Running Head: Unilever

Organizational activities of Unilever

[Name of Writer]

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Contents
1 Introduction..............................................................................................................4

1.1 Organization.....................................................................................................4

1.2 Internal and external environment....................................................................4

1.2.1 Customers/clients.......................................................................................5

1.2.2 Competitors................................................................................................5

1.2.3 Government regulations.............................................................................5

1.2.4 Suppliers.....................................................................................................5

1.2.5 The employment market.............................................................................5

1.3 Innovation drivers.............................................................................................6

1.3.1 Sustainability..............................................................................................6

1.3.2 Digital.........................................................................................................6

1.3.3 Biological...................................................................................................6

2 Opportunities and challenges...................................................................................6

2.1.1 Opportunities..............................................................................................6

2.1.2 Challenges..................................................................................................7

3 Structure of the organization....................................................................................7

3.1 Product type divisions......................................................................................7

3.2 Corporate executive teams...............................................................................7

3.3 Geographic divisions........................................................................................8

4 Internal processes.....................................................................................................8
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5 Strategy....................................................................................................................9

6 Marketing mix and strategy.....................................................................................9

7 Policies...................................................................................................................11

8 Organizational activities........................................................................................11

9 The role played by the working individuals..........................................................11

10 IP in the organization.........................................................................................12

11 IP importance.....................................................................................................12

12 Unilever’s Five Forces Analysis........................................................................12

12.1 The threat of new entries:...........................................................................12

12.2 Bargaining power of suppliers:...................................................................12

12.3 Bargaining power of buyers:.......................................................................13

12.4 Threat from the substitute:..........................................................................13

12.5 Rivalry:.......................................................................................................13

13 Conclusion..........................................................................................................13

14 References..........................................................................................................14
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Organizational activities of Unilever

1 Introduction

As everyone knows all the organizations play an important role in the development of their

country's economy. The government also supports these organizations for the smooth running

of their process and their policies. These organizations tackle all types of problems in a very

respective manner with a certain ease. These types of the organization make their reputation

and existence very well among various countries to a certain extent and no organization can

even try to compete with that well-structured organization.

1.1 Organization

Unilever is one of the highly influential brands of the present day. This brand started its

journey in the United Kingdom and now the organization is one of the biggest multinational

ventures not only in UK but in the whole world. They started their business in 1929 and

produced different daily use products and captures the entire market within no time

(Transparency, 2018). They strongly believe in innovation, because no organization can

survive without modern and upcoming technologies (As, 2020). After the evolution of

technology, they were also moved towards the modern’s tools and equipment which were

quite helpful in the production of the various elements and valuable products.

1.2 Internal and external environment

The one major element in any organization is the internal and external environment. This

plays a key role in the development of the organization. Unilever played a serious attention

towards the internal and external environment in order to get success all over the globe to a

certain level (Zaynullina, 2020). The internal environment of the organization is quite better
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because their internal factors can easily be resolved with certain precautions but the external

environment is quite competitive because of the several reasons. The external environment

includes:

1.2.1 Customers/clients

Usually, many customers buy Unilever products on daily basis because of the quality of the

product but the organization has to maintain the quality for the retention of the existing

customers.

1.2.2 Competitors

In the existing market, there are many competitors of the Unilever brand but due to

innovative strategies, Unilever always remains and maintained number one spot in the entire

market for many years.

1.2.3 Government regulations

Government regulation makes a huge impact on any organization. If the organization is

linked with the government by suitable policies, so these organizations tackle any type of

unwanted occurrence with the support of the government (Birahim, 2020). Unilever brand

always indulges with the government policies and maintain the ISO standards in order to

make the stable position in the desired market.

1.2.4 Suppliers

Unilever makes an effective communication with all the recognized suppliers in order to

overcome the problem of lack of supplies during the production of valuable products.

1.2.5 The employment market

When the organization is well known, then there is also a great competition among various

employees in order to get a promotion as soon as possible (Innovation, 2022). Unilever

maintains a peaceful environment among various individuals by making a proper assessment

for the hiring and the promotion of the employees.

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1.3 Innovation drivers

1.3.1 Sustainability

Unilever makes a strong research in innovation in order to produce the most reliable and

sustainable product which overcome the problems of the modern generation.

1.3.2 Digital

The better quality tools and automated machines are used by the Unilever brand for the

production of the modernized product.

1.3.3 Biological

Unilever also looks at the biological factors while making any type of product in order to

maximize the profit and to build a strong external environment.

2 Opportunities and challenges

When the organization enters in the marketplace, many threats and opportunities are available

for many organizations. Unilever often faces and tackles many circumstances in order to

create balance in the competitive market. Some of the opportunities and challenges are

mentioned below:

2.1.1 Opportunities

The most important opportunity of the Unilever brand is the strong bonding between the

product and the customer which maximize the profit level in the global market, another

opportunity for Unilever brand is the access of identification of the customer need and

competitor marketing strategies in order to produce the updated product and well-organized

marketing campaign for the better reach (Cheng, 2021). The most important opportunity is

the achievement of a government certificate for the proper sales of the product without any
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type of hesitance in any particular country. On-time delivery of the product and increment of

sales is another opportunity for the Unilever brand. The interest of the huge individuals for

the employment in this huge brand is one of the greatest opportunities of the Unilever

organization. Unilever brand always makes a certain differentiation in their product in order

to remain uniqueness in the entire business market.

2.1.2 Challenges

The major challenge that Unilever face is the threat of the customer dissatisfaction due to the

lack of quality in the product (The External Factors of the Unilievers PLC LTd, 2022). Then

another challenge is the competitor which produced similar products and make changes in

their marketing strategy at any time for their sales and these challenges can only be overcome

by the use of modern technology. The main challenge is the acceptance of the government on

a certain policy because of there are certain restrictions on the sales of some particular

product by the respective country's government (Lawrence etal., 2019). Sometimes suppliers

failed to supply the essential product to the desired market within the required time so there is

a great risk of customer decievement with the product. The increment of salary of the

employees is the greatest challenge of the Unilever industry.

3 Structure of the organization

The structure of the Unilever is quite simple in order to attract more customers as possible.

The structure of the Unilever brand is divided into three parts which is mentioned below:

3.1 Product type divisions

Unilever divides its products according to their categories in order to produce, operate and

manage the entire product individually (Wati, 2020). It is sometimes difficult to manage all

the different categories of product at a single time, so the Unilever organization divide the

products according to their functionality. Some of the product type divisions are: personal

care, foods, homecare, and refreshment.

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3.2 Corporate executive teams

All the organizations have some certain group of sectors, through which the product is

reached toward its final stage. Each sector or department has its own goals and they work

according to that in order to meet the organization's mission and vision.

The following are the corporate executive teams in Unilever’s organizational structure:

1. Chief Executive

2. Human Resources

3. Research & Development

4. Supply Chain

5. Refreshment

6. Personal Care

7. North America

8. Home Care

9. Finance

10. Legal

11. Foods

12. Marketing & Communications

13. Europe

3.3 Geographic divisions

Many organization develops their strategies according to the different geographical regions.

Unilever makes those products that are essential and affordable for the people of the desired

country or region (Jose, 2021). Unilever has focus on three main regions which are Asia,

America, and Europe.

4 Internal processes
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The internal processes are the processes through which all the products pass before reaching

to the final position. The internal process of Unilever's organization is manufacturing,

marketing, sales, collaboration, innovation, and sourcing (Sivakumar, 2021). All the internal

processes are necessary in order to maintain an essential position in the market.

5 Strategy

Strategy is quite essential for any type of organization. If any organization makes a business

plan without any competitive strategies, this will might cause problems during various stages

of the production (Suryana, 2021). Unilever makes remarkable strategies in the past in order

to promote their product and make sales to a certain level.

6 Marketing mix and strategy

The marketing strategy of the Unilever brand is quite impressive and they usually use market

segmentation strategy which is mentioned below:

Market segmentation
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A marketing mix is introduced in order to make suitable marketing for the sales of the desired

product. Many organizations follow the marketing mix in order to attain a certain level. In a

similar way, Unilever makes a remarkable business with the practice of the marketing mix

concept. First here is the discussion of the marketing mix and the well-known marketing

strategies (Thabit and Raewf, 2018). There are 4 ps of marketing which are: price, place,

promotion ad product. Firstly the price, this is the concept that all the organizations ask for a

suitable price of the product from the consumers in order to earn more. Secondly, the place of

where the product is manufactured and where the product is sold must be suitably organized

and designed respectably according to the desired situation. Thirdly, promotion this concept

is used in order to aware the people regarding the product and make them realize that the

product is quite suitable for them by making proper advertisements (Ferrarini, 2021). At last,

the most important marketing mix is the product and the revenues are mostly dependent upon

the product because the quality of the product effectively contributes to the sales of a product

on large scale. Here is the complete brief of the marketing mix of Unilever.

Marketing mix
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7 Policies

The policies of the Unilever are quite essential for the improvement in the particular type of

product. Some of the policies are action to the climate, a waste-free world, positive nutrition,

and respect for the human rights (Our policies, 2022). With the help of these policies

Unilever develop an exceptional image around the world and prove to themselves that they

are only one which serving for humanity.

8 Organizational activities

The organizational activities are the activities that are performed separately within the

organization. The organizational activities of Unilever organization are: Design, Quality

management, Location strategy, Human resource, Supply chain management, Inventory

management, scheduling, and Maintenance (Chebiego and Kariuki, 2018). All the

organizational activities are necessary in order to maintain an essential position in the market.

9 The role played by the working individuals

The working individual of the Unilever organization played an important part in the

development of this huge business empire. The main roles were played by the managers and

leaders. The role of the managers is to maintain balance in all the departments of the

organization. The departments of the Unilever brand are finance, product design, staffing,

forecasting, and operations (Nahar and Zayed , 2019). These are all the departments in which

the responsible managers play their role and take the organization to the next level. The most

responsible role in the reputation of the Unilever brand is the role of the leaders. Leaders are

very much different from the managers because they lead and direct the team from the front.

In this organization, the leader acts as a coach and guides the employees regarding the

organization's mission confidently and smoothly (Alsubiei, 2021). The main role of the leader

in the Unilever organization is the market functioning and procurement functioning.

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10 IP in the organization

Intellectual property in business is the keen and the most important element of the

organization, element that is the base of the growth of the organization (Bannerman , 2020).

In the business world, intellectual property is commonly known as the trademark and patent

of the organizational product. Unilever has a trademark which is the core identification of the

Unilever brand.

11 IP importance

It is important in the business world because this will protect the business from the other

competitors, this will make the product licensed, IP provides new and modern product to the

customers and IP play an essential part in the marketing and branding of the product

(Chudasama and Patel, 2021). In the same way, IP is quite much important for further

progress of the Unilever brand.

12 Unilever’s Five Forces Analysis

Several factors can directly make an impact on the company's progress.

All the forces or factors are mentioned below:

12.1 The threat of new entries:

Sometimes many organizations face some threats in terms of the new ventures when any new

organization came into the existing market. This will create so much trouble for the existing

top-ranked organization to maintain its position (Bruijl, 2018). Unilever tackles this problem

by innovating their product with the help of upcoming techniques, modern machines and by

maintaining the scale of cost in order to take hold of the existing market share. By building

more capacity of production, no one can even think to compete with them in the entire market

place.

12.2 Bargaining power of suppliers:

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The power of the supplier of the raw material is quite dangerous. The product is solely

dependent upon the raw materials of the designated suppliers. The supplier usually increases

their profit margins by making negotiations with the organizations which sometimes creates a

great loss to the organization's financial structure. Unilever minimizes this threat by making

contact with multiple suppliers.

12.3 Bargaining power of buyers:

The buyers also create some serious problems for the organization to remain stable in the

existing market (Isabelle et al, 2020). Every time they want the new and updated product,

Unilever tackles this problem by developing of new and more innovative products

consecutively.

12.4 Threat from the substitute:

The threat of the substitute product is quite dangerous as compared to many threats. When a

substitute product comes into the market and meets similar Customer’s needs, this will

directly make an impact on the industry revenue (Bruijl, 2018). By understanding the core

need of the customers, Unilever easily removes this threat. The most appropriate solution that

Unilever develop is by increasing the switching cost of the customers in order to cover up

with this kind of threat

12.5 Rivalry:

When there is two similar product of two different organization; this will create an intense

problem for both organizations. In the battle of two similar products, both organizations face

a great loss of revenue. Unilever manages this kind of threat by maintaining and collaborating

with the competitor in the market (Ullah, 2021). Another solution which Unilever introduces

is: By building a certain differentiation of product and by building and managing the scale

with a competitor so that they can compete in a much better way.

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13 Conclusion

All the organization has their own perspective. They follow different methods in order to

attain a certain position in the respective market. Unilever makes certain innovation strategies

like making individuals fit. Nowadays Unilever makes a research regarding healthier food in

order to increase the lifecycles of the human beings by providing the essential need in their

products. The second strategy of the Unilever is providing the flexible employment to all the

employees. Unilever becomes a brand because of the peaceful working environment of the

working individuals. If the working conditions of any organization is flexible, that

organization soon gets their desired position. There are some more innovative steps have

been taken by the Unilever brand in order to look more prominent in the business market.

Unilever is now making meat from plants by innovative and modern techniques which are

now going popular all around the world. The evolution in dove is the most popular innovation

of the present time, now dove moisturizer is available in the market which gets popularity

within no time. Nowadays Unilever is making an innovation in the recycling of the plastic

material in order to overcome the issue of unusable plastic. In this way, Unilever is moving

forward in the cosmetic industry and building itself as a strong competitor in the entire global

market.
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