Business and Sustainability
Introduction
This essay covers the evaluation of the sustainability performances of the company named Unilever. Along with the sustainability performance, this essay also reflects the sustainability performance of the company by defining its commitment to sustainability and motivation. In addition to these, based on the brief, the selection of two questions has also been chosen, including the theme of the supply chain strategy and the sustainable development goals for the company Unilever. Moreover, in the last section of this essay, the self-reflection part will also be presented to explain what I have learned in my academic module and how the knowledge may inform our professional and personal practice. Finally, based on the essay, below is the overview of the company that has been taken from the company website.
Unilever PLC is a British international consumer goods company headquartered in London, UK. The company was founded in 1929, and in the present scenario, Unilever PLC is considered one of the most significant multinational consumer goods worldwide, with more than 400+ products brands. Unilever PLC products are available in more than 190+ countries. In addition, Unilever PLC is the largest producer of soaps worldwide. Unilever PLC products cover food, ice cream, condiments, supplements, minerals, coffee, tea, wellbeing vitamins, cleaning agent, air and water purifier, toothpaste, pet food, personal care, beauty products, and breakfast cereals (unilever.com, 2022). Unilever PLC has divided its brand into three segments which include Refreshment and foods, personal care and beauty, and home care. Unilever PLC is also regarded as FMCG [Fast Moving Consumer Goods] Company. The company's main competitors are ITC, Pepsico, Nestle, and P&G.
Discussion
As far as the sustainability approach for Unilever PLC is concerned, the company is transitioning the source of renewable energy into cleaning products (Holmberg and Sandbrook, 2019). Besides, the company also finds minimum carbon ingredients by reformulating all its creations to offer planted base substitutes like free fossil fuel and vegan foods. Unilever PLC aims to concentrate on 0% emission products by 2039, respectively (unilever.com, 2022). In addition to these, based on the Unilever PLC website, the details of the sustainability approach have been highlighted, which include the action of climate, regeneration, and protection of nature, the waste-free universe, positive nutrition, wellbeing, and health maintain ace, the inclusion of equity and diversity, raising of high-class living and responsible future work. Besides, the company collaborates with CSR policies to make the environment safe and recycled. In addition to these, Unilever PLC also celebrates ten years of the living plan of sustainability (Silvestre and ?îrc?, 2019).
The CEO of Unilever PLC enforces the sustainability calls and commitment to rehabilitated action to handle the crisis of climate and social inequality. Unilever PLC has also planned its ten years approach to sustainability in order to reach its certain goals, which include reaching 1.5 billion individuals through Unilever PLC's hygiene and health program (unilever.com, 2022). Minimising the total footprint waste by 35% tends to achieve 0% landfill waste. Minimising the emissions of greenhouse gases from the segment of manufacturing by 68% and tends to achieve 100% grid renewable electricity across Unilever PLC sites. Reducing the quantity of sugar in all sweetened beverages, especially tea-based, by 25% and 58% for all the portfolio of foods in order to get recognised with standards of high nutrition.
As far as Unilever PLC's sustainability performance is concerned, the company report and collects data with a large number of social and environmental data (Chandra and Jatmika, 2022). These data may include waste, greenhouses and energy, occupational and waste safety, and emissions. Unilever PLC Company has segregated its sustainability performances into four segments like planet, society, people and independent preparation and assurance basis. The explanations are as follows:
Planet includes the action of climate, a waste-free world, usage of water and prosecutions, and environmental fines. Society comprises work safety, the target of nutrition, and investment in the community (Cheema and Langa, 2022). People include performances of people data. Independent Preparation and Assurance basis duly covers the Unilever PLC compass measurement, which includes the preparation of data, assumptions, and scope.
Unilever PLC defines sustainability in terms of running the business without impacting the community, environment, ecology and society as a whole. The company measured its sustainability performances by maintaining the principles of environmental, social, and political aspects (Erin et al., 2022). Moreover, according to Unilever PLC, the term sustainability also refers to minimising the total products waste of all its factories. The company will reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases and tends to achieve 100% grid electricity renewable sites. For exploring the theme of sustainability, Unilever PLC have also launched the sustainable living plan of ten years by making a commitment to banning non-recyclable plastic bags by the year 2025 (unilever.com, 2022). This commitment has made by the company CEO with its overall employees at UK segment respectively.
Moreover, by implementing and adopting the sustainability plan, the company has also visualised its profit maximisation and growing share market growth. For example, Unilever PLC's most premium soap product named "Lifebuoy"; is achieving digit double profit growth as it creates a campaign of awareness that connects hand cleanliness and human health. The entire theme of Unilever PLC is surrounded by the sustainability criterion (Lehtinen et al., 2019).
Being adhered to corporate social responsibility, Unilever PLC continues to commit the varied processes around the world. According to Unilever PLC, the term sustainability policy has boosted the company; hence based on Unilever PLC has adopted a sustainable living plan (Thacker et al., 2019). This type of definition is purely based on the theme proposed by CSR and the sustainability policy (Lawrence et al., 2019). It tends to motivate individuals, boost company profit, expand its daily usage products, and it also drives moving criterion on all Unilever PLC products.
In this motivation, pressure, and drivers section, the details of the company foundations have been contrasted from its website. Unilever PLC has started sustainability in the year 2010. From the respective year, Unilever PLC thinks that sustainability needs a company engagement to integrate with its suppliers towards good business practices (Murphy and Murphy, 2018). Following the principles of sustainability and USLP, the Unilever PLC is committed to being a prominent leader in sustainability: the Unilever PLC compass. As the CEO of Unilever PLC has reinforced the sustainable living commitment, it has become a collective action of more than 8 billion individuals to ensure the Covid-19 crisis, social inequality, and climate change (Rasha, 2021).
The company also celebrates the living plan of sustainability for ten years. Besides being committed to the policy of sustainability Unilever PLC ensures every bit of environmental safety concerns and duly focuses on recyclable products (Tomislav, 2018). Unilever PLC thinks that adhering to the policy of sustainability makes the company more effective and efficient, and it’s also promised a tenure of longevity. In connection with sustainability, Unilever PLC gets an advantage like declination of supply cost, employee opportunities, and innovation-driven strategy (Barnett et al., 2020).
Moreover, as a part of the sustainability policy, the company thinks that in today's business environment, the environmental, political, and economic strategy affects business a lot; so, in accordance with it add social value, meet consumer demand, efficiency maximisation, the attraction of valuable employee talent, creation of new opportunities and meet consumer demand (Silva, 2021). Unilever PLC has also achieved and gained a sustained competitive advantage in terms of leading in target market growth and profit maximisation.
In the year 2010, Unilever PLC has first started its sustainability by minimising the resources of the earth and by limiting the amount of energy they use. Year after year, Unilever PLC adds its CSR policy and sustainability credentials to its company credit. Now in this present scenario, Unilever PLC is leading with top development sustainable goals and a unified strategy for climate change.
The type of shareholders that Unilever PLC engages consists of Wellington Management and Company LLP, Black Rock Advisors LLC, Gardner Russo and Quinn LLC, GQG LLP, Black Rock Investment Management, State Farm Investment Management, Fiduciary Management, Managed J O Hambro Capital Management and Capital Research and Management Company (unilever.com, 2022). Along with the mentioned shareholders, there are some common shareholders like customers, employees, government, investors, local communities, and vendors and suppliers (Nguyen et al., 2018). All of the mentioned stakeholders have acquired not less than 0.25% with 1.7- 5.7 million shares (unilever.com, 2022). Unilever PLC has engaged the list of shareholders because their total market capitalisation value stood more than the amount in millions. Moreover, Unilever PLC thinks that the direct connection with the potential shareholder helps in gaining the organisational panel more productive and also assists them in making a vital decision regarding the company's strategic planning. It also helps in ensuring the perfect mechanism of corporate governance (Pedrini and Ferri, 2019). The shareholder's engagement also helps Unilever PLC in influencing its business objectives and making certain recommendations, and to establish a perfect decision-maker in the company in its annual general meeting respectively.
The theory of shareholder is a base of capitalism that connects and establish a relationship between company business with customer, employees, suppliers, communities, and potential investors (Tabares, 2020). Moreover, in addition to these, there exist three approaches which include the instrumental approach, normative approach, and descriptive approach. Unilever PLC follows the approach of normative as it allows for tracking the business operation network integration and future consumer needs. The type of shareholder that duly presents is mentioned below:
Instrumental approach measures the firm performance and considers high ethical connection with potential shareholders. It ensures a high level of trust and confidence by sharing a company's vital information. Normative approach considers the social responsibility criterion in order to maximize profit. Unilever PLC follows this approach in order to be a prominent member of corporate social responsibility, and it utilizes its strategy in increasing profit for its delegated products. Descriptive approach examines critically by examining the shareholder salience.
In this section, the focus of Unilever PLC's one product will be outlined by its number of suppliers involved. It also covers how Unilever PLC engages its supplier's approach. Based on the question, the selection of one product that has been chosen is "Lifebuoy.” The number of suppliers that have been engaged with the product lifebuoy is quoted as 145+ (unilever.com, 2022). This is the data pre before the Covid-19 pandemic. Moreover, in addition to these, the supplier intake has been engaged after the Covid-19 pandemic roses to 200%. As the product is connected with the CSR policy and environmental safety, the demand for such products has been tripled, and hence Unilever PLC faces a shortage of its delicate soap product. At times, the demand for this soap rises to 155% more, as many customers think that it will save their life, remove infections and all (unilever.com, 2022). For exploration, this product has also engaged with the policies of CSR and comes under environmental safety standards (Kostiuchenko and Zakorko, 2019).
Unilever PLC has engaged its supplier by creating a list that is available or associated with the product lifebuoy. After creation, the company has quoted the demanded amount about how much soap can be needed in the target market. After chalking down all the product information, the company starts manufacturing its product and supply to all the existing lifebuoy soap suppliers. The type of supplier approach that Unilever PLC follows is named “The Stick” approach. It states the detailed feedback with proper assessment criteria.
Conclusion
This is to conclude that the above essay covers the concept of sustainability policy irrespective of the company named Unilever PLC. The detailed sustainability framework has been presented above in context to the Unilever PLC Company. Moreover, the type of approaches that Unilever PLC follows and the type of supplier approaches that the company examines have been keenly presented in the above task. The above task gives detailed information on sustainability with respect to Unilever PLC; about what makes the company get involved in sustainability policies. This report is very simulative for those who are willing to engage with various forms of CSR and environmental safety standards. Furthermore, in section 3, the details of company stakeholders have also been evaluated by its approach representation. The concentration of the supplier's approach has also been granted in order to make a clear determination of demand and supply. Unilever PLC's one product example has also been initiated respectively.
The CSR stages with respect to Unilever PLC have been presented here. It also covers the entire company's sustainability commitment and its competitive positioning in the cultural phase (Silvestre and ?îrc?, 2019). Every multinational company has to highlight its nature of strategy in terms of its cultural model (Maon et al., 2009). This will be considered one of the best CSR development criteria. Based on the question Unilever PLC has been considered in the cultural phase, which integrates the organisation's reluctance, cultural embedment, and culture grasp, respectively. Along with the development of CSR, Unilever PLC follows the Innovative stage in terms of sustainability option criterion (Maon et al., 2009). As far as the commitment of Unilever PLC is concerned, the company is keen on sustainability programs and activities by launching its sustainable living plan of 10 years. Following the USLP, the company journey has been started to enhance women's opportunities, improvement of livelihood, and improve the complexity of the global supply chain (Maon et al., 2009).
Reflective Summary
In this section, I will highlight what I have learned during my academic career module and what I have acknowledged in this essay, irrespective of the Unilever Company. This essay has given me enormous knowledge regarding the theme of sustainability and environmental safety with respect to organizational management. Coming to my academic career, I have learned the concept of sustainability and its main importance irrespective of organizational management. The main importance of sustainability is progress socially and equality, protection of environment, economic growth and natural resource conservation (Koistinen et al., 2020).
My academic knowledge has blinded me in terms of gaining the theories of management development. I have covered the sustainability key concept and environment preservation criterion by keeping the ecology footprint at a glance. Besides, I have also learned how to establish a business / enterprise without harming the environment, society, community and ecology as a whole. From my academic module course, I have recognized how climate change and environmental policy can affect large business operations. This adequate academic knowledge has been added to my professional career and as well as in my personal practice (Hildebrand, 2018). In addition to these, as far as the company understanding is concerned, I have learned about how big multinational companies like Unilever PLC duly work in the target capital market. I have understood the keen importance of sustainability policy and CSR activities in terms of organizational management.
The academic knowledge of my module duly guides me to analyze and identify Unilever PLC's sustainability criterion in a broad manner. I have also explored the Unilever PLC website and have also accessed its financial statement, from which I came to know its various interfaces about the company activities, its related products, its related brands, and many more. In terms of my personal and professional practice, this task has helped me a lot in gaining the proposed insights into the company. In order to establish a company, it is very important to integrate the CSR policy and to be a premeditated member of the respective government/community's act. This will enhance the company to perpetually save the environment and keep the ecosystem safe in terms of factory waste respectively.
During my course, I have also done a live internship of three days where I have got the chance to work with various medium-scale industries and integrate several business management sustainability policies in the context of organizational management. Lastly, this course has benefitted me in gaining practical experience, and it also has improved my skills of open communication during my internship criterion.
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