Abstract

In March 2015, Unilever was awarded the top position in the Oxfam Behind the Brands Scorecard. Oxfam’s scorecard ranks the ten biggest food and beverage companies on the basis of their policies and commitments to transparency, farmers, women, agricultural workers, access to land, water, and climate change. Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) conglomerate, has been widely regarded as the global leader in corporate sustainability since its CEO, Paul Polman, launched the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) in 2010. The case study is about Polman and how he promoted sustainability throughout the value chain at Unilever. The case describes in detail the USLP and its different aspects. It also analyzes Polman’s leadership style and how he made Corporate Social Responsibility a core part of his business strategy. The case goes on to discuss the challenges that Polman could face in the near future and whether he could guide Unilever to achieve the targets set out in the USLP.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Study the leadership style of Paul Polman and discuss and debate whether he is a responsible leader
• Analyze Unilever’s ‘Compass strategy’ and its Unilever Sustainable Living Plan
• Evaluate Polman’s style of embedding sustainability into every stage of the value chain

Keywords

Responsible Leadership, Corporate Sustainability, Business Ethics, Responsible Capitalism, Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, ‘Compass strategy’, Embedding sustainability, Value chain, Five Levers for Change, Leadership style, Unilever, FMCG