Qualification: BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma in Business
Unit number and Title: Unit 5: International Business Assignment 3
Learning Aim:
Learning aim E: Examine the strategic and operational approaches to developing
international trade
Assignment Title: Strategies and Resources
This report contains a research study on the evaluation of the success of the strategies and
also resource used by one busines. The business which has been selected is Unilever.
Introduction
Unilever
Unilever is a British multinational consumer goods company. It contains headquarters in
London, England. Unilever offers products such as energy drinks, ice cream, tea, cleaning
agents, coffee, pet food, frozen pizza, breakfast cereals, personal care, beauty products,
cheese, soft drinks, bottles water, toothpaste, chewing gum, baby food, juice, margarine,
coffee and pharmaceuticals. Unilever is also known to be the largest soap produced in the
world. All of the products that are mentioned are available in 190 countries. Unilever was
merged between the Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie and also the British soap
maker, Lever Brother, hence the name Unilever. This was founded on the 2nd September
1929. Therefore, the company diversified from just being a maker of fats and oils and
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, expanding the company worldwide. Unilever is also on the London Stock Exchange and also
a constituent of FTSE 100 Index. Therefore, it also has a listing on New York Stock Exchange.
5/E. P8 - Explain how products and processes have to be adapted for international
markets by a selected business.
Unilever is a global business as they operate in more than 190 countries and territories such
as Argentina, Poland and Brazil. Some of the countries do require different types of products
within the same brand in order to meet the customer needs and requirements.
Unilever have adapted to the Northeast Brazil as the there was a massive percentage of low-
income earners and the exploration target of the detergents. Unilever began environmental
scanning by examining the environment and the people who live in Brazil such as the
lifestyles, aspirations, laundry and shopping habits of the low-income earners who want to
buy the Unilever detergents but have too much of a tight income to afford it. Unilever saw
that the market for bar soap was easier access than detergent within the northeast and also
the production cost of the bar soaps was very low.
Unilever took both the cheapest and most expensive detergents within northeast and
merged the two while improving the formula and eliminating existing ingredients and called
it OMO. They also made sure to select the right packaging and size according to what
Brazilians found attractive. They had created a high-quality product which had a price
convenient to the target market. Therefore, the price was higher in the south east and lower
in the north east due to the income levels of people and can be found in major
supermarkets.
If Unilever wanted to conduct operations within Iran, it will really affect the way they
operate on day-to-day basis as Iran’s decisions are fully based on Islam and Shariah law.
Unilever must adapt to Islam to make sure all the products they sell are 100% halal and not
contain alcohol or gelatine. This can have a negative impact on Unilever as they would be
needing to change some of their ingredients within products like ice cream, pizza etc and
this can not only cost money but will also have to take the time on finding the right supplier
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