Unilever's Path to Growth Strategy: Is It Working

Unilever's Path to Growth Strategy: Is it Working

1. What are the chief elements of Unilever's diversification strategy? Is Unilever pursuing a multicountry or a global strategy? What aspects of the strategy do you like? What aspects of the strategy are you skeptical about and why?

2. Did Unilever pay too much to acquire SlimFast? Is there any reason to believe that SlimFast might be a better performer as part of Unilever than it would be a standalone enterprise? Explain. Is SlimFast a good strategic fit, given that there are no other important diet products in Unilever's product/brand portfolio?

3. What is going on at SlimFast in 2003? Why are sales nose-diving? What can be done to get things turned around? Should the SlimFast business be sold? Was the acquisition a mistake? Why did things look so good at the time of the acquisition and so dismal now?

4. Did Unilever pay too much to acquire Ben & Jerry's? Is there any reason to believe that Ben & Jerry's might be a better performer as part of Unilever than it would be a standalone enterprise? What problems will Unilever be likely to encounter with its Ben & Jerry's acquisition?

5. Did Unilever pay too much to acquire Best Foods? Why or why not? What is your assessment of Best Foods' recent performance and business portfolio? Is Best Foods a good strategic fit?

6. What is your assessment of the caliber of Unilever's lineup of businesses and brands as of late 2003? Did the acquisitions of SlimFast, Ben & Jerry's, and Bestfoods enhance Unilever's portfolio? Why or why not?

7. How does Unilever's product/brand portfolio stack up against those of its chief competitors?

8. What issues does Unilever management need to be concerned about? What problems do you see as of late 2003? What strengths and weaknesses do you see in the company's recent performance?

9. What actions or changes in strategy would you recommend to Unilever management? Does Unilever management need to stay the course, scale back its revenue targets, do more restructuring (what kind and how much?), or what? What comes after the Path to Growth strategy now that 2004 is here? What should Unilever's game plan be for 2005-2009?