De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde

School of Management and Information Technology

Export Management

CASE 2
EMS IN RETAIL INDUSTRY: UNILEVER

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Course Requirements

In ENMASYS

TE001

Submitted to:
Prof. Nadine-Jell C. Lopez

Submitted by:
TEAM ENVIRONOPEDIA
Christiana Chua
Karina Co
Austine Cheng
Luois Castaneda

1st Term SY 2020-2021

November 2020

I. Case Summary

1
 Unilever, a brand leading multinational company of consumable goods
headquartered in London fails to practice corporate social responsibility towards its
stakeholders as well as the society at large. Paul Polman, being the CEO of Unilever
exerted effort in order to make his company to be perceived as a good corporate citizen
but was filed a lawsuit concerning environmental and sexual harassment issue such as
mercury exposure to 600 workers in India while in the country of Africa, workers were
sexually harassed for unsolicited money advances. As the CEO of the company,
Polman failed to address the problems that his company is facing instead he shows
more interest in supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and to
his personal political agenda than Unilever’s financial results. Unsurprisingly, Unilever is
slowly suffering from financial losses and public relations damage due to Polman’s
disastrous leadership.

II. Point of View

From our group’s point of view, we are against the impudent actions that have
deeply affected the stakeholders of Unilever. The failure of corporate social
responsibility results Unilever to lose a huge amount of money. As such, we think that
Polman should incorporate CSR into its company practices as well as to its
stakeholders by acting socially accountable because stakeholders are one of the factors
why business operates. Not to say what Polman did can negatively affect the reputation
and brand image of the company but also to its partners, competitors and of course to
all aspects of society, including economic, social, and environmental.

III. Statement of the Problem

One of the biggest problems in Unilever is that it was mired in sexual harassment
and environmental controversies that negatively affect the company’s 2016 fourth-
quarter sales reported in January 2017 which has grew by 2.2 percent but it is said to
be lower than 2.8 percent according to analysts’ expectation. Polman’s massive mistake
was the recent rejection of a $143 billion takeover effort from Kraft Heinz and Unilever’s
stock jumped from 15 percent after the bid became public however, it fell to 8 percent
following the company’s rejection takeover offer. With this being said, Unilever suffers
from huge financial losses and public relations damage due to disastrous leadership of
Polman as well as the wrong business practices that have led to the failure of corporate
social responsibility.

IV. Statement of Objectives

2
 ● To analyze the environmental and sexual harassment controversies of the
Unilever.
● To address in an effective manner concerning environmental and sexual
harassment issue.
● To improve the Corporate Social Responsibility in the company.

V. SWOT Analysis

STRENGTHS

WEAKNESSES

OPPORTUNITIES

THREATS

VI. Alternative Courses of Action (Possible solutions that the company can
use to address the problem)

3
 ● Have a fair and equal due process to the sexual harassment cases that
occurred in Africa to determine the truth behind it.

● Have a proper investigation with experts regarding the mercury exposure

within the factory and have each employee that was exposed check for their
health.

● Strategize better internal systems in order to avoid any problems regarding

the environment of the workers and the hazardous chemicals that they are
being surrounded with.

● Address to the public the different ongoing investigations and due processes
that are being held within the company in order to gain accountability and to
clear anymore acquisitions.

VII. Recommendation (The best ACA)

As Unilever being a big and well-known company, it is important to stay away

from any major controversy that can affect the company’s reputation and investors.
They also have to ensure that all their company processes and standards are in top
shape because in this generation it is easily manifested for a company to get boycotted.
Best plan of action for their problem is to fix their internal issues. First, their sexual
harassment case, the environment in their workplace should always be a priority in the
company. As it creates a chain effect where a bad working environment turns into a bad
product as well. Harassing employees is not only morally wrong but it is a very serious
matter that can affect the mental health of your workers. Unilever must create due
process in order to confront the concerns of the victims and hold the suspect
accountable for their actions. This allows for the company to avoid any biased opinions
and creates an environment wherein they show they care for their employees safety
under working for them. Next, is their environmental issue which is the exposure to a
harmful chemical. It is a company’s duty to ensure that they are not putting their
employees at risk when it comes to working for them. Employees are helping you as
well in the company’s growth. However, the company should also have strict and
mandatory health protocols that must be followed at all times to avoid any events like
these. From the delivering of raw materials up to the end product. And if in any case
there has been a breach, there should be immediate action and help that will be given
to the employees in order to assess their health. Lastly, with a big controversy like this it
is important to be able to be transparent to the company. With the rumors being spread
and hundreds of people waiting for the company’s statement, it is crucial to ensure that
Unilever is doing everything they can to have justice and proper help within the

4
company. It is a way to show the public about how their social responsibility is as
important to earning profit.

VIII. Implementation Plan (Use an Implementation Framework)

PLANNING AND OPERATION PERFORMANCE OUTCOME

IDENTIFYING EVALUATION IMPROVEMENT

IX. References (APA 6th Edition)

● Winegarden, W. (2017, March 15). Forbes: Unilever and the Failure of Corporate
Social Responsibility. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/econostats/

5
2017/03/15/unilever-and-the-failure-of-corporate-social-responsibility/?
sh=5a69c75f498d