Week 6 - LISUnits 1 - 5 Revision and coursework slides. .pptx

Summing up and
Assessment Brief
Unilever
Dr James Mallon
Global Online Tutor

SM Process
2
 Vision & Mission
 Strategic Position Analysis
 Strategic Choices
 Strategic Actions/Implementation

SM Process: Strategic Actions
3
Effective Strategic Leadership to:
 Gain commitment of stakeholders and manage
ethically
 Build capabilities and allocate resources
 Align organisation culture & structure with strategic
goals
 Continually monitor and improve performance
 Adapt and manage change.

Actions of Effective Strategic Leaders
4
Five Interacting actions comprise effective strategic
leadership:
1. Determining Strategic Direction
2. Effectively allocating and managing the firm’s resources
and capabilities
3. Establishing appropriate balanced controls.
4. Sustaining an effective organisation culture
5. Integrating strategy with Corporate Social Responsibility

Role of Strategic Leadership
 Strategic leadership is the central driving force behind
the SM Process.
 Strategic leaders establish the organisation’s purpose
(vision, mission, strategy) and then convert it into a
series of strategic actions to achieve strategic success.
 Strategic leadership: the ability to anticipate, envision,
maintain flexibility, and empower others to create
strategic change as necessary. (Ireland et al.)
5

Unilever’s Vision Statement
 Unilever’s corporate vision is
 “to be the global leader in sustainable business. We will
demonstrate how our purpose-led, future-fit business
model drives superior performance, consistently
delivering financial results in the top third of our
industry.”
https://www.unilever.co.uk/news/2023/alan-jope-reflects-on-his-time-as-unilever-ceo/
 This corporate vision statement prompts the
company to be a leading consumer goods
business, especially in terms of sustainability.
 The following are some of the main points in
Unilever’s corporate vision:
Leadership in sustainability
Purpose-led and future-fit model
Superior business performance
6

Unilever’s Mission Statement
 Unilever’s corporate mission is “to meet everyday needs for
nutrition, hygiene and personal care with brands that help
people look good, feel good and get more out of life.”
 This corporate mission statement has details on what the
consumer goods business does and what it needs to do to
satisfy its purpose.
 The following are some of the main points of Unilever’s
corporate mission:
Goods for daily use
Various aspects of consumers’ lives
Positive effect on quality of life
7

Characteristics of Stakeholders
10

Effective Mission and Strategy
12

Ashridge Model: Creating A Sense of Mission
Values
13

Deliberate and emergent strategy development
Source: Adapted from H. Mintzberg and J.A. Waters, ‘Of strategies, deliberate and emergent’, Strategic
Management Journal, vol. 6, no. 3 (1985), p. 258 , with permission from John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
14

Intended & Emergent Strategy
 An intended strategy is formulated by managers as
a deliberate strategy to achieve a desired outcome
 An emergent strategy is not consciously intended or
deliberate but emerges through internal routines and
processes in response to changes in the
environment
 A realised strategy is a blend of both intended,
deliberate decisions and those decisions which have
emerged in response to internal and external
pressures.
15

Emergent strategy
Emergent strategy: strategies emerge on the basis
of a series of decisions, which forms a pattern that
becomes clear over time.
Strategy is not a ‘grand plan’ – managers draw
together emerging themes of strategy from lower
down the organisation rather than direct strategy
from the top.
16

Logical incrementalism = Learning
organisation
Learning organisation – an organisation capable of
continual regeneration from the variety of knowledge,
experience and skills within a culture that encourages
questioning and challenge.
Proponents of learning organisations argue:
 Formal systems stifle creativity.
 Top managers should facilitate rather than direct
strategy – encouraging new ideas from below.
 Experimentation is the norm.
17

New Paradigm of Sustainability
20

Strategy & CSR
CSR Integrated
Strategy / CSV
CSR Strategy
Social enterprise
High
Social
goals
Low
Economic Strategy
responding to
stakeholder pressures
Economic Strategy
plus some CSR
activities
Low Economic goals High 21

Integrated Strategic CSR
Models
22

Innovation
Innovation involves the conversion of new
knowledge into a new product, process or service
and the putting of this new product, process or
service into actual commercial use.
Innovation is more complex than invention (i.e. the
conversion of new knowledge into a new product,
process or service) – putting the invention into use
can be the most challenging part of the process.
23

Innovation dilemmas (1 of 2)
Technology push or market pull
 Technology push is the view that it is the new knowledge created
by technologists or scientists that pushes the innovation process (i.e.
the outcomes from R&D labs).
 Market pull is the view that it is the pull of users in the market that is
responsible for innovation. ‘Lead users’ are of particular importance.
In contrast, ‘frugal innovation’ is also important – sensitivity to the
real needs of poorer consumers (e.g. Tata’s Nano car).
24

Innovation dilemmas (2 of 2)
Product or process innovation
 Product innovation relates to the final product (or
service) to be sold, especially with regard to its features.
 Process innovation relates to the way in which a
product is produced and distributed, especially regarding
improvements in cost or reliability.
25

Business Level Strategy
 “An integrated and coordinated set of
commitments and actions the firm uses to gain a
competitive advantage by exploiting core
competencies in specific product markets”.
(Hitt et al, 2009)
 Porter’s generic competitive strategy is one
which can be used by any organisation competing
in any industry.
26

Competitive Advantage
 “The fundamental basis of above average performance in
the long run, is sustainable competitive advantage”
(Porter, 1980; 1985).
 “One firm has a competitive advantage over another when
it earns a higher rate of profit or has the potential to earn
a higher rate of profit” (Grant, 1991).
27

Core competencies
Core competences1 are the linked set of skills, activities
and resources that, together:
• Deliver customer value
• Differentiate a business
• Innovate for products and services
1 G. Hamel and C.K. Prahalad, ‘The core competence of the
corporation’, Harvard Business Review, vol. 68, no. 3 (1990), pp.
79–91.
28

Breadth of
Competitive
Scope
Source of Competitive
Advantage
Broad
Target
Market
Narrow
Target
Market
Cost
Cost
Leadership
Differen-
tiation
Porter’s
Generics
Focused
Differen-
tiation
Focused
Low Cost
Uniqueness
29

Cost Leadership
 Cost leadership strategy is the lowest cost producer in the
industry enabling it to operate with higher margins than its
rivals, providing its prices about the industry average.
 Tends to offer no frills, standardised products.
 Continuously strives to reduce costs in its value chain by
targeting cost drivers.
30

Achieving Cost Leadership
 Economies of Scale
 Experience Curve
 Process innovation / technology to improve
efficiency
 Minimisation of Overheads
 Reduction of costs in all areas consistent with the
achievement of a low-cost position
31

Differentiation
 Differentiation is based on unique aspects of the product or
service which enables the company to charge a premium price
and earn higher margins than its rivals.
 Customise as many features as possible to deliver superior
customer benefits.
 Strive to increase customer perceived value by exploiting
value drivers
32

Achieving Differentiation
 Numerous ways in which differentiation can be achieved:
 Product Features
 After Sales Service
 Reputation
 Image
 Innovation
 Nature of differentiation must be conveyed to the customer
 Differentiation adds costs to the product or service
33
33

The Focused Alternative:
Selecting a particular niche or market segment (target markets)
with particular requirements and meeting the needs of the
market more effectively than the industry wide competitor.
Cost
Cost competitor strips out all costs
that are not directly linked to
customer needs.
Differentiation
Competitor meets the additional
needs of a specialist segment and
changes a premium price.
Customers are less demanding than
the average customer.
Customers tend to have needs in
excess of the average customer.
34

Generic Strategies & the Value Chain
Organisations should configure
their value chain in a way which
supports their chosen strategy
There should be consistency
between value creating activities
and the chosen generic strategy
Linkages between each area of
the value chain should be
exploited – likely to be difficult to
copy so a potential source of
core competencies.
35

Value-Chain
Activities:
Examples of
Cost.
Source: Adapted from Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance by Michael E.
Porter. Copyright © 1985 by Michael E. Porter.
Shared purchasing operations
with other business units
Effective policy guidelines
to ensure low-cost raw
materials (with acceptable
quality levels)
Expertise in process
engineering to reduce
manufacturing costs
Effective use of automated
technology to reduce
scrappage rates
Effective orientation and
training programs to maxi-
mize employee productivity
Minimize costs associated
with employee turnover
through effective policies
Standardized account-
ing practices to minimize
personnel required
Few management layers
to reduce overhead
costs
Effective
layout of
receiving
dock
operation
Effective
use of
quality
control
inspectors
to
minimize
rework on
the final
product
Effective
utilization
of
delivery
fleets
Purchase of
media in
large blocks
Sales force
utilization is
maximized
by territory
management
Thorough service
repair guidelines to
minimize repeat
maintenance calls
Use of single type
of repair vehicle
to minimize
costs
Firm
infrastructure
Human resource
management
Technology
development
Procurement
Inbound
logistics
Operations Outbound
logistics
Marketing
and sales
Service
36

Value-Chain
Activities:
Examples of
Differentiation
Source: Adapted from Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance by Michael E.
Porter. Copyright © 1985 by Michael E. Porter.
Facilities that
promote firm
image
Superior MIS—To integrate
value-creating activities to
improve quality
Widely respected
CEO enhances
firm reputation
Provide training and
incentives to ensure a strong
customer service orientation
Programs to attract talented
engineers and scientists
Excellent applications
engineering support
Superior material handling
and sorting technology
Use of most prestigious outlets
Purchase of high-quality
components to enhance
product image
Superior
material
handling
operations
to minimize
damage
Quick
transfer of
inputs to
manufactur-
ing process
Flexibility
and speed in
responding
to changes
in manu-
facturing
specs
Low defect
rates to
improve
quality
Accurate and
responsive
order
processing
Effective
product
replenish-
ment to
reduce
customer’s
inventory
Creative
and
innovative
advertising
programs
Fostering
of personal
relation-
ship with
key
customers
Rapid response
to customer
service
requests
Complete
inventory of
replacement
parts and
supplies
Firm
infrastructure
Human resource
management
Technology
development
Procurement
Inbound
logistics
Operations Outbound
logistics
Marketing
and sales
Service
37

Stuck in the Middle
Porter argues:
 It is best to choose which generic strategy to adopt and
then stick rigorously to it.
 Failure to do this leads to a danger of being ‘stuck in the
middle’ i.e. doing no strategy well.
 However, the argument for pure generic strategies is
controversial. Porter acknowledges that the strategies can
be combined (eg: if being unique costs nothing).
39

Combining generic strategies
 A company can create separate strategic business units
each pursuing different generic strategies and with
different cost structures.
 Technological or managerial innovations where both cost
efficiency and quality are improved.
 Competitive failures – if rivals are similarly ‘stuck in the
middle’ or if there is no significant competition then
‘middle’ strategies may be OK.
40

Assessment
 LIS Coursework Part A.

41
https://moodle.napier.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=43828

Assessment Part A Brief
 Case Study Background & Questions
 Please read carefully the case evidence on
Unilever, which is contained in the following
sources:
 1) Case Study: Unilever (“Paul Polman: turnaround and development of strategy at
Unilever”, pp.750-757) in Exploring Strategy: Text and Cases, by Johnson, G.,
Whittington, R., Scholes, K., Angwin, D., and Regner, P. (2017),11th Edition, Pearson
Education.
 2) Corporate Website: https://www.unilever.co.uk/
 3) 2020 Annual Report: https://www.unilever.com/investors/annual-report-and-
accounts/archive-of-annual-report-and-accounts/
 The case study gives you background information and overview of the company as well
the opportunities and challenges it has faced in recent years. The corporate website has
information on the company history as well as some key facts and figures. The 2020
annual report provides financial information about the organisation and its current
strategic direction.
 Since the case study has been published a few years ago, you should be using the
corporate website and annual report to access updated information.
 You should be using these sources in combination to answer the Part A of this
assignment.
42

 Part A of your coursework assessment requires you to answer
two questions using a report structure [1. Introduction, 2.
findings, 3. discussion, 4. conclusions and 5.
recommendations]. Both questions are equally weighted, and
you should review how grading is allocated in the Coursework
Feedback Sheet.
 Questions:
 1) Analyse Unilever's business strategy using Porter’s Generic
Competitive Strategies framework. Use the data and information
from the case study, corporate website, and the latest annual report.
 2) Critically evaluate Porter’s Generic Competitive Strategies
framework by identifying its advantages and limitations, and then
develop three recommendations on how its limitations might be
overcome. Use academic sources to support your arguments.
43

Structure of the Answers
 Question 1 requires you to apply the Porter’s Generic Competitive
Strategies framework to determine the organisation’s business
strategy to evaluate its competitive advantage. This question is the
precise application of a framework to develop an analysis
specifically for the company. You are encouraged to use diagrams
and tables to illustrate your analysis. You should
use headings and sub-headings to structure your answer. Please
note that the tables and diagrams are included in the word count.
 Question 2 requires you to reflect on and analyse the framework.
The aim is to identify the benefits and limitations of the framework,
not the organisation. At the PG level, you should be able to critically
analyse a framework and objectively assess its contribution as well
as its limitations. You should use academic sources to support your
arguments. You should use headings and sub-headings to structure
your answer.
44

Academic Guidelines
 The combined word count of your answers to both questions must
be 2,000 words and comply with the guidance below:
 - Introduction and background section: 200 words;
- Question 1: 800 words;
- Question 2: 800 words;
- Conclusion: 200 words.
The word count limit for Part A does not include the cover page,
reference list and appendices. This is subject to a ±10% allowance to the
allocated word count.
 Where a submission exceeds the stated word count limit (allowing for
the +10%), the maximum grade awarded will be P1. Appendices can be
useful to provide additional information from your analysis, but you must
incorporate the key analytical arguments into the main body of your
answer.
45

Submission
• Please note that you may submit your work at any time before
the deadlines if you are ready. You do not need to wait until
the last day or the day before, or until the week before. As
soon as your work is ready, you can submit it using the
dedicated Turnitin link for each component as follows: the
Turnitin link for Part A the Turnitin link for Part B.
• Prior to the submission deadline, you can submit your work
through the Turnitin links provided on Moodle to check your
Turnitin similarity score. Please ensure that the version you
upload on Turnitin is the final version you wish to submit.
Once the submission deadline has passed, no draft checking
or change of the submitted documents is possible.
• It is your responsibility to ensure that you submit on time your
final version, prior to the submission deadline.
46

Turnitin submission:
• When uploading your file to Turnitin, please use your
matriculation number as the file name.
Your document submitted on Turnitin must include all the
following:
1.A cover page Coursework coversheet displaying Part A -
Title
2.Your matriculation number, and the module code,
3.A table of contents,
4.The content of the text with appropriate headings and
citations,
5.Page numbers, and
6.The reference list.
47

Assignment A: Aim and References
1. The aim of the assignment is to illustrate how theoretical constructs
or models can be critically analysed and applied to organisations
in practice.
2. References:
• Reputable, rigorous, peer reviewed, academic references can
be downloaded through the library catalogue.
• Academic journals generally offer a better source than
textbooks.
• Wikipedia, Businessballs, Investopedia are not good sources.
• You must use the APA 7th referencing system.
Please consult ENU Business School Quick Referencing
Guide

Assignment: Technical format (1)
1. Please label your work:
 Matriculation number and Module number.
2. Your submission must be accompanied by
the Coursework coversheet stating that this is
your own work being submitted for academic
credit.
3. Please provide a Contents Page.

Assignment Technical format (2)
1. The coursework should be in PDF format and
must be structured, with separate sections and,
preferably, headings.
2. Your coursework should be submitted by the due
date to Turnitin on Moodle via “Submission of
Coursework: Assessment Part A”.
3. You can check similarity score of submissions on
“Draft Checking Link – Part A”.
4. It should be typed font size 12 and 1.5 line
spacing and must be presented in portrait format,
not landscape.

Both Assignments: Plagiarism
1. Plagiarism is the publication of the ideas, or the expression of the
ideas of another and is not permitted in assessments at Edinburgh
Napier University.
2. Student Disciplinary Regulations (SDR) 11.2 categorises plagiarism
as Academic Misconduct.
Major examples of plagiarism include the following
• copying from another student (Collusion)
• copying large sections, from an academic or other source (e.g.
book, internet article) without acknowledging that source by
referencing it
Other examples of plagiarism include
• Paraphrasing without acknowledgment
• Using original reference obtained from a textbook but not reading
“original” material

Assignment A: Marking
1. The assignment will be marked by Dr James Mallon.
2. A sample will be second marked by another academic from ENUBS
and sent to the external examiner.
3. Three weeks is provided for marking to be completed and then
feedback to be returned.
4. Feedback will be provided via Turnitin.
5. Reports referred for plagiarism will be marked only after the decision
of the Academic Conduct Committee within the limits provided by its
decision

Marking Criteria:
 F2-F5 a poor assignment, the student has not answered the assignment
properly. There may be a number of errors including insufficient explanation of
the theory, and a limited ability to interpret the ideas to practical situations.
 F1-P1 a weak assignment, the student shows partial understanding of the
issues but possibly combined with errors and/or insufficient or unclear
explanation of the key points. There is limited interpretation of the issues in
relation to the real world.
 P2 a satisfactory assignment, with most of the key points correctly stated, the
student demonstrates an ability to interpret at least some of the issues and
makes a reasonable attempt at explaining the theoretical concepts.
 P3-P4 a good assignment with minimal errors. Demonstrates an understanding
of the key issues and is thorough in its analysis of the issues and theoretical
concepts. The student shows some evidence of critical and analytical ability.
 P5-D1 a very good assignment which is well written and explained. It will
demonstrate a clear understanding of the issues, using a high level of critical
and analytical ability.
 D2-D5 an excellent assignment, which is sophisticated in its approach while
being correct in every particular detail. Extremely high level of critical ability is
demonstrated with original thought being evident.

Week 6 - LISUnits 1 - 5 Revision and coursework slides. .pptx

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Week 6 - LISUnits 1 - 5 Revision and coursework slides. .pptx

Similar to Week 6 - LISUnits 1 - 5 Revision and coursework slides. .pptx (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Week 6 - LISUnits 1 - 5 Revision and coursework slides. .pptx