Tittle of Assignment

Students are required to produce a report (LO8) on one international organization of their
choosing and address the following issues

Task 1: Brief introduction to the organisation and sector it operates in, including a summary
of the past 3 years revenue, operating profits and general overview of the business’s
operational activities (LO2).

Task 2: An outline of one strategic business issue they are, or have recently, faced;
contextualised within the organisational setting, including an overview of relevant strategic
decisions that led to their current position (discussed through relevant literature, tools and
techniques) (LO2/3).

Task 3: Critical analysis of why the issue has strategic implications and its impact on its
stakeholders (discussed through relevant literature and supported by other contemporary.

Full Name-Rukayat Yaro Mohammed

Student ID number-12261417
Module Name-Managing Strategy, Operations and Partnerships (27887)

Introduction

Unilever formerly known as lever brothers, is a multinational company headquartered in London,

England. Unilever has a range of products which includes, food, condiments, ice cream, well being
vitamins, minerals and supplements, tea, coffee, breakfast cereal, cleaning agents, water and air
purifiers, pet food, toothpaste, beauty products, and personal care. Unilever is known as the world’s
largest soap producer. Unilever products are available in about 190 countries world wide operating
with about 149,000 staff strength world wide. Unilever is in possession of over 400 brands, with a
turnover in 2020 of 51 billion euros, recorded with thirteen brands with sales of up to one billion
euros. Unilever merged in 1929 with a margarine producer from Holland as there used for palm oil
was simultaneous for both merges .

Unilever operation is recognized world wide. Unilever is known to sell food, household items and
personal care products. The emerging economies such as Russia, Brazil, China and India make up
44% of the company’s turn over. The organisation’s presence in Africa and Asia are far more than
100 years. However, the company has a very strong hold of these market.

In south Africa, Unilever has 3,000 suppliers along side 2,000 employes as they provide a GDP of
0.9% . Coupled with indirect employment, Indonesia made unilever have a strong manufacturing
and marketing base to meet increased demands in south asia and Australia.

In this era where globalization is been adopted, once, Unilever’s greatest strength turned out to be
weakness due to the unilateral strategic decisions take by the local bosses which were not in line
with the corporate goal.

Unilever has since matched its marketing strategy to suit the taste of local markets irrespective of
the regions as it’s international operation is a hindrance to adopt several marketing strategies.
In India, Hindustan Lever Ltd, which is a unit of Unilever has captured the market as they have
catered for needs of different tiers of the society from the poor, the rich and middle class as they
have a wide array of products. Unilever embarked on market segmentation which assisted in fine
tunning the brand which served as a specialty of unilever in other to retain its market advantage.
Unilever matched its marketing strategy is a Way it would suit the needs in conventional markets. Its
international operation wasn’t seen as a hindrance in adoption of different marketing strategies for
specific markets and region. As the world is been termed as a global village,where technological and
innovations in information technology goes hand in hand with opportunities in untapped markets as
well as sources for raw materials. As globalization has come to stay, Unilever and its management
must foresee beyond national borders during development of operational strategies.
Unilever strategies over the years
Business strategies are usually based on market demand which could include the desire of a
customer, competition as well as customers requirements. Although, there are criterions which
governs business strategies which includes product differentiation, cost leadership and market
differentiation.
a) Product differentiation
This is defined as a process in which a particular business differenciates its from those available
in the market. This strategy assists businesses in been at a competitive advantage as there are
unique selling propositions which set their products apart from that of competitors.
b) Cost leadership
Cost leadership is described as a situation whereby a company projects itself as the cheapest
manufacturer of a particular product in a competition.
c) Market differentiation
This is the break down of goods and services to homogenous groups of customers.

With the above stated criterions, Unilever executed strategies for acquisition to enable them
become pioneers in the markets.
In year 2000, Unilever birthed a vision to pioneer the food market globally, hence, the acquired
many companies such as Best foods; which was the second largest cash acquisition in
history,Ben& Jerry’s and Amora-Maille culinary business in France. Further more to there
product differentiation strategy, They launched a cholesterol-lowering plant sterolds which
was acclaimed internationally. This had people health conscious.
As the idea of consolidation with the food and health industry following thorough researches,
Unilever launched their health institute.
Following the launch of Unilever’s nutrition policy, and the health academy in 2003, Unilever
merged its position in the health industry using social marketing strategy.

Unilever’s competitative advantage

Unilever has an edge compared to its rivals due to their diversification and global presence.

Below is an oversight of Unilever’s finances in 2021

YEAR REVENUE OPERATING NETINCOME TOTAL TOTAL

INCOME ASSETS EQUITY
2021 52.444billion 8.702billion 6.621 billion 75.095 19.746
billion billion
 YEAR PRESENT RATIO QUICK RATIO
2017 0.63 0.40
2018 0.73 0.43
2019 0.65 0.40
TABLE 1

The table above shows the liquidity ratio analysis in the past 3years.

Strategic issues

Unilever has however been faced with economic factors affecting its businesses as outlined
below.
Unilever’s success is basically determinant on the economic situation around the world as
consumers are less likely to buy expensive products. Cheaper and quality products are usually
in demand. Due to the nature of its business, if products are not in demand, its profit and cash
flow will be affected. An advantage of unilever has to deal with issues rel