Introduction

Digital disruption means the transformation of the present industry and market scenario due to the emergence of the latest technological advancements and models of operating a business. The present report analyses the digital transformation process of Unilever, which is a leading consumer goods company operating worldwide (Vial, 2019). It also highlights the techniques and ways adopted by the company to implement digital technology in its various processes to ensure the smooth flow of business operations.

Task 1

Overview of the company

Unilever is the leading consumer goods organization operating in several countries across the world. It includes various daily-use products such as drinks, food items, beauty products, healthcare range, and pharmaceutical products. The company currently owns about 400 brands for procuring different products, which are further divided into three segments, namely, Food and Refreshments, Home Care, and Beauty & Personal care.

Digital Transformation of Unilever

Unilever maintains a huge customer base across the globe. The company targets almost every customer segment on different bases such as demographics, geographics, psychographics, etc. The increased number of consumers requires a huge number of employees and staff for the proper maintenance and smooth flow of operations within the organization. Employees are required for performing various activities and operations such as resolving queries, receiving customers’ feedbacks, selling the products, and receiving payments of the products sold. Modern customers prefer a time-efficient and cost-effective shopping experience (Verhoefet.al.2021). Hence, the organization should focus on minimizing the time involved in receiving payments, so that the customers do not have to wait in long queues while purchasing company products. Moreover, the company also needs to adopt the latest technology to face the existing competition in the industry and gain an advantage against the rival firms. Since Unilever operates on a large-scale globally, it deals with a complex supply chain structure. The adoption and implementation of digital technology will also contribute to enhancing the supply chain management process, making it a fast and much easier process.

The primary objective of Unilever is to fulfill its customers’ expectations and provide them with maximum convenience while purchasing the brand’s products. For this purpose, the company has launched its official website and has entered into various online platforms to sell the products, thereby ensuring customer convenience (Mergelet.al.2019). The online platforms include retail apps and websites such as Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, etc. The launch of the official website enables the firm to build and maintain the interest of the present as well as prospective customers into the organization and its products/services.

Task 2

Techniques of detecting changes

Analyzing the business environment and its different aspects is very important for an organization to sustain and grow in the industry. The business environment is highly dynamic and affects the working and overall productivity of the organization either positively or negatively. There are several techniques and methods to analyze and understand the forces of the external environment such as research and development techniques, which detect the changes in the external forces and determine the required strategies to cope up with them. Moreover, Unilever can adopt digital transformation strategies such as e-commerce selling, data-driven marketing, collecting information and customer analytics, and media activation strategies (Ebert and Duarte, 2018). Different models and techniques could be used for further in-depth study and understanding of the business environment factors so that the growth and development of the company don’t get negatively affected.

Use of techniques to acquire information

Keeping a regular check on competitors: The top competitors of Unilever are P&G, Johnson & Johnson, Henkel, Kimberly-Clark, etc. It is very important to regularly check the strategies, techniques, innovations, and changes being developed or introduced by the competitor so that it enables the organization to act accordingly. Since, Unilever operates in the international market, analyzing the competitors’ activities will support the firm in adopting and implementing suitable action plans focusing on gaining a competitive advantage and capturing a significant market share. The company can adopt various models such as Porter’s five forces models to analyze and study any upcoming threats related to the competitors or the introduction of any substitute product in the industry.

Macro-economic trends: Unilever conducts regular researches to examine and study any changes in the macro-economic factors, which include Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Cultural, Legal, and Ecological aspects. Unilever is a multi-national company operating globally, hence, the company should ensure mandatory compliance with all the government rules and regulations prevailing in different nations. Any change or additional information related to the supply chain or the customers affects the working and performance of the organization as a whole (Reiset.al.2018). Additionally, the firm should also collect information and analytics related to the change in customer preferences, tastes, trends, fashion sense, and needs or expectations from the brand or the products.

Partners: Unilever should regularly keep an eye upon its business partners which include suppliers, investors, and digital marketers. The company should regularly analyze the changes, interests, and expectations of its partners, and focus on fulfilling them.

Task 3

Unilever operates in a varied product line and targets huge customer groups based on different segments such as demographics, psychographics, geographics, etc. Also, the involvement of several parties in the organizational processes such as suppliers, government, public, investors, prospective customers, etc. So, a fast decision-making process is an essential aspect to ensure the growth and development of an organization operating across the globe with a varied product line. Every decision taken by the firm should ensure its survival, growth, development, and profitability in the long run.

Unilever adopts a structured approach to decision-making which is Decision Making Under Uncertainty or DMUU (Sebastianet.al.2017). It is a methodical, structured, and disciplined approach for enhancing the decision quality, facilitate quick decision making, and lastly to increase the company’s agility in the market. The decision approach combines the structuring and framing tools with the software of leading-edge analytics- Palisade’s Decision Tool Suite. It is an integrated combination of decisions, seven-risks, and analytics tools. This method of decision-making ensures insights, clarity, and commitment to the action plan. Moreover, this decision approach enables the organization to understand the implications of the decisions and their consequences in the long run. In addition to the DMUU approach, Unilever also uses other procedures to facilitate fast decision making, which involves:

Figure 1Decision-making process

(Source: Self-made, 2021)

Identification of opportunities and problems: Unilever focuses on spotting early opportunities and problems in the business environment, which further facilitates the decision-making process.

Collecting information or data: It involves the gathering or collection of useful information and data for ensuring the accuracy and clarity of the decision-making process. Formulating plans and decisions based on correct facts and findings proves to be true and in favor of the company’s growth.

Analysis of alternatives: A proper understanding and an in-depth analysis of the available alternatives is the key to facilitate the decision-making process in an organization. The step involves selecting the most suitable alternative which can be easily implemented in the company’s operations and structure.

Taking action: Unilever implements a decision only after the proper study and evaluation of all the aspects involved so that it ensures growth, development, and profitability in the long-run. Lastly, the company assures that the decision is accepted by everyone at the workplace.

Task 4

Hiring and recruiting skilled employees at all levels in an organization is an integral aspect that determines the growth and success of an organization in the long run (Nambisanet.al.2019). Human resource plays the most crucial role as it develops, changes, and reinforces the organizational culture of a company. Unilever aims at creating and maintaining a skilled, qualified, and competent workforce. For this purpose, the company adopts effective human resource practices to acquire talented personnel to carry out the business operations and increase their engagement level. Digital transformation has affected the recruitment process in Unilever, as it requires technology-oriented employees to fulfill the job vacancies. The HR practices performed by Unilever are:

Analysis of job vacancy: In the first step, position, values are determined at Unilever as per the vacant position. After this, the firm estimates the desires of the candidate in terms of experience, education, skills possessed, qualifications, field expertise, and other such criteria. These needs are undoubtedlystated and described for the prospective candidates.

Transparency:Unilever discloses its plans, procedures, and strategies in a clear and specific manner regarding the hiring and recruitment process. This step is carried out by the company to ensure the formulation of the policy related to transparency, which plays a vital role in determining the organization’s development.

Recruitment: The candidatehaving all the essentialskills and qualities, in terms of, experience, education level, educations, field expertise, personality traits, etc. is hired and designated for the job. Furthermore, the HR department must ensure that the candidaterecruited is capable of the assigned job and position in the organization, and will give his best at the workplace.

Training and development: Providing training sessions to the recruited candidates enhances their productivity levels and abilities to work smarter and in an effective way, which further results in the overall growth of the organization (Sousaand Rocha, 2019). Unilever aims at the overall development of the employees which ensures the company’s survival and success in the long-run.

Providing incentives: For encouraging and motivating the employees, Unilever provides outstanding rewards and incentives to its employees. This results in boosting the employees’ morale and support them to work effectively and efficiently at the workplace. Every employee feels motivated and encouraged to be rewarded for their extra work, it can be provided in terms of recognition, incentives, bonuses, or gifts.

Task 5

Leadership refers to the skills and abilities of individuals to guide, direct, motivate, and empower them to give their best at the workplace. Unilever maintains two types of leaders, which are formal and informal. The formal leaders are the ones who hold authority or a good position in the company. Contrary to this, who do not possess any authority or a post in an organization are the informal leader who accept and are influenced by the firm’s decisions (Tekicand Koroteev, 2019). Leaders and directors play a crucial role in implementing and fostering the digital-ready culture.

Unilever adopts the transformational leadership style which encourages and motivates the employees to adapt and implement the required changes in the business operations and activities. Transformational leaders are adaptable and innovative regarding the technological advancements and their application to make the activities and operations fast and easier. Moreover, transformational leaders create a dynamic working environment for the employees, so that they do not face any severe issues or problems related to the introduction of changes required to foster the growth of the employees as well as the organization as a whole.

Leaders at Unilever introduce the proposed technological innovation to the employees and make them aware of its use. The common objective and vision of accomplishingmaximum customer satisfaction, and ensuring their convenience are communicated with the workers, so the goal or the targets of the organization towards the customers. It also helps an organization to gain a competitive advantage and capture a significant market share in the industry. Hence, it highlights the need to implement a digital transformation, as it ensures strong and a positive brand image in the market (Shafiet.al.2020).Lastly, implementing technological innovations and digital advancements in the business operations and processes enables the firm to improve its overall productivity levels and achieve cost-effective benefits.

Task 6

Collaboration at the workplace enables an organization to improve the overall productivity levels of the employees and also to increase the growth rate of the company. Teamwork occurs among the superiors and subordinates, or among workerswho are doing similar work. Without unity and collaboration in the work culture, the outputs will be bad and will create barriers to the development of the firm as a whole.

Figure 2 Collaboration at the workplace

(Source: Briggs, 2018)

Unilever focuses on creating a cooperative approach between its workers at all levels. The workforce of the businessisempowered and encouraged to actively contribute in the important decision making procedures. Moreover, variousmethods are adoptedto maintain the level of teamwork and harmony between workers within the firm. In this regard, some techniques to improve overall performance and relations are described below:

Employee gatherings:Unilever focuses onbuilding and keepingunity among its employees. To achieve this objective, the firm organizes small events or gatherings for its employees, so that they can communicate and interact with each other. This further leads to the creation of positive and strong inter-personal relationships at the workplace, which further results in harmony and collaboration in the organizational culture.

For the communication and interaction with its present as well as potential customers, Unilever practices online stages such as launching its official website, and social media platforms (Wanget.al.2019). These social platform creates opportunity for the company to keep contact with the customers and the firm’s employees. The official website of Unilever is created in an attractive formwhich influences the customers towards the brand’s products.

Using communication tools: Online work such as Microsoft Project, Skype, Google docs, can be cast-off to interact and transfer with the allocated team, and also to manage the work. Moreover, the use of social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and other platforms where users can put their opinion is an essential aspect to communicate and associate with the workforce as well as the brand’s customers. Finally, the firm can also create employee-centric blogs and specialized websites, so that they can directly go through platforms to acquire important information and data related to the company’saim.

Task 7

A leader is responsible for creating and maintaining a positive work culture to enhance the productivity of the business operations and the employees. The key characteristics and skills required in a leader, to support and create a digital-ready culture are:

Innovative in nature: An advanced and adaptable leader will helpa company to introduce and implement new changes and innovations in the business.Heensures that the proposed changes assure the improvement of the employees and the organization as a whole (Prabowoet.al.2018Graveset.al.2019). An innovative leader empowers and motivates the employees to support the introduction of the required advanced methods and technology and quickly adapt to such organizational changes.

The capability of coping up with analytics: implementation and proper use of technological and digital advancements is a highly complex process. The leadersor managers appointed in a company should be capable and possess desired skills required to adapt and cope up with the analytics and handle such complexity in the organizational culture. Additionally, he should also ensure that the implemented technological advancements are used effectively and efficiently.

Adaptive and inspiring: A leader should be inspiring and adaptive towards the introduction and successful application of the required changes whether in terms of operations of the organization or the digital advancements (Pawirosumartoet.al.2017). Lastly, leaders in a firm should empower and encourage the employees to understand the need for the introduction of technological advancements and hence, build a digital-ready culture in the company.

Conclusion

It can be concluded from the report that underdoing digital transformation has enabled the firms to improve and enhance the overall productivity levels in carrying out different operations. The report highlighted the digital transformation journey of a multinational company, named Unilever. It displayed the techniques and strategies adopted by the company to convert its complexities and threats into opportunities and advantages. Lastly, it can be concluded that talent acquisitions and effective leadership style are the key determinants of an organization’s growth and success.

References

Books and Journals

Ebert, C. and Duarte, C.H.C., 2018. Digital Transformation. IEEE Softw., 35(4), pp.16-21.

Graves, L.M., Sarkis, J. and Gold, N., 2019. Employee proenvironmental behavior in Russia: The roles of top management commitment, managerial leadership, and employee motives. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 140, pp.54-64.

Mergel, I., Edelmann, N. and Haug, N., 2019. Defining digital transformation: Results from expert interviews. Government Information Quarterly, 36(4), p.101385.

Nambisan, S., Wright, M. and Feldman, M., 2019. The digital transformation of innovation and entrepreneurship: Progress, challenges and key themes. Research Policy, 48(8), p.103773.

Pawirosumarto, S., Sarjana, P.K. and Muchtar, M., 2017. Factors affecting employee performance of PT. Kiyokuni Indonesia. International Journal of Law and Management.

Prabowo, T.S., Noermijati, N. and Irawanto, D.W., 2018. The influence of transformational leadership and work motivation on employee performance mediated by job satisfaction. Jurnal Aplikasi Manajemen, 16(1), pp.171-178.

Reis, J., Amorim, M., Melão, N. and Matos, P., 2018, March. Digital transformation: a literature review and guidelines for future research. In World conference on information systems and technologies (pp. 411-421). Springer, Cham.

Sebastian, I., Ross, J., Beath, C., Mocker, M., Moloney, K. and Fonstad, N., 2017. How big old companies navigate digital transformation.

Shafi, M., Lei, Z., Song, X. and Sarker, M.N.I., 2020. The effects of transformational leadership on employee creativity: Moderating role of intrinsic motivation. Asia Pacific Management Review, 25(3), pp.166-176.

Sousa, M.J. and Rocha, Á., 2019. Digital learning: Developing skills for digital transformation of organizations. Future Generation Computer Systems, 91, pp.327-334.

Stollberger, J., Las Heras, M., Rofcanin, Y. and Bosch, M.J., 2019. Serving followers and family? A trickle-down model of how servant leadership shapes employee work performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 112, pp.158-171.

Tekic, Z. and Koroteev, D., 2019. From disruptively digital to proudly analog: A holistic typology of digital transformation strategies. Business Horizons, 62(6), pp.683-693.

Verhoef, P.C., Broekhuizen, T., Bart, Y., Bhattacharya, A., Dong, J.Q., Fabian, N. and Haenlein, M., 2021. Digital transformation: A multidisciplinary reflection and research agenda. Journal of Business Research, 122, pp.889-901.

Vial, G., 2019. Understanding digital transformation: A review and a research agenda. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 28(2), pp.118-144.

Wang, M., Guo, T., Ni, Y., Shang, S. and Tang, Z., 2019. The effect of spiritual leadership on employee effectiveness: An intrinsic motivation perspective. Frontiers in psychology, 9, p.2627.

Online:

Briggs, N., 2018 Teamwork and Collaboration in the workplace[Online]: <https://www.avocor.com/blog/7-examples-of-teamwork-collaboration-in-the-workplace/>