score Card.


    In order to continue the progress made by Paul Polman, we recommend the use

    of Lean Management. It is an approach to managing an organization that supports the

    concept of continuous improvement, a long-term approach to work that systematically

    seeks to achieve small, incremental changes in processes in order to improve efficiency

    and quality While in performance targeting. We recommend the use of BALANCED

    SCORECARD. Balanced scorecard combine four specific perspectives: financial,

    customer, internal, and future oriented innovation and learning perspective

    XIII. Plan of Action

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