ASSIGNMENT 1

Qualification BTEC Level 5HND Diploma in Business

Unit number and title Unit 17: Understanding and Leading change

Submission date 04/13/2022 Date Received 1st submission

Re-submission Date Date Received 2nd submission

Student Name Đặng Thị Ánh Hồng Student ID GBD191234

Class GBD0805B Assessor name Nguyen Minh Hai

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Contents
I. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 4
II. An overview of the companies and how the COVID 19 affects the organizations and their major changes as
responses to Covid 19. .................................................................................................................................................. 4
1. An overview of the companies ......................................................................................................................... 4
2. How COVID-19 affects the general both Unilever and FLC corporation .......................................................... 5
a. Unilever ......................................................................................................................................................... 5
b. Vietcombank ..................................................................................................................................................... 5
III. An analysis to identify external and internal drivers of changes and compare how they affect organizational
strategies and/or operations in the Unilever corporation and Vietcom bank is in short and long term. .................... 5
1. Pest analysis ...................................................................................................................................................... 6
a. UNILEVER ...................................................................................................................................................... 6
b. Vietcombank ..................................................................................................................................................... 7
2. SWOT matrix analysis ........................................................................................................................................... 8
a. Unilever ............................................................................................................................................................. 9
b. Vietcombank ................................................................................................................................................... 10
IV. Evaluation of how internal and external drivers of change affect leadership, team and individual behaviors in
the chosen companies ................................................................................................................................................ 11
1. Unilever ............................................................................................................................................................... 11
2. Vietcombank ....................................................................................................................................................... 11
3. Evaluation of the measures that can be taken to minimize negative impacts of change on organizational
behavior .................................................................................................................................................................. 12
V. conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................... 13
References .................................................................................................................................................................. 13

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 I. Introduction
While it is impossible to predict the exact economic impact of the global COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, experts
generally agree that it will have a significant negative impact on the global economy. As a result of this unforeseen
external environmental force, many businesses must adapt and make key decisions to change. To be understand,
the study will analyze and compare the impact of COVID 19 on the strategies and operations of Unilever and Vietcom
bank. This assignment entails a comparison of two organizations in order to determine the impact on the strategy
and operations of each. It also emphasizes how internal and external change drivers influence leadership, team, and
individual behavior inside a company. Measures to reduce the detrimental impact of changes on organizational
behavior are also included.

II. An overview of the companies and how the COVID 19 affects the
organizations and their major changes as responses to Covid 19.
1. An overview of the companies
Local company Global company

Company name UNILEVER Vietcom bank - Vietnam Foreign Trade Bank

Industry Consumer goods Joint stock bank

Founded 1929 1963
Headquarters London, England Ha Noi, Viet Nam
Scope Worldwide VietNam

Key people Nils Andersen (Chairperson) Pham Quang Dung (chairman and chief
Alan Jope (CEO) executive officer)
Graeme Pitkethly (CFO)

Number of 149,000 (2021) 20,000 (2021)

employees

Product Food, Condiments - Ice cream - Wellbeing Consumer banking

vitamins - Minerals and supplements – Tea – Corporate banking
Investment banking
Coffee - Breakfast cereal - cleaning agents - Insurance
Water and air purifiers - Pet food - Tooth Mortgages
paste - Beauty products - Personal care Real estate

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 2. How COVID-19 affects the general both Unilever and FLC corporation
a. Unilever
COVID-19 has caused widespread disruption in all economic sectors and industries around the world. Lockdown
procedures devised and executed by countries around the world as a health policy to reduce the impact of the
pandemic's spread on the human population are mostly to blame for the disruptions. The COVID-19 lockdown
measures have resulted in production halts, restrictions on persons and goods movement, border closures, logistical
constraints, and a slowdown in trade and economic activity.

The transportation sector, which is critical to global supply-chain activity, has remained partially shuttered as a result
of the shutdown. Since March 2020, no fewer than 90 countries have implemented lockdowns, with an estimated
3.9 billion people affected at its peak in April 2020 (PWC, 2020). As a result, the smooth functioning of global supply
chains was hampered, which had a negative influence on global business and industrial activity.

According to Chief Supply Chain Officer Marc Engel, the coronavirus epidemic has put Unilever through a series of
stress tests. At every stage of the company's worldwide supply chain, from production to distribution, national
lockdowns have had an impact. Factory absenteeism and a shortage of delivery drivers contributed to the pressure
(Cosgrove, 2020).

b. Vietcombank
In 2021 is the second year of overcoming difficulties for the banking industry due to the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic. The 4th wave of the pandemic that broke out in April, 2021 has affected and negatively impacted all
industries, businesses and people. Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) has
pioneered to closely follow the directions of the Government and the State Bank of Vietnam in realizing dual goals,
while contributing to efforts and helping the Party, army and people in epidemic prevention and control, while
carrying out assigned political tasks, completed business activities with the most satisfactory results. Therefore,
most of the changes of Vietcombank are based on the decisions of the Vietnamese bank. Besides, the bank also
actively invests and develops technology to match the needs of the market.

III. An analysis to identify external and internal drivers of changes and

compare how they affect organizational strategies and/or operations in the
Unilever corporation and Vietcom bank is in short and long term.
In this section, this article uses the combination of SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) and
PEST (political, economic, social and technological factors) models to explore the internal and external environments
of Unilever and FLC corporation. And then, assessment these affects organizational strategies and/or operations in
the Unilever and FLC corporation is in short and long term.

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 1. Pest analysis
a. UNILEVER
Political factor

Unilever and the UK government formed a public–private cooperation in response to the Covid-19 outbreak, which
included hygiene awareness messaging, goods, infrastructure, and education. During the cholera pandemic that
swept Victorian England in 1894, Unilever contributed to improve hygiene with Lifebuoy soap. Unilever is helping
to prevent the spread of the global Covid-19 outbreak with hygiene efforts 126 years later. According to Unilever
(2021), Lifebuoy and Domestos, together with other Unilever hygiene brands, have helped to reach over 1.2 billion
people with hygiene behavior programs and awareness campaigns thanks to the Hygiene and Behaviour Change
Coalition (HBCC) formed by Unilever and the UK government (Unilever PLC, 2021). Through this collaborate, it has
been shown that Unilever has taken advantage of this epidemic situation to coordinate with the British government
to prevent the pandemic, as well as improve Unilever's brand awareness.

Economic factor

A global economic crisis: The Covid-19 outbreak has caused a global economic depression, with Unilever reporting
a 1.6 percent drop in six-month sales to €25.7 billion (Unilever, 2020). However, compared to the 2.3 percent fall
predicted previously, Unilever's downward trend is extremely tiny. Simultaneously, the outbreak has pushed some
local consumer product companies to the edge of bankruptcy, providing an excellent chance for Unilever to acquire
them. And finally, in August 2021 - Unilever announced that they have completed the acquisition of leading digital-
led skin care brand Paula’s Choice, a pioneer of science-backed products and direct to consumer e-commerce
(Unilever, 2021).

Social factor

Several corporations hurried to reorganize their manufacturing systems to create ventilators and personal
protective equipment to save the ill and prevent more viruses during the spring of 2021, as COVID-19 instances and
deaths increased. Unilever, on the other hand, had already spent two months rallying its staff and partners to
dramatically increase hand sanitizer manufacturing - previously a minor portion of the business led by its Lifebuoy
brand of gels for kids. According to Bill Briggs (2021), two Unilever facilities produced roughly 700,000 hand sanitizer
containers every month. The corporation has 61 plants producing around 100 million items each month by May
(Briggs, 2021). With such production capacity, the company has met the needs of society during the epidemic
situation.

Technology factor

Unilever's five strategic choices have included ecommerce and digitalization. As the consumer and customer
landscape continues to transform, it wants to position Unilever for success in the channels of the future, focusing
primarily on ecommerce and digitizing the distributed trade, anchored by superior shopper data. During the Covid-

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19 lockdowns, buyers flocked to the internet to buy Unilever's hygiene and 'at home' food brands, resulting in a 61
percent increase in ecommerce sales (Rigby, 2021). This prompted Unilever to change their business strategy.

b. Vietcombank
Political factor

The adaptive, proactive, and flexible response to the COVID-19 epidemic, on the one hand, helps Vietcombank
maintain business continuity in all circumstances, on the other hand, creates a premise for Vietnamese banks to
have a basis to deploy new programs. The large-scale support program demonstrates a commitment to accompany
and share difficulties with customers. This is shown by a series of timely and practical solutions and actions that
Vietcombank has implemented in the past time in accordance with the policy of the Government and the direction
of the State Bank of Vietnam.

In 2021, Vietcombank has synchronously implemented solutions to support and accompany businesses, individuals
and households affected by the COVID-19 epidemic. Budgets to support interest rates, fee reduction and loan
interest rate reduction, existing loan restructuring with a total customer support interest of nearly 7,100 billion VND
have been deployed by Vietcombank to help individuals and businesses. as well as under the direction of the State
Bank of Vietnam.

Economic factor

With the severe impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic on the Vietnamese economy, Vietcom bank has decided to
decrease interest rates to support businesses and individuals to overcome the pandemic. From April 2020,
Vietcombank continues to reduce interest rates for the second phase of loans for customers affected by the Covid-
19 epidemic. Specifically, reducing up to 10% of the interest payable to the bank for customers directly affected by
the Covid-19 epidemic from April 15, 2020 to the end of September 30, 2020; Reduce 5% of interest payable to the
bank for customers indirectly affected by the Covid-19 epidemic from April 15, 2020 to June 30, 2020. The total
number of customers entitled to the second interest rate reduction is 90,000 with a credit size of VND 300 trillion,
accounting for nearly 50% of the existing loan balance at Vietcombank.

Social factor

In Vietnam, consumer practices began to change, the growth of the middle class and the fast-growing internet led
to a thriving digital economy. In the first quarter of 2019, compared to the same period in 2018, the e-commerce
market continued to develop impressively with the increase in the number and value of financial transactions via
Internet channels.

As a pioneer bank in developing modern products to meet customers' needs, Vietcombank soon deployed
preeminent e-banking products and services, integrating many payments features to reduce transaction load. cash
service at the counter and guide people to gradually change their traditional shopping habits. Regarding e-

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commerce services, currently, Vietcombank is providing the market and customers with products including: VCB-
iB@nking, VCB-SMS Banking, VCB-Mobile Banking, VCBPAY.

Technology factor

In 2020, Vietcombank officially launched the brand new VCB Digibank digital banking service, an integrated multi-
channel payment built on the consolidation of separate transaction platforms on internet banking and mobile
banking, providing a unique experience. seamless, unified experience for customers across electronic media and
mobile devices.

Vietcombank is also the pioneer bank to provide online payment solutions for services on the National Public Service
Portal. With breakthrough digitization innovations in the application of outstanding technological achievements to
provide customers with modern, fast and convenient payment services, ensuring safety and security, Vietcombank
has been honored with the prestigious award. Named as the typical digital transformation bank in 2020

2. SWOT matrix analysis

SWOT analysis is a simple yet effective tool for assessing a company's resource capabilities and weaknesses, market
possibilities, and external threats to its future" (Thompson et al., 2007). SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, and Threats) is an acronym that stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The
SWOT analysis, also known as the 'SWOT Matrix,' can alternatively be expressed as a 'TOWS analysis' or a 'TOWS
Matrix.'

A SWOT analysis is a strategic planning framework for assessing a business, a plan, a project, or a commercial activity.
As a result, SWOT Analysis is a critical situation analysis tool that assists managers in identifying organizational and
environmental factors. A SWOT analysis has two dimensions: internal and external. The internal dimension includes
organizational variables such as strengths and weaknesses, whereas the outer dimension includes environmental
considerations such as opportunities and risks.

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 a. Unilever
Opportunities
-The outbreak of the covid-19
epidemic has increased the
demand for food and the
EXTERNAL FACTOR
need for healthcare in
countries around the world.
-The epidemic has caused
global trade to almost close
and the distribution system
to be delayed
-The recent coronavirus
pandemic led to a decrease in
income
Threats
-In the consumer goods
market, consumers could
rapidly shift their preference
for products, especially in
COVID-19 situation.
- Numerous local
competitors.
- customer shifts towards
natural products.
-The recent coronavirus
pandemic led to a decrease in
income
INTERNAL FACTOR
Strengths
-Industry leader: Unilever is among
the top 10 consumer goods
companies in the world. Its three
divisions – Beauty & Personal Care,
Foods & Refreshment, and Home
Care is focused during COVID-19.
- Global Presence: Unilever’s
products are available in over 190
countries.
-financial structure with low risk
Strengths – opportunities
→Thanks to its main focus on 3 basic
industries: food & refreshments,
beauty & personal care and home
care, Unilever uses its strengths to
exploit opportunities in the needs of
countries.
→With a production scale in over
190 countries, Unilever can still meet
domestic demand and reduce the
impact of the delay of the global
distribution system.
Strengths – threats
→With a worldwide market,
Unilever can completely invest more
in R&D to reduce the risk of changing
market needs.
→Strong financial resources can
help Unilever acquire brands and
enrich its ecosystem
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Weaknesses
- High threat of substitution.
- The low-cost segment
Weakness – opportunities
→The recent coronavirus epidemic
resulted in a drop in income,
particularly among the poor (Parker,
Minkin, and Bennett, 2020). This can
make numerous consumers buy much
cheaper substitutes in order to cope
with the new economic realities. This
led to increase the revenue off
Unilever in developing country.
Weaknesses – threats
→ Unilever is in danger of losing its
market share to other emerging
brands because of the demand for
natural products
→With income falling in many
countries due to the impact of COVID-
19 is also a threat to Unilever's
revenue
b. Vietcombank
Opportunities
-The demand for e-banking of
customers tends to increase
EXTERNAL FACTOR
Threat
-Due to the impact of the Covid-
19 epidemic, people's income
levels decreased significantly
causing adverse effects on
investor sentiment.
- Due to the impact of the
Covid-19 epidemic, the high-
income group decreased while
the low-income group tended
to increase.
INTERNAL FACTOR
Strengths
- Vietcombank's credit risk
model - Basel II (Vietcombank ,
2020)
- Technological development of
Vietcombank
- Vietcombank has cooperated
with insurance companies
- Training and development of
professional knowledge are
emphasized.
- VCB still maintains the average
market share increase in the
period 2016-2020
(Vietcombank, 2020)
Strengths – opportunities
→Vietcombank has invested in
technology and developed e-
banking that has helped this
business catch up with market
demand
Strengths -threat
→Universal life insurance
products with the optimal
combination of long-term
protection and flexible short-
term investment, help
customers stay proactive in the
face of changes in life and
future needs.
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Weakness
- Management quality at
branches is not uniform
- Applying too many modern
management models, requiring
high technology while human
resources for information
technology are limited
Weakness – opportunities
→ The application of
technologies too quickly without
appropriate risk management,
so many errors appear in the
process of e-banking
transactions.
Weakness – threat
→Falling income makes
customers look for new forms of
investment rather than
depositing money. This will be a
big risk for Vietcombank
IV. Evaluation of how internal and external drivers of change affect
leadership, team and individual behaviors in the chosen companies
1. Unilever
In a market economy, managers compete not only for products, but also for people. Human resources are the core
of management activities. There is no way to survive and develop by effectively managing human resources. The
same is true in the case of an epidemic. Take Unilever as a typical example.

Shortly after the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Covid-19 as a pandemic, Unilever rapidly introduced
a set of measures to support global and national efforts to help tackle its spread. Their priority was to keep their
employee safe, and to keep their factories running to supply essential hygiene products such as soap and bleach.
They maximized their use of technology to enable roughly 50% of their employees (those not identified as essential
workers) to work from home.

Unilever prioritized action in each country according to the status of the virus. They put role-specific measures in
place to protect the safety of their people in the various environments in which employee work (such as labs,
factories, retail stores and offices, and in field sales). These safety measures are captured in their tier management
system, and every tier requires them to take different measures.

Unilever Global Incident Management Team (GIMT) is continuously working with the latest medical thinking and
leading public health authorities to ensure their approach to Covid-19 remains effective in protecting the lives and
livelihoods of their employee and communities.

Unilever also pushed the employee motivation during COVID-19 situation by created program "Supporting our
employees and their families.” The program provides a range of options, including access to counselling services,
mindfulness-based stress reduction courses, life coaching, financial wellbeing, and resilience training.

2. Vietcombank
Although the epidemic situation in Vietnam is complicated, but according to the regulations of the State bank of
Vietnam, Vietcombank must run business continuously during the epidemic situation. From those regulations,
Vietcombank's management has developed a plan to ensure safety for employees.

Specifically, Vietcombank's contingency plan covering all aspects of: Healthcare, Human Resources, Sales and
Communications has been developed, prepared and implemented at all units in the Vietcombank system. 111
branch offices and nearly 500 points/transaction offices across the country have fully prepared conditions to
respond to the epidemic according to each scenario and risk level. Including a support plan between transaction
points and branches in case of need. Many preventive health measures have been implemented synchronously since
the end of January 2020, including regular disinfection at work and transaction spaces; cleaning and disinfecting
public places/contact points (doorknobs, transaction counters; elevators, ATMs...); Equip protective equipment for

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staff and customers such as masks, sanitizers, gloves...; apply anti-infection measures among all employees and ask
customers to cooperate in implementation.

Vietcombank has also proactively applied many preventive measures to limit infection and ensure the health of its
employees, maintaining a workforce sufficient to meet customer service requirements in each situation such as
remote working, working remotely, etc. shift work as well as fully preparing backup conditions for personnel,
medical equipment and data processing systems.

3. Evaluation of the measures that can be taken to minimize negative impacts of change on
organizational behavior
The importance of considering how potential negative effects might be reduced when implementing change within
organizations has long been recognized in management literature (Hayes, 2014). Quantifying the positive and
negative drivers of change and determining how they might be offset from one another is one of the first ways,
followed by offering approaches.

First and foremost, listen and legitimize. Make no attempt to separate them from their emotions. Make it acceptable
for people to express their emotions. Allow people to vent in a safe environment, both one-on-one and in small
groups. Provide assistance that enables people to progress and comprehend what is to come.

Second, give employees a chance to speak up. It's a device for suffocating any negative feedback from individuals
by requiring everyone to be certain. Connecting with representatives and having direct conversations about real
and future operational risks and difficulties can be incredibly beneficial. Inviting employees to contribute their ideas
and preferences creates a bond between time objectives and a larger area vision (Burke, 1992).

Then there's assisting employees in developing excellent work relationships. Giving opportunities for social
cooperation should make this achievable. This can be accomplished by putting employees in contact with people
they don't normally interact with and by providing opportunities for broad education on a regular basis. In any event,
it's important to remember that over time, ties in the workplace might shift in ways that jeopardize overall
performance. If these gatherings begin to focus solely on enthusiastic assistance, they may lose sight of the fact that
work is linked to getting things done (Fredrickson, 2001).

Furthermore, good communication is taken into account. The skill zone refers to a leader's ability and preparedness
to use successful specialized tactics when leading an organization through change. They should all communicate in
order for backers, operators, supporters, and members to work together to achieve positive change.

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V. conclusion
COVID-19's extensive expansion and economic uncertainty have posed numerous obstacles to society. COVID-19 is
not only impacting people, but it is also disturbing business and consumption across the country. In reality, in
addition to having a negative influence on the macro-economy, the pandemic has a significant impact on workers'
daily lives. These effects, however, are difficult to quantify since they vary over time, depending on the scale of the
pandemic and the severity of travel restrictions. As a result, businesses must prepare ahead to develop adequate
solutions to deal with the outbreak.

References
Briggs, B., 2021. Essential IT: How Unilever embraced risk to cultivate a remote workforce – and cleaner hands.
Microsoft Latino .

Rigby, C., 2021. Unilever focuses strategy on ecommerce as online sales grow by 61% during Covid-19 lockdown –
but overall turnover falls. internet retailing .

Vietcombank , 2020. Vietcombank quyết liệt thực hiện các giải pháp hỗ trợ khách hàng bị ảnh hưởng bởi dịch
COVID-19. Chung niềm tin.

Vietcombank, 2020. bản lĩnh người dẫn đầu. báo cáo thường niên 2020.

Thomson, A., Strịckland, J. and Gamble, E. (2007). Crafting and Executing Strategy-Concepts and Cases. 15 ed. USA:
McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Hayes, J., 2014. The Theory and practice of change management. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Burns., 2009. Managing change; A strategic Approach to organisational Dynamics. 5 ed. Harlow: Financial Times:
Prentice Hall

Burke, W. a. L. H., 1992. A causal model of organisational performance and change. Journal of management, 18(3),
pp. 523-545.

Fredrickson, L., 2001. The role of positive emotions in positive psychology; The broaden-and-build theory of
positive emotions. American psychologist, Volume 56, pp. 218-226.

PWC (2020). Impact of COVID-19 on the Supply Chain Industry Executive Summary. [online] Available
at: https://www.pwc.com/ng/en/assets/pdf/impact-of-covid19-the-supply-chain-industry.pdf.

Cosgrove, E. (2020). Unilever CSCO: Agility beats forecasting when the supply chain is stressed. [online]
Supply Chain Dive. Available at: https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/unilever-csco-agility-
forecasting-coronavirus/581323/ [Accessed 11 Apr. 2022].

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Trung, T (2020). Lợi nhuận của Tập đoàn FLC chuyển từ lãi sang lỗ do ảnh hưởng của dịch COVID-19.
[online] Available at: https://ncov.vnanet.vn/tin-tuc/loi-nhuan-cua-tap-doan-flc-chuyen-tu-lai-sang-lo-do-
anh-huong-cua-dich-covid-19/fcd3de27-8a3a-4028-947c-2cf912d6d13c [Accessed 11 Apr. 2022].

Briefing, C. (2020). The US-China Trade War: A Timeline - China Briefing News. [online] China Briefing
News. Available at: https://www.china-briefing.com/news/the-us-china-trade-war-a-timeline/ [Accessed
12 Apr. 2022].

Unilever. (2021). Unilever to acquire Paula’s Choice skincare. [online] Available at:
https://www.unilever.com/news/press-and-media/press-releases/2021/unilever-to-acquire-paulas-choice-
skincare/ [Accessed 12 Apr. 2022].

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