Unilever's new global strategy case study

Analyse the managerial challenges that Unilever CEO Paul Polman has encountered in the development and implementation of the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) Strategy:

PART A - Identify the Planning and Controlling issue

There are essentially three topics (and consequently three problems) that will be covered in this assignment:

planning and controlling (together)
leading
organising
Article Below:

Unilever’s New Global Strategy: Competing through Sustainability

In January 2015, CEO Paul Polman announced Unilever’s financial results for 2014. (See Exhibit 1.) It was hardly a celebration. Despite outperforming competitors, the company’s 2.9% sales growth was its lowest in a decade, and had actually slowed to just 2.1% in the final quarter. The gloomy results were due to depressed growth in the developed world reinforced by shrinking demand in emerging markets, long the engine of Unilever’s growth. But more disturbing than the 2014 results was the news that Polman was not predicting significant improvement in market conditions in 2015.

This already challenging situation was complicated by the fact that the company was in the midst of implementing a transformational strategy driven by the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP). Despite its impressive results to date, this bold initiative had not been fully embraced by some parts of the organization. One problem was that in order to achieve the expected long-term positive impact, USLP’s shift to a sustainability-focused strategy typically required Unilever’s businesses to make significant upfront investments that could be recouped only in the longer term. In an operating environment that Polman characterized as having “more headwinds than tailwinds,” some wondered how far he could push this transformational strategic agenda at such a difficult time.

Complicating the issue was the fact that despite making good progress, USLP was well off-target on two key metrics. While reporting a 40% reduction in its own internal greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions and a 31% drop in its water use, Unilever was far short of objectives that encompassed its whole value chain, from sourcing to consumer use and disposal. In fact, against its target to halve the entire environmental footprint of making and using Unilever products by 2020, GHG impact per consumer had actually increased 4% since 2010, and water use per consumer had fallen by only 2%. Even some USLP supporters wondered if it was time to reassess some of its goals and priorities.

It was a complex set of challenges that Polman and his top team faced. Until now, the company had been able to deliver on both its financial expectations and its environmental and social commitments. The question was, could it continue that delicate balancing act into the future.

Emeritus Professor Christopher A. Bartlett prepared this case. It was reviewed and approved before publication by a company designate. Funding for the development of this case was provided by Harvard Business School and not by the company. HBS cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management.

Copyright © 2015, 2016 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545- 7685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to www.hbsp.harvard.edu. This publication may not be digitized, photocopied, or otherwise reproduced, posted, or transmitted, without the permission of Harvard Business School.

9-916-414

REV: AUGUST 24, 2016

916-414

Behind the Change: Unilever’s Rich History

When he became Unilever’s CEO, Polman realized that, as the first outsider ever brought in to lead this venerable consumer goods giant, he needed to understand the company’s rich cultural values as well as its long history of adaptive struggle. Both factors, he knew, would shape his options.