Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
All the praise is for Allah, the most merciful and beneficent, who blessed me with the
knowledge, gave me the courage and allowed me to accomplish this task. I am especially
indebted to all my teachers for instilling in me enough knowledge to be able to carry
myself efficiently during my project.
Secondly, I am bound to thank all the staff of Unilever Rahim yar khan Branch. In
particular I am grateful to Mr. Faisal (HR Manager), Mr. Abdul Rehman Faisal,
Mr.Younus (Senior HR Executive), Ms. Shaista Amin their inspiring guidance,
remarkable suggestions, constant encouragement, keen interest, constructive criticism
and friendly discussion helped me to learn and enabled me to complete this report
efficiently.
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DEDICATION
I dedicate this report to my parents and friends in recognition of their worth and to my
teachers who are the guiding force for me and it is their effort and hard work that showed
me the path of success and prosperity which would be there for me for the rest of my life.
My thanks to all those who have generously contributed their theoretical knowledge to
this report including my teachers. Without their understanding and support, completion of
this work would not have been possible. I hope people find this report useful and the
subject matter adds to their knowledge.
“Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in
yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are
possible for those who believe.”- (American Researcher)
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgement ……………………………………………………….. 2
Dedication ………………………………………………………………… 3
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Executive Summary
Project report was my first step in practical life, through which I learnt a lot and it has
aided me in being well equipped with valuable experience that would help me once I
enter the professional life after the completion of my studies. It was a great experience for
me and it helped me in realizing where my potential lies. What I learnt at Unilever was
how to get along with the people that I have to work with everyday, building
relationships with people, building confidence and improving my communication skills.
This project has also prepared me for my future career in Human Resource so this project
has helped me a great deal. The experience has taught me responsibility, teamwork and
how to handle people in tough social situations. Even though the nature of work was
quite basic as an student nevertheless I got to see what practical life is. This project
overall has been a great experience. This report gives a profile of Unilever and an insight
into the Unilever HR Department where I was assigned to work. This report also reflects
my learning and experiences at Unilever along with my responsibilities and the tasks that
I performed. Last part of the report consists of some recommendations and suggestions
that I have given. My proposal would be of great use to Unilever and if followed
properly, it can increase the performance of employees and finally the performance of the
organization itself.
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Introduction of Unilever
History:
Unilever was created in 1930 by the merger of British soapmaker Lever Brothers and
Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie, a logical merger as palm oil was a major raw
material for both margarines and soaps and could be imported more efficiently in larger
quantities.
In the 1930s the business of Unilever grew and new ventures were launched in Latin
America. In 1972 Unilever purchased A&W Restaurants' Canadian division but sold its
shares through a management buyout to former A&W Food Services of Canada CEO
Jeffrey Mooney in July 1995.By 1980 soap and edible fats contributed just 40% of
profits, compared with an original 90%. In 1984 the company bought the brand Brooke
Bond (maker of PG Tips tea).
In 1987 Unilever strengthened its position in the world skin care market by acquiring
Chesebrough-Ponds, the maker of Ragú, Pond's, Aqua-Net, Cutex Nail Polish, Pepsodent
toothpaste, and Vaseline. In 1989 Unilever bought Calvin Klein Cosmetics, Fabergé, and
Elizabeth Arden, but the latter was later sold (in 2000) to FFI Fragrances.
In 1996 Unilever purchased Helene Curtis Industries, giving the company "a powerful
new presence in the United States shampoo and deodorant market". The purchase
brought Unilever the Suave and Finesse hair-care product brands and Degree deodorant
brand.
In 2000 the company absorbed the American business Best Foods, strengthening its
presence in North America and extending its portfolio of foods brands. In a single day in
April 2000, it bought, ironically, both Ben & Jerry's, known for its calorie-rich ice
creams, and Slim Fast.
The company is fully multinational with operating companies and factories on every
continent (except Antarctica) and research laboratories at Colworth and Port Sunlight in
England; Vlaardingen in the Netherlands; Trumbull, Connecticut, and Englewood Cliffs,
New Jersey in the United States; Bangalore in India (see also Hindustan Unilever
Limited); Pakistan; and Shanghai in China.
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Unilever has recently started a five year vitality company initiative in which it began to
converge the marketing of disparate arms of their business, including personal care,
dieting, and consumables into an umbrella function displaying the breadth of their
contributions to personal vitality. This plan has been implemented because of the lack of
recognition that the Unilever brand wields, despite its ubiquitous presence. In 2006 it
concluded with the sell off of the global frozen foods division, excluding the ice cream
business and the Italian frozen vegetables businesses.
The company publicly takes a strong stance on sustainability and started a sustainable
agriculture programmed in 1998. In May 2007 it became the first tea company to commit
to sourcing all its tea in a sustainable manner, asking the Rainforest Alliance, an
international environmental NGO, to start certifying its tea estates in East Africa. It
declared its aim to have all Lipton Yellow Label and PG Tips tea bags sold in Western
Europe certified by 2010, followed by all Lipton tea bags globally by 2015. Covalence,
an ethical reputation ranking agency, placed Unilever at the top of its ranking based on
positive versus negative news coverage for 2007.
In 2008 Unilever was honoured at the 59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy
Awards for "Outstanding Achievement in Advanced Media Technology for Creation and
Distribution of Interactive Commercial Advertising Delivered Through Digital Set Top
Boxes" for its program Axe: Boost Your ESP.
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Mission Statement
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Organi
zational Culture & Environment:
Environment of Unilever:
I had a very good learning experience in Unilever which would be of enormous help to
me in the future. The staff was very helpful and friendly, which made the working
environment adaptive and pleasant. The people there make Unilever a great company and
an exciting place to work with a shared desire to learn leading edge skills and stretch
beyond their limits. I took a deep interest in observing how employees in Unilever work
together to overcome challenging situations. The environment in organization is so
welcoming that it forces people to join hands together to work as a team. Unilever is all
about integrity, mutual respect, teamwork, creativity and empowerment. The HR team of
Unilever is a source of good inspiration. It is very dedicated, committed and hard
working. Just by observing the HR team gave me a sense of responsibility and it gave me
confidence that I am a part of this strong team.
Departments in Unilever:
During my visit at Unilever office I come to know that there are following departments
are currently working:
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• Staff of Unilever consists of world class Professionals and ensures that the
right systems are in place to encourage people to develop to their full potential
• Compensation & Benefit plan is developed which ensures that employees are
motivated.
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Management:
In Unilever the hierarchy is very lean, in general the whole setup is centralized, all the
matters are to be reported to the head office and all the policies and targets are
approved at the higher level. But at the branch level the structure is decentralized.
Personnel:
There are about 1500 employees serving at Rahim Yar Khan Unilever Branch at
present. All of them are very devoted as they are given a wonderful learning
environment to work, pay offered to them is also very attractive and ample chance of
progress motivates them to work more. The job analysis is done on targets assigned
and daily routines. The employees are indeed very satisfied and motivated.
Unilever has this policy of not mentioning the name of the company in a job
advertisement. Usually hiring takes place through outsourcing with a help of a third
party. Final selection takes place after the candidate has been interviewed by the
Manager of the department who requires the new employee and then the HR
Manager. On the joining day, the employee has to submit the following documents to
the HR Department:
• Joining Report
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• Reference Letter
• Three copies of recent passport size photographs
Training & Development involves improving the knowledge, skills and abilities of
the individuals. A continuous training is conducted inside the organization to improve
the performance of the employee. There are two types of trainings conducted at
Unilever:
• In-house Training
• External Training
Before training “Training Need Analysis” (TNA) is conducted by the manager of the
department. And after the training feedback from the employee is taken.
A very effective way to retain an employee is to give him compensation and benefits. At
Unilever following benefits are given:
• Paid Vacations
Orientation:
A newly hired employee is oriented so that he can get an idea about the organizational
setup so that he may feel at home. At Unilever orientation plan covers the following
points:
Whenever an employee requires something from the admin, his request was put forward
by filling a simple form which includes name of the entity, its quantity, signature of the
department etc. This is known as Purchase Request.
In order to print visiting cards an employee needs to send a Visiting Card Request to
admin department after being authorized by the HR department.
When an employee desires to get his medical benefit from the company, he needs to fill
in a Medical Reimbursement Form so that his request can be put forward.
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Joining Report (JR):
When a new employee joins the organization, he has to deliver a Joining Report to the
HR Department.
• Through Mail.
• Through letters.
• Through Post & other related services.
• Through filling the survey forms from the public.
• By conducting the workshop & Seminars for the promotion of Unilever
company.
• Through Societal marketing Practices.
• Etc etc.
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BCG Matrix of Unilever:
STARS:
• Lux
• Sunsilk
• Wall’s
• Fair & lovely
• Rafhan
• Energile
CASH COWS:
• Rexona
• Knorr
DOGS:
QUESTION MARKS:
STRENGTHS:
WEAKNESSES:
OPPORTUNITIES:
THREATS:
• Competitors(P&G,)
• Political effects
• Legislative effect
• Environmental effect
• Economic crises
• Obstacle faced
• Change in life style of people
• Chance for price war
• Increase in production & labour cost.
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Conclusion:
In View of the following data Unilever is one of the manufacturing sector who need to
produce more output by implementing new technologies, new tariffs, new consumer
satisfaction value added services. Further, it is still the largest manufacturer in the world
in terms of geographic reach & quality.
Recommendations:
Suggested Strategies:
• Market Development
• Market Penetration
• Product Development
• Restructuring
• Retrenchment
• Liquidation
References:
• Unilever Website
• Friends