Henkel is a multinational company headquartered in Dsseldorf, Germany. In 2018, the total turnover was 20 billion.
Question:
Henkel is a multinational company headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. In 2018, the total turnover was €20 billion. It has about 52,000 employees worldwide and counts among the most internationally aligned German-based companies in the global marketplace. The company was founded in Aachen, Germany, in 1876 by the 28-year-old Fritz Henkel and two partners. Its first product was
washing powder based on water-glass. In contrast to all similar products, which at that time were sold loose, this heavy-duty detergent was marketed in handy packets.
In 2018, the company’s products and technologies were distributed in approximately 130 countries around the world. Henkel had three globally product-
oriented operating business sectors:
Laundry and home care has always played an important role for Henkel, particularly because the company started with a product from this business sector. It consists of household cleaning products such as laundry detergent and dishwashing liquid.
One of its most well-known products is the washing powder Persil.
Beauty care is the second key business sector.
Henkel’s cosmetic division is one of the largest of its kind in the world. It consists of beauty and oral care products, such as shampoo, toothpaste, hair colourants and shower gel.
The adhesive technologies market is where Henkel is the undisputed market leader. Here the company
produces adhesives, sealants and surface treatments for consumers, craftsmen and industrial applications.
Henkel is an innovation-driven company that controls a well-balanced portfolio of international, regional and local brands. The annual research and development investment is 3 per cent of sales. The target groups for Henkel’s products are consumers, craftsmen and industrial users. Henkel’s credo is to provide superior (customized) solutions and innovative technologies for the individual business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B)
client.
Its main competitors in the laundry and home care division are Unilever, Procter & Gamble and Reckitt Benckiser. In its cosmetics and toiletries division, its competitors are Unilever, Procter & Gamble and L’Oréal.
In order to live up to this commitment, Henkel’s employees work closely with B2C (lead users) and B2B customers (global accounts) and focus on their current needs as well as on the challenges which they will face in the future. This customer-centric philosophy is the main reason why Henkel has become a partner of choice for many leading companies.
Henkel-Walmart
In 2017, Walmart, the world’s largest public corporation by revenue, according to Fortune Global 500, and one of Henkel’s global customers, increasingly demanded an intensified, global relationship.
Retailers are slowly becoming more powerful, than manufacturers, because they are launching their own brands. At the same time, overall trade revenues are growing due to the retailer’s internationalization strategy. Prices are slowly approaching the production costs of the products. Henkel has now shifted its strategy from a product-centric to a more customer-centric approach. Consequently, the CEO implemented a ‘glocal’ approach, coordinating multidimensional global processes and local/regional distribution. This is now embedded in a global account management programme with Walmart.
For example, in 2018 Henkel organized a sustainability week together with Walmart Mexico and Walmart Central America, in order to share experiences in sustainable development. The week was accompanied by an educational campaign where Henkel conducted in-store experiments in Walmart to demonstrate to consumers how the correct use of products can save energy.
Questions
1. Was it a good idea to shift the Henkel organization from a more product- to a more customer-centric approach?
2. What are the challenges of being a customerdriven multinational that serves both B2B and B2C customers?
3. How can Henkel further intensify the B2B relation with its key global customers?
Step by Step Answer:
The provided text and images seem to be part of a case study examining Henkels business strategies and their implications on the companys relationship with customers including large retailers like Wal...View the full answer
