Case Study on Unilever’s Path to Growth Strategy: Is It Working?

I. Current Situation A. Current Performance: Unilever is a world renowned company, which was created in 1930 through the merger of margarine Unie, a Dutch margarine company and British-based Lever Bothers, soap and detergent company. Unilever had 1600 brands and sales & marketing efforts in 88 countries all over the world. The main target were to get top-line sales growth of 5-6 percent annually and to increase operating profit margin from 11 percent to over 16 percent both to be accomplished by the end of the year 2004.They cutting down their portfolio from 1600 to 400 core brand. Increasing profit margin to 11 to 16 percent by year end 2004. Unilever had extended its brand portfolio 500 to 600 brands in 2003 and reported 2002 sales of about €48.8 billion. A number of Unilever brands had either highest or second highest share in their respective markets. Since 1995 Unilever one of the world five largest good and house hold products companies ranked among the top 60 of fortune global 500 largest companies.

Interms of Return on Investment: Based on 1999 1. [pic] Here, Unilever’s Current Ratio shows 0.93:1 for 1997. It means their position is not good. It indicates their Liability is more than their Assets. [pic] Their Quick Ratio shows 0.60:1 for 1997, which is not good, because it shows their liability is more than their assets. 2. [pic]

Organization’s current mission: Unilever's mission is to add Vitality to life. They meet everyday needs for nutrition; hygiene and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. Their deep roots in local cultures and markets around the world give them their strong relationship with consumers and are the foundation for their future growth. They will bring their wealth of knowledge and international expertise to the service of local consumers – a truly multi-local multinational. Their long-term