Strategic Management Assignment of Unilever | Sample Assignment
Introduction
As you know, the strategic formulation of an organization depends on its vision, mission and capability. You all know me as the CEO of Unilever and I am here to shed light on the importance of formulating strategies that supports the growth of the organization. I appreciate all your hard work, creativity, sincerity, and effort to hold the market reputation of the organization. Without your collaboration, the company could not have secured this much amount of market share. However, the rapid growth of market competition is the major point of discussion today as the company needs to formulate some strategies to retain its position.
Summary of the process
I have gone through all of the documents again related to Unilever’s operational values, challenges, strategies and others of the previous years to note the effective areas as well as the areas of improvement. The feedback of the employees, financial reports of the organizations, and suggestions of the customers have also been taken into consideration to improve the strategic formulation of the organization. It is to inform you all that scholastic presentations containing the perspectives of employees and managers of the organization have also been addressed to acknowledge the related matters profoundly and also to increase your knowledge boundary. I am also open to suggestions on your part to retain the organisation’s growth.
Explanation of the Infographic
Vision, the mission of the organization
I must remind you that the primary vision of the organization is to ensure sustainability in the organization for long-term growth even in the spectrum of strong market competition.
On the other hand, the mission revolves around the fulfilment of needs related to hygiene, personal care and nutrition. Therefore, adding vitality to life by providing standard quality products to the customers is the fundamental mission of Unilever and we must work hard to sustain this reputation.
Summary of the historic performance
I can say that financial growth determines the performance of an organization. The company has seen rapid growth through its assurance of standard products, which is largely influenced by your efforts and involvement in corporate social responsibilities. A quick reminder of the figures I think can help you to boost your confidence. The sales percentage of the company has grown up to 3.3 in the year 2019 while the emerging markets have shown an increment of 6.2% with a rise of 2.5% in the sales volume. Although the company has witnessed backlash in parts of Europe and North America, market growth in the premises of China, and Asia has been assured. The underlying operating margin of the company in the food spectrum of food has increased up to 50 bps and nearly about 7.4% growth in the section of home care can be witnessed. From the growth, you can see that the engagement of Unilever with small organizations and securing their monetary background has also helped the company lead the path to success. I can proudly say that understanding the requirements of each and every associate of the organization has given its desired global presence. All this information has been recorded by the management and the reason to communicate this is to appreciate your efforts that helped the company to fulfil its goal.
Evaluation of the internal, and external environment
Following the opinion of Stoyanova & Angelova (2018), I can put that the internal environment refers to the employees, stakeholders, policies and others that regulate the operations of an organization. We have profoundly connected with the desires of all stakeholders which in turn have prompted the abrupt growth of the organization in the competitive market. Appreciate your productivity, creativity and engagement, I can say that the quality of the products, and accurate services to the customers have helped the organization to create a strong name in the market which has also helped its branding on the international perimeter and this can be internalized from international magazines, financial growth and so on. Based on the understanding of Butarbutar&Lisdayanti (2020), it can be said that supply chain management is a crucial part of business growth; the company has aced the diameter by providing bonuses and curving proper regulation for the attachment of talented personalities.
You are also aware that, external factors such as legal, political, economic, social, technological and environmental factors also impact the operations of the company. The political turmoil often hampers the financial diameters which disturb the steady growth of an organization which you can understand by the proposition of Brexit. It can also be pointed out that the abundance of the summer season in the Uk has impacted the sales volume of the company to a great extent signifying the environmental impact on the activities of an organization. But the company has focused on the other market to handle loss and also to support your productivity. I am thankful to you for your support in the recruitment process of talented individuals irrespective of background to increase the social boundary as well as to have creative and innovative approaches in the organization your welcoming narrative has helped the company to set an example about diverse work culture. Following the company reports, I am thankful to you for maintaining equilibrium in the workplace and not involving in conflicts that you know can hamper the work pace. I can say that both updated forms of law and technology have been addressed by the organization based on situational demand to support your output.
Description of the key strategies
I admit that employees and customers are two of the most important pillars of an organization. Strategies, therefore, revolve around the requirements of these two pillars, I can also say. The company identifying the matters have focused on the improvement of health and well-being as a token of appreciation for your production and I hope you all are being benefitted from such initiatives. You are aware of the fact that the company has also collaborated with different brands to provide superior experiences to the customers in order to have a loyal and satisfied customer base. The responsible technical team in this regard has helped the organization a lot to incorporate advanced features of technologies which I think increased the rate of accuracy and decreased the pressure from you. I hope you have no complaints regarding this matter. We have always tried to maintain a fair approach in the workplace, be it wage structure, gender and other factors. I hope you are satisfied with these perimeters. Being clear to you, I can admit that maintaining social responsibilities is one of the strategies of Unilever as it has benefitted the company with brand recognition and financial elevation. However, I think, it’s your willingness and efforts that made such prospects successful.
Implementation of the challenges ahead
You all are knowledgeable of the fact that strong market competition is one of the obstacles for the company to sustain steady growth in the market. The emergence of rival companies such as Aldi, Wesfarmers, Dan Murphy and others has become a large threat to the existence of the company. This has also disrupted the existing strategies of pricing and profit margin of the company. I would like to point out that the rising commodity cost, the presence of competitors, the downfall of the market value and many others have affected the sales margin of the organization. Political issues like Brexit have also hampered business investment and engagement to a large extent. The emerging trend of reaching directly to customers with products has also questioned the effectiveness of long supply chains. Lack in the spectrum of own branded products has also been overpowered by other companies through their formulation and marketization of own branded items. You all are an extended family of the organization and the reason for sharing the problematic aspects with you is to derive support from your end. You all are requested to provide your suggestions that can help the company to assure success. You should stay motivated and productive for the removal of the crisis period.
Measures of strategic success
I can say, with all your help, the organization has worked hard towards the achievement of its goal considering the business opportunities to flourish. It has taken the initiative of partnering with small companies to have a large market reach and also to attach more customers from different parts of the world. I hope you admit that maintenance of transparency has been the key to forming trust factor with the customers and you, considering your strength in the operation. Along with this, I can say that investment in social causes has also given the desired recognition to the organization. The suggestions and preferences of the stakeholders including you have also been taken into consideration to assure the creative approach in the generation of strategies. I appreciate your involvement in social media campaigns, and digital marketing to inform the customers about the diverse approaches of products. The company seldom provides discounts and product bundles to allure customers. I hope you agree that the flexibility in the price range and the main value of not compromising the quality have given the company its desired response from the customers, which without your involvement can not be successful. I appreciate all the times when you have worked hard, extended your boundary to benefit the organization, and provided your insights to add value to the projects. I truly hope with all your support and creativity, the company can touch on new milestones in the coming years.
Conclusion
So, you can see that a number of factors are there that can hamper the productivity of the organization. Being an integral part of the company, I request you to sustain your thoughts, productivity, and creativity for the growth of the organization as that can elevate your career as well. In this organization, we take care of everything from a financial burdens to health to mental disturbances. You can contact the respective department for any of your problems and we will try to mitigate them as soon as possible. Once again, I can say that the main focus of the company is to accelerate growth along with your growth and in this process, full support from you will be very much appreciated.
References
Al-Surmi, A., Cao, G., &Duan, Y. (2020). The impact of aligning business, IT, and marketing strategies on firm performance. Industrial Marketing Management, 84, 39-49. Retrieved on 6th July, 2020 from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019850118304449
Butarbutar, D. J. A., &Lisdayanti, A. (2020). The impact of internal business environment on marketing strategies effecting marketing performance. International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), 9(4), 385-391.Retrieved on 6th July, 2020 from: http://www.ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs/article/view/778
Jabeen, R., Aliyu, M. S., & Mahmood, R. (2016). The moderating effect of external environment on the relationship between market orientation and business performance: A quantitative approach. International Postgraduate Business Journal, 8(1), 16-25. Retrieved on 7th July 2020 from: http://repo.uum.edu.my/18441/
Rizal, O., Suhadak, M., &Kholid, M. (2017). Analysis of the influence of external and internal environmental factors on business performance: A study on micro small and medium enterprises (MSMES) of food and beverage. Russian Journal of Agricultural and Socio-Economic Sciences, 66(6). Retrieved on 6th July, 2020 from: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/analysis-of-the-influence-of-external-and-internal-environmental-factors-on-business-performance-a-study-on-micro-small-and-medium
Stoyanova, T., &Angelova, M. (2018, June). Impact of the Internal Factors on the Competitiveness of Business Organizations. In 2018 International Conference on High Technology for Sustainable Development (HiTech) (pp. 1-3). IEEE. Retrieved on 8th July, 2020 from: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/8566386/
unilever.com.au, 2020. Overview of the Organization Retrieved on 6th July, 2020 from: https://www.unilever.com.au/investor-relations/