Reference no: EM133053890
Response: Read through other responses and comment on two peer posts (around 60 words each) in this case study. We need to use critical thinking do we agree or don't agree and why ,what can we add that is constructive.
P3-7 What seems to account for the frequent changes in organization design at Unilever?
It could be understood that some of the key changes, that could ultimately reflect the organizational structure are as follows-
1, Changes to high level management structure. Each Change and CEO coming with their own views on the key operational structure and required changes to be undertaken / fine-tuned.
2, Continued acquisition, of further companies, brands, overall changing the dynamic requirements for unilever, adjusting structure set by the previous CEO's segmenting, key sections of the company, brands.
3, Unilever has for many years focused on its major competitor,procter and gamble. In doing so they may have lost sight of what the key company goals are, thus resulting in continued change to keep market buoyancy, and ultimately competitive.
4, As with any business keeping up with market trends is key to offering customers value in their purchases, allowing continued and repeat business to thrive, however one should always remember that changing products and or services can be seen as negative, and have a detrimental effect on the company, highlighting stability to its clients.
P 3-9 Identify the basic control issues at Unilever from all three levels:
The basic control issues at Unilever from a Strategic control level stem from its poor goal setting and many acquisitions. These issues have a significant impact on the organisation successfully achieving its mission to gain market share from Proctor & Gamble. New CEOs are elected throughout the case to implement identifiable business objectives and improve financial performance.
Unilever also had issues from an organisational control level in response to the changing environment. With the company unsure of which structure to adopt, problems occurred across multiple departments, which resulted in several organisational changes occurring over the years.
Operational control issues resulted in finances not being adequately distributed and the inability to track progress across its business groups.
With new direction, management must ensure that the supply chain supports business strategies and focuses on decisions based on supply and demand variations in Unilever's target market.
Managers must also ensure the organisational design for output levels supports the development and production of their goods sold. These output levels will correspond to market demand and organisational capacity.
P3-6 Identify the basic organization design issues at Unilever
The basic organisation design issues which can be seen at Unilever are as follows. Firstly, bringing together chemical products and consumer specialties is the first issue.
there is a dominant issue that can be identified quite easily which is that there is minimal connection between the operations of Unilever and the consumer products group.
Having these issues caused a ripple effect throughout Unilever. Examples, because of the issues such things as the firm is not meeting some of their major key performance indicators like not being able to meet the firm's profitability targets.
With there no connection between the operations and the consumer groups, it leads to the groups having different goals, strategies, and not much in common at all, so when they try to combine it doesn't work and only negative connotations come from it essentially.
The no similarity between the chemical and consumer product it only cost Unilever more than it should have because they are trying to bring two entities together that are just not meant to combine.