M131 CW1 Csr Project of Unilever Assignment Sample

Introduction

The term Corporate social Responsibility mainly defines the accountability and sensibility of a company towards the society and its people (Jeon and An, 2019). This is a very important term which has been approached by many companies in enhancing their policies and maximizing profits considering the external environment (Latapí Agudelo, Jóhannsdóttir and Davídsdóttir, 2019). In this study, the CSR project based on UNILEVER PLC, will be discussed including a brief analysis of the company. The uniqueness of the products and the services and the relationships with the stakeholders impacting the marketing standard will be reflected.

Corporate Social Responsibility project of Unilever

Unilever PLC is a multinational company dealing with goods and services for people in the UK. It deals with various products like food items and grocery products. The Corporate Social Responsibility project of Unilever is mainly based on the health care services for enhancing them and incorporating policies related to the enhancement of such (Bhardwaj, et al., 2018). The alarming health conditions after the uncertain pandemic in the whole world have influenced companies to address the issue and take up initiatives for evolving the policies and the decisions based on the social condition (Li, Khalili and Cheng, 2019.). The involvement of the company in providing health benefits to people and contributing to the growth of the economy will be much appreciated in the long run.

Microanalysis of the company

Unilever is a multinational company whose microanalysis is the basis of healthcare services. SWOT analysis is basically a measure to analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats against the company (Abedi,, et al., 2018). It helps in exploring various possibilities and initiating strategies on the basis of the problems and societal conditions.

Strengths- the strength of the company lies in the technological advancement of the companies related to the healthcare products and services (Aguinis, Villamor and Gabriel, 2020). The innovative products, the affordable cost of the products, and the value of the products on the basis of the demand.

Weakness- the weakness of the companies lies in providing optimum products as and when needed. This is due to a proper marketing plan, the vulnerability of other similar industries, and the service line barriers.

Opportunities- the opportunities of the company are mainly on the basis of the strengths of the company in dealing with health care services (Latapí Agudelo, Jóhannsdóttir and Davídsdóttir, 2019). The demand of the population for health care services and related products after the pandemic have a great opportunity for the company to expand.

Threats- threats of the company are mainly due to the weaknesses in the services and the products that are not able to meet the demand of the people or deliver in time (Abedi,, et al., 2018). The competitors of the company might overtake the company through innovative products or affordability of prices.

Products and services

The products and the services of Unilever have a different approach based on the Corporate Social Responsibility, which is unique in nature. The products that the company initiated including in the stores and its services for contributing in the health care sectors are mainly based on supply of the safety kits, the herbal food products which would attract and benefit the customers (Jeon and An, 2019). The products must be considered in relevance to the ethical values and terms which should be affordable for the common public. Unilever can properly implement the corporate social responsibility in the company based on health care products and encompass Unique selling products with proper retention of the employees (Nyarku and Oduro, 2019). The products are valued in the market due to its affordability and their need in society by the people.

Relationships with the stakeholders

The relationship with the stakeholders in any business is an important medium for analyzing the success and expansion of a company based on Corporate Social Responsibility (López‐Concepción, Gil‐Lacruz and Saz‐Gil, 2022). The stakeholders CSR project that has been initiated in relevance to Unilever are mainly the patients or the customers, the community, the supply chain, the investors and the owners (Jeon and An, 2019). The relationship with the stakeholders in terms of business must be sustainable as it mainly forms the base of the products and services (Foss and Klein, 2018). The satisfaction of the consumers is the most important thing. The relationship with the suppliers is the most important factor to be maintained sustainably in a company for credibility towards the company.

Marketing effect of the project

The initiative that may be implemented in Unilever for contributing in the healthcare department of the country must be considering proper CSR values. Its intended impact on the project might be:-

• The initiatives and the strategies taken will help in boosting the company’s growth and profit by increasing demand of the customers (Oduro and Haylemariam, 2019).
• The investors will get influenced through the CSR initiative on the basis of health services and thus more investments will be initiated that will overall contribute to the growth of the company.
• The stakeholders will also remain attracted and loyal towards the company for such good initiative as well as the support of the stakeholders will help the company to fight in the competitive environment in the market (Latapí Agudelo, Jóhannsdóttir and Davídsdóttir, 2019).

Personal reflection

The initiative of CSR that may be implemented by Unilever with the context of contributing in the healthcare services is very appreciable as per my views. The alarming destruction of the health conditions in the world after the pandemic has raised the demand for proper social responsibility towards the health departments. The contribution of Unilever through the CSR initiative will overall help in improving the condition. Though, I think the challenges in the existing market in delivering proper services will be challenging for the company. The company first needs to approach a strategic plan for ethical balance in the services that might be provided.

Conclusion

It can be concluded from the study above that, CSR initiative is a broad term in respect to any company’s implementation plan regarding the health care services. Unilever must have taken an appropriate initiative for the society but a proper strategic plan for overcoming the challenges from competitors was needed.

Reference list

Abedi, G., Soltani Kontai, S.A., Marvi, A., Mazidi, S., Abedini, E. and Abbasi Chaleshtary, A., 2018. SWOT analysis of health reform plan on healthcare sector from the stakeholder perspective. Journal of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, 28(166), pp.199-212.

Aguinis, H., Villamor, I. and Gabriel, K.P., 2020. Understanding employee responses to COVID-19: a behavioral corporate social responsibility perspective. Management Research: Journal of the Iberoamerican Academy of Management.

Bhardwaj, P., Chatterjee, P., Demir, K.D. and Turut, O., 2018. When and how is corporate social responsibility profitable?. Journal of Business Research, 84, pp.206-219.

Foss, N.J. and Klein, P.G., 2018. Stakeholders and corporate social responsibility: An ownership perspective. In Sustainability, stakeholder governance, and corporate social responsibility. Emerald Publishing Limited.

Jeon, M.A. and An, D., 2019. A study on the relationship between perceived CSR motives, authenticity and company attitudes: A comparative analysis of cause promotion and cause-related marketing. Asian Journal of Sustainability and Social Responsibility, 4(1), pp.1-14.

Latapí Agudelo, M.A., Jóhannsdóttir, L. and Davídsdóttir, B., 2019. A literature review of the history and evolution of corporate social responsibility. International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, 4(1), pp.1-23.

Li, K., Khalili, N.R. and Cheng, W., 2019. Corporate social responsibility practices in China: Trends, context, and impact on company performance. Sustainability, 11(2), p.354.

López‐Concepción, A., Gil‐Lacruz, A.I. and Saz‐Gil, I., 2022. Stakeholder engagement, Csr development and Sdgs compliance: A systematic review from 2015 to 2021. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 29(1), pp.19-31.

Nyarku, K.M. and Oduro, S., 2019. The mediating effect of supplier relationship management on CSR and marketing performance relationship. Indonesian Journal of Sustainability Accounting and Management, 3(1), pp.1-13.

Oduro, S. and Haylemariam, L.G., 2019. Market orientation, CSR and financial and marketing performance in manufacturing firms in Ghana and Ethiopia. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal.