Unilever
Discussion Questions
A Decade of Organizational Change at Unilever
What did Unilever's decentralized organizational structure make sense from the 1950s through the 1970s? Why did this structure start to create problems for the company in the 1980s.
Discussion Question # 1
What was Unilever trying to do when it introduced a new structure based on business groups in the mid-1990s? Why do you think that this structure failed to cure Unilever's ills?
Discussion Question #2
In the 2000s Unilever has switched to a structure based on global product divisions. What do you think is the underlying logic for this shift? Does the structure make sense given the nature of competition in the detergents and food business?
Discussion Question #3
Overview of Case Study
-Headquartered in England & Netherlands
-Originated from a soap company in 1930
-One of the oldest multinational corporation in the world
-Products sold in over 190 countries
-More than 2 billion consumers worldwide use a Unilever products on any given day
-Around 48% of Unilevers agricultural raw materials were sourced sustainably by the end of 2013
-reduced waste impact by over 10% since 2010
-Unilever was organized on a decentralized basis
-Subsidiary companies in each major markets were responsible for production, marketing, sales and distribution of products in their own market.
-Each was held accountable for its own performances and profits
Before early 1990s
Mid 1990s
-Unilever's decentralized structure was working against them
-Competition was fierce and Unilever was lagging behind (especially against P&G and Nestle)
-Unilever failed to bring new products into markets due to their business structures inefficiencies
-the decentralized structure caused many product duplications particularly in manufacturing
-lack of scale of economies and high operating costs was really affecting their business
After Mid 1990s
-In order to change the situation they faced, Unilever introduced a new structure based on
A Decade of Organizational Change at Unilever
What did Unilever's decentralized organizational structure make sense from the 1950s through the 1970s? Why did this structure start to create problems for the company in the 1980s.
Discussion Question # 1
What was Unilever trying to do when it introduced a new structure based on business groups in the mid-1990s? Why do you think that this structure failed to cure Unilever's ills?
Discussion Question #2
In the 2000s Unilever has switched to a structure based on global product divisions. What do you think is the underlying logic for this shift? Does the structure make sense given the nature of competition in the detergents and food business?
Discussion Question #3
Overview of Case Study
-Headquartered in England & Netherlands
-Originated from a soap company in 1930
-One of the oldest multinational corporation in the world
-Products sold in over 190 countries
-More than 2 billion consumers worldwide use a Unilever products on any given day
-Around 48% of Unilevers agricultural raw materials were sourced sustainably by the end of 2013
-reduced waste impact by over 10% since 2010
-Unilever was organized on a decentralized basis
-Subsidiary companies in each major markets were responsible for production, marketing, sales and distribution of products in their own market.
-Each was held accountable for its own performances and profits
Before early 1990s
Mid 1990s
-Unilever's decentralized structure was working against them
-Competition was fierce and Unilever was lagging behind (especially against P&G and Nestle)
-Unilever failed to bring new products into markets due to their business structures inefficiencies
-the decentralized structure caused many product duplications particularly in manufacturing
-lack of scale of economies and high operating costs was really affecting their business
After Mid 1990s
-In order to change the situation they faced, Unilever introduced a new structure based on