"The exploring strategy model requires understanding the strategic position

of an organisation (context), assessing strategic choices for the future (content)

and managing strategy in action (process). Each of these plays a fundamental

role in identifying strategic issues" (Johnson et al, 2011).

Identify and discuss with examples the four key areas of strategic position of

the exploring strategy model and elaborate how Unilever can use them for

competitive advantage. (General knowledge can be used for Unilever).

Paul Polman: turnaround and development of strategy at Unilever

...A brief history of Unilever

Unilever was created in 1930 when Margarine Unie from the Netherlands and Lever Brothers from the UK started to work with one another. Both companies had been well established long before 1930 and saw the advantage of cooperation. Legally, it still consists of two separate entities, Unilever NV in the Netherlands and Unilever PLC in the UK with two headquarters, one in the centre of Rotterdam and one in the centre of London. Special provisions in the Articles of Association and three agreements between the two entities enable them to operate as a single economic entity.

Strategy of Unilever

Product scope

The strategy of Unilever focuses on having leading positions and being in high growth markets. In 2014, Unilever segmented its portfolio into four distinct groups: Personal Care, Foods, Refreshments (ice cream and tea) and Home Care. Well-known brands are Axe and Dove in Personal Care; Knorr and Blue Band in Foods; Magnum and Lipton in Refreshments, and Omo and Cif in Home Care. Unilever sells its products to a variety of retailers. In the developed world there is an increasing reliance on supermarket groups, often multinational, e.g. Wal-Mart (USA) and Carrefour (France). In the developing countries its products are sold in smaller shops when there are no supermarkets.

International scope

From the start, Unilever has been an international company. Its two parent companies were already very active in sourcing raw materials and serving foreign markets. Early on, markets were often protected by trade barriers. Then as now, preferences in taste in particular for food products differ a great deal. These factors explain the historically high degree of decentralisation of decision-making as well as production and marketing at Unilever.

Business-level strategy

The 2007 annual report describes the ways in which Unilever competes and delivers value. The three elements are:

continual development of new and improved products that address relevant consumer needs and aspirations;

rolling out innovations and brand concepts across the businesses around the world;

lowering the cost of sourcing, manufacturing and distribution processes whilst ensuring product quality. These three elements continue to be relevant driving forces at Unilever, demonstrating that the same basics of strategy, with differing implementation, can yield very different results...

(Adapted from Jan Eppink, 2016 in Johnson, G., Whittington, R. and Scholes, K.

2017, Exploring Strategy: Text and Cases, 10th ed., Harlow, UK: Pearson Education Ltd.)